War and children's aggressive and prosocial behaviour

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate whether, and how, extreme environmental influence, such as a war situation, can affect the development of children's aggressive and prosocial behaviour. A combined longitudinal–cross‐sectional design was used in the study. Subjects were preschool children whose behaviour was rated on the Children's Aggressive and Prosocial Behaviour Rating Scale (Žužul, Keresteš and Vlahović‐štetić, 1990) by their teachers. At the beginning of 1991 (before the war in Croatia started) the behaviour of two groups of children (one five years old and one six years old) was assessed. One year later, the younger group was assessed again. Another group of five‐year‐old children was also included and rated at the same time. Data were analysed according to age, sex and the time of measurements. The analyses of longitudinal data and cross‐sectional comparisons support the conclusion that the war had a strong impact on the development of prosocial behaviour. In this period, children's prosocial behaviour had increased, while aggressive behaviour had not changed. Results are discussed in terms of developmental changes and the effects of war on children's behaviour.

Altruism Born of Suffering and Prosocial Behavior Following Adverse Life Events: A Review and Conceptualization

“…A longitudinal study, conducted in the early 1990s among 5-and 6-year-old children in Zagreb, Croatia, revealed that prosocial behaviors rated by teachers, such as sharing sweets and toys or feeling sorry for other children in need, were significantly increased after the experience of war, whereas aggressive behavior remained the same (Raboteg-Š aric, Ž užul, & Keresteš, 1994). This study controlled for developmental effects.…”

“…This is suggested in the studies of soldiers in war (Blake, 1978;Rachman, 1979), Holocaust survivors (Kahana et al, 1985), individuals present during a terrorist attack (Kleinman, 1989), siblings of disabled children (Hannah & Midlarsky, 2005;McHale & Gamble, 1989), and survivors of natural disasters (Kaniasty & Norris, 1995b). Moreover, individuals who suffer and depend on help encounter altruistic role models (e.g., during war: Raboteg-Š aric et al, 1994;in hospitals: Seagle et al, 2002), and the reciprocity norm of helping can explain high levels of mutual support in times of human-made and natural disasters (e.g., in concentration camps: Kahana et al, 1985;during natural disasters: Kaniasty & Norris, 1995b).…”

“…It must be kept in mind that only few of the reviewed studies were actually designed to explicitly test the research question that is posed in this paper. Exceptions include Hannah and Midlarsky (2005), Kahana et al (1985), Penner et al (2005), Raboteg-Š aric et al (1994), and Seagle et al (2002), which have been reviewed in detail. In all other studies, the relevant piece of evidence is often an exploratory finding, or embedded in other research questions, and it is therefore not surprising that methodological requirements for testing the altruism born of suffering hypothesis have not been met adequately.…”

“…Moreover, the reviewed body of research does reveal examples of studies with control groups (see Table 1) and big sample sizes (e.g., Kahana et al, 1988;Kaniasty & Norris, 1995b), longitudinal data (Raboteg-Š aric et al, 1994;Reiter-Purtill, 2003), as well as behavioral data, such as from document analyses (e.g., Penner et al, 2005;Unger, 2000) or observational measures from external actors who were unaware of the hypothesis (Hannah & Midlarsky, 2005;McHale & Gamble, 1989;Raboteg-Š aric et al, 1994).…”

Does war beget child aggression? Military violence, gender, age and aggressive behavior in two Palestinian samples

“…A study among Croatian preschoolers compared physical and verbal aggression before and during the major war and atrocities, and found no changes in either type of aggression during the war [Raboteg-Sˇaric et al, 1994]. However, 10 years later in post-war conditions, the children and adolescents exposed to severe war trauma in preschool age showed higher level of aggressive behavior than less exposed [Kerestesˇ, 2006].…”