Handbook of political violence and children : psychosocial effects, intervention, and prevention policy

"Political violence has disrupted the lives of millions of children around the world. Responding to the gravity and scale of this phenomenon, this volume is intended to stimulate discussion and research on children's exposure to political violence and its psycho-social effects. It brings together for the first time in a single volume three areas of scientific activity in different disciplines: research on effects, programs for intervention, and laws and policy for prevention of political violence to children. Section I presents reviews of research on children exposed to political violence, including child soldiers and refugee children, as well as an examination of methodology and ethics. Section II contains research on interventions with children exposed to political violence, including individual therapy and school, family, and community interventions. Section III covers legal and social issues in deterring the recruitment of children to violent causes and protecting children in armed conflict. Pulling together the work of leading scholars and practitioners in the social sciences and international law, this volume argues that the prevention of political violence to children is possible, and it provides a crucial basis for ideas for prevention."--Provided by publisher "A major goal of this volume is to create a forum for the integration of three areas: theory and research on the effects of exposure to political violence (EPV), intervention to aid victims of EPV, and the prevention of EPV. It notes the lack of application of social science research and theory to prevention of EPV. The introductory chapter presents a description of the gap between international law forbidding political violence against children and recent increases in children's EPV, an overview of social science theory related to research and intervention, and descriptions of the contributions of each chapter. Section I, on research, presents reviews of research, original quantitative and qualitative research reports, and a chapter on methodology and ethics. Section II, on intervention, contains research on intervention with children who have experienced EPV in school, their family, and community contexts, and a chapter on issues related to individual therapy with such children. Section III, on prevention, provides chapters on legal and social issues in the prevention of recruitment of children as child soldiers in armed groups, on the role of the International Criminal Court in deterring children's EPV, and on the use of transitional justice for preventing recurrence of children's EPV. The concluding chapter reviews the major findings of the volume and emphasizes the need for prevention of EPV. It describes the legal framework for prevention, social science theory that could explain the prevalence of EPV despite legal and moral sanctions against it, possible means of protecting children in armed conflict, and possible future directions in research"-- Oxford Scholarship Online