Little attention has been directed towards analysing the TRC as a system, itself generating, monitoring and enforcing rules and parameters defining proper interaction, testimony and discourse. This article critically examines the social psychology of the TRC process, focusing on three areas: (1) the role of positivist methodology in the marginalisation of victim narratives; (2) the role of the church and of Christian ideology in shaping the outcome of hearings and the information gathering process; and (3) using the Mandela United Football Club hearing as a case study, the ways in which the hearings process itself shaped, constrained and controlled the expressions of “truth” that it generated. It examines the social-psychological dynamics whereby the TRC structure and process curtailed expressions of anger and vengeance, inducing instead performances of forgiveness and reconciliation.
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