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Children and Adolescents in Conflict and Displacement

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Child, Adolescent and Family Refugee Mental Health

Abstract

Today, one in six young people lives in a conflict zone. Children and adolescents may experience armed conflict as witnesses and targets, participants and protestors, and victims and survivors. Young people also make up about half of the world’s refugees and internally displaced persons. Through conflict and displacement, these girls and boys encounter a tremendous array of risks to their survival and well-being while also contributing to the resilience of their families and communities. This chapter draws on the social ecological framework to conceptualize how children’s and adolescents’ social environments shape their experiences of, and responses to, armed conflict and forced migration. It also explores how factors at the community, family, interpersonal, and individual levels contribute to distress and resilience. The chapter highlights the vulnerability of subpopulations, such as unaccompanied and separated minors, young people associated with armed forces and groups, and young people in conflict with the law. The chapter concludes with a reflection on the need for holistic interventions designed to respond to this complex interplay of risk, protective, and promotive factors.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Political Science, Brown University, Providence, RI, USA

    Cyril Bennouna

  2. Brown School, Washington University in St. Louis, St. Louis, MO, USA

    Lindsay Stark

  3. Program on Forced Migration and Health, Columbia University, New York, NY, USA

    Michael G. Wessells

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  1. Cyril Bennouna
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  2. Lindsay Stark
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  3. Michael G. Wessells
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Correspondence to Lindsay Stark .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry, George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA

    Suzan J. Song

  2. Public Health Section (Division of Resilience and Solutions), United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Genève, Geneve, Switzerland

    Peter Ventevogel

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Bennouna, C., Stark, L., Wessells, M.G. (2020). Children and Adolescents in Conflict and Displacement. In: Song, S., Ventevogel, P. (eds) Child, Adolescent and Family Refugee Mental Health. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-45278-0_2

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