Where the Political and the Psychological Meet

I argue for the inclusion of a moral dimension in the study of children's responses to loss and trauma in contexts of armed conflict and political violence. In my clinical and research studies, the disruption of a rule-governed moral universe is revealed in the symbolic and verbal representations of both community-based and clinically referred children whose parents have disappeared or been killed in contexts of political violence. Dilemmas related to good and evil, trust and betrayal, protection and aggression, are prevalent in war-affected children's representations of their traumatic experiences. Not only should more attention be paid to children's construction of moral narrative in the aftermath of political violence, but also this should be done in conjunction with an examination of the moral narratives embedded in national and cultural ideologies. Following political violence, the child's search for meaning occurs at the same time that his or her relevant culture(s) or nation(s) are struggling to construct a collective narrative, often in the context of conflicting historical accounts, memories and narratives. Interventions and research addressing the recovery of war-affected children should recognize the interconnectedness of political, social, psychological and moral dimensions of armed conflict and political violence

Context (archaeology) · Criminology · Ideology · Moral disengagement · Moral reasoning · Narrative · Political science · Political violence · Politics · Social cognitive theory of morality · Sociology · Terrorism · Children's Rights and Participation · History · Law · Migration, Health and Trauma · Peace and Human Rights Education · Psychology · Social Psychology

• ‘And So They Ordered Me to Kill a Person’

  Open Access•Cecilia Wainryb•Human Development•2011

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• Not unlearning to care – positive moral development as a cornerstone of nonkilling

  Eveline Gutzwiller‐Helfenfinger•Journal of Peace Education•2018

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• Leveraging community psychology to counter harmful policies and foster well‐being in migrant children

  Open Access•Brad Olson, Noé Rubén Chávez et al.•American Journal of Community…•2025

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• Mental health, social functioning, and feelings of hatred and revenge of Kosovar Albanians one year after the war in Kosovo

  Open Access•Barbara Lopes Cardozo, Reinhard Kaiser et al.•Journal of Traumatic Stress•2003

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• Moral Judgment of Preschool Kuwaiti Children

  Open Access•Fatima Nazar, Kamiar Kouzekanani•Social Behavior and Personality…•2002

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• Effects of Provocation on Maltreated and Nonmaltreated Preschoolers' Understanding of Moral Transgressions

  Open Access•Judith G Smetana, Christopher Daddis et al.•Social Development•1999

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• The myth of the trauma/the trauma of the myth

  Thomas M Pick•Peace and Conflict Journal of…•2001

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• Contextual factors in children's social information processing

  Andrea Dorsch, Susan Philips Keane•Developmental Psychology•1994

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• Development of concern for others

  Carolyn Zahn-Waxler, Carolyn Zahn‐waxler et al.•Developmental Psychology•1992

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• Stories of illness and trauma survival

  Open Access•Michele L Crossley•Social Science & Medicine•1999

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