War-Related Stressors

The history of humans is a history of intergroup conflict, whether it be between tribes, city–states, kingdoms, or nations. It is estimated that 2 million children have been killed due to war-related injuries, 4 million have been disabled, 1 million orphaned, and 12 million dislocated from their homes (UNICEF, 1996).
The Durant’s (1968) after writing The History of Civilization concluded that “war is one of the constants in history” and that “in the last 3,421 years of recorded history only 268 have seen no war.” Population explosions, the breaking up of the colonial empires, the rise of nationalism, tribalism, and religious fundamentalism have spurred people to define boundaries more exclusively with subsequent conflicts with neighbors. As
The impact of war-related stressors may occur as the direct result of physical and visual impact, media exposure, or through the various forms of interpersonal experiences — the wounding and killing of loved ones, the brutal rape and torturing of innocent victims, malnutrition, starvation, disease and emotional contagion, and social disruption and the loss of peer related experiences, routinized family, school and community life. In some instances children may be kidnapped and forced to participate as child warriors in violent acts under the threat of losing their own lives. On children as to how they are different from adults
Children’s responses are mediated through a developing organism continuing to mature physically, cognitively, emotionally, and socially, and who is usually living within a family system. The child is still struggling with issues of
The young child lacks the cognitive capacities available to the adult.
His/her theories are ego-centric. They are rarely able to talk about their traumatic experiences. Unable to transform their internal conflicts and feelings into words, they are expressed in repetitive re-enactments, intrusive visual images, trauma specific fears aggressive and regressive activities, and other behavioural states.
A number of authors have noted that older children are more vulnerable than younger children to the psychological effects of war (Bloch, Silber, & Perry,
1956; Green et al., 1991). The younger child’s psychological response resonates with the parental response as they have less cognitive capacity to independently evaluate the dangers. Vizek-Vidovi et al. (2000) compared younger children
(grades 2–5) with an older group (grades 6–8) in Croatia, and found that the older children manifested more depressive and anxiety reactions.
Children who are in general not exposed to war, i.e if they are not born in war-like conditions, they find it more difficult to cope up in war-like situations and exhibit Post Traumatic Stress Disorder for very long periods of time. While the ones born in war-torn areas grow mentally tough and