Developmental challenges faced by children growing up in situations of chronic danger linked to community violence and communal conflict are reviewed. The concept of post-traumatic stress disorder is expanded to include situations of chronic and on-going traumatic stress associated with dangerous environments--war zones and inner city neighborhoods plagued by violence and crime. Of particular importance is the impact of chronic stress and danger on the child's world view, the child's social map, and the child's moral development. On the basis of field work in 5 war zones, the article points to the importance of adult-led "processing" of the young child's experience to his or her psychological coping and moral development. Some of the contradictions operating in such environments are explored--for example, that "fanatical" ideology may provide short-term support for adults and children but also may serve to prolong communal conflict, impede the necessary processing of experience, and increase vulnerability in the long run.
Interviews with 150 Palestinian mothers and their children living amidst the Intifada in the West Bank were conducted to assess exposure to political violence and family negativity as risk factors associated with behavioral problems as measured by the Child Behavior Checklist. The number of risks present in the child's life was significantly correlated with the number of behavioral problems the child exhibited (R = .53, p < .001). The analysis further examined the role of gender, age, and community context in moderating the impact of high levels of accumulated risk on children's behavioral problems. Under conditions of high accumulated risk, boys evidenced more problems than girls, and younger children exhibited more problems than older children. Community context (as indicated by a high or low level of political violence) was a significant factor for girls but not for boys.
Interviews with 150 Palestinian mothers and their children living amidst the Intifada in the West Bank were conducted to assess exposure to political violence and family negativity as risk factors associated with behavioral problems as measured by the Child Behavior Checklist. The number of risks present in the child's life was significantly correlated with the number of behavioral problems the child exhibited (R = .53, p < .001). The analysis further examined the role of gender, age, and community context in moderating the impact of high levels of accumulated risk on children's behavioral problems. Under conditions of high accumulated risk, boys evidenced more problems than girls, and younger children exhibited more problems than older children. Community context (as indicated by a high or low level of political violence) was a significant factor for girls but not for boys.
Violence against children is a pervasive problem that affects approximately half of the world's children each year, imposing heavy burdens of physical, psychological, and social suffering on them. People who are known to children-including family members-are among the main perpetrators of violence against children. This article analyzes how violence against children is a significant problem of peace, and it uses some of the main peace analytic concepts to illuminate the origins of violence against children and the likely means of preventing and ending it. Using a social ecological framework, the article first outlines the scale and the diverse forms of episodic violence against children at different levels. Next, it examines how structural and cultural violence against children undergird and, in turn, are supported by episodic violence against children. The article then examines current global efforts to end violence against children through a peace psychological lens. Although the analysis finds much of value, it points out how current efforts to end violence against children are too narrow, Western dominated, low on sustainability, and prone to causing unintended harm. Finally, the article discusses how work on ending violence against children would benefit from a holistic, multidisciplinary approach, focusing more on the interplay of episodic, structural, and cultural violence and on positive peace. Public Significance StatementGlobally, human well-being and peace are shattered by widespread physical, psychological, and sexual violence against children at levels ranging from the family to the international levels. The direct violence is undergirded and supported by structural and cultural violence against children. Although most efforts to end violence against children focus on direct violence, this paper argues in favor of a more holistic approach that addresses the intersections of direct, structural, and cultural violence.
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