Neil Boothby, Alison Strang, and Michael Wessels (Eds): A World Turned Upside Down: Social Ecological Approaches to Children in War Zones

Excerpt

In recent years, the world has witnessed a disturbing growth in the involvement of children and youth in most of the world’s conflicts (Singer 2005). The global experiences and impact of war on children continues to be a subject of deep controversy as the world’s psychologists debate on the best approach to this growing phenomenon. There are many questions raised by researchers regarding the factors that contribute to the enhancement of the coping abilities, psychological well-being, and resilience of children involved in conflicts. In A World Turned Upside Down, the authors and editors present social ecological perspectives that engage families, peers, teachers and other familiar people to the recovery and development of children exposed to war. Through their extensive experience and knowledge in working with children, the authors contribute a comprehensive understanding of support processes that integrates the social ecology and available resources in the recuperation of children. Their work is of considerable significance to the study of youth. Journals devoted to the empirical study of adolescence have virtually ignored these social ecological approaches to understanding war affected children. Indeed, they actually have yet to examine in any comprehensive and developmentally sophisticated manner the effects of war on adolescents. …