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Living in a War Zone: The Case of Palestinian Children
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Ana Sayfa > Seçtiğiniz Site Kısmı > XIV. IFTA DÜNYA AİLE TERAPİSİ KONGRESİ > PANELS > |
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The purpose of this presentation is twofold: to present the long-term psychological effects of Palestinian adolescents' exposure to political stressors and violence during the first Intifada (1987-1993) and to present a conceptual framework for studying the mental health implications of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict for Palestinian children. Regarding the first purpose, a study conducted from November 1999 to April 2000 among 1185 Palestinian adolescents revealed that significant amount of variance in some adolescents' current psychological symptoms (e.g. withdrawal, somatic complaints, anxiety, depression, thought and attention problems, delinquent and aggressive behavior, etc.) can be significantly explained by their exposure to political stressors and violence about 7-12 years prior to the survey, i.e. during the first Palestinian Intifada. As to the second purpose, I argue that research on the psychological effects of living in a war zone should consider a wider conceptual framework and not merely deal with exposure to political violence. The following are some relevant concepts: (a) indirect involvement in situations related to political violence (e.g. funeral of victims, political gatherings) ramifications of political violence (e.g. povery, unemployment, collective mourning) collective punitive measures (e.g. curfews, closure of schools), frustrations due to a feeling of powerlessness, hopeless with respect to the possibility of influencing the political situation and interganerational transmission of the effects of the conflict. The implications of theis conceptual framework for prevention and interventions are discussed.
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