Where the Political and the Psychological Meet

Moral Disruption and Children's Understanding of War

Datos Bibliográficos

ID4445203
AutoresSandra Rafman (McGill University Health Center-Montreal Children’s Hospital, Université du Québec à Montréal, Canada, autor de correspondencia)
Año2004
Volumen18
Número4
Páginas467-479
Fecha de publicación2004-12-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaInternational Relations (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0047-1178 • E-ISSN: 1741-2862
EditorialSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0047117804048491
OpenAlexW2112401553
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas3
Referencias citadas7

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