Special Section

Children: Ethnic and Political Violence

Gary W. LaddUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Ed CairnsUniversity of Ulster at Coleraine

LADD, GARY W., and CAIRNS, ED. Children: Ethnic and Political Violence. CHILD DEVELOPMENT,1996, 67, 14-18. Violence stemming from ethnic and political tensions is a problem of increas-ing proportions throughout the world, and many indicators show that large numbers of childrenare directly or indirectly exposed to war, political repression, torture, and terrorism. There isgrowing evidence to suggest that children are at risk under these conditions, and that the conse-quences of growing up amid danger, chaos, and deprivation can be severe. The articles containedin this special section were assembled to foster greater awareness of this important topic amongthe readers oi Child Development and, hopefully, stimulate new research on ethnic and politicalviolence in many of the disciplines that are represented within the Society for Research in ChildDevelopment.

Violence stemming from ethnic and po-litical tensions is a problem of increasingproportions, and its effects are being felt ei-ther directly or indirectly by nearly all na-tions in the world. Statistics gathered by theUnited Nations indicate that during 1993alone, there were more than 32 major armedconflicts and 15 minor armed conflicts foughtwithin the Americas, Africa, Asia, and Eu-rope. Thus, war, political repression, torture,and terrorism kill, maim, and disable mil-lions each year, and even larger numbers ofpersons are uprooted and displaced by theseconflicts.

Sadly, there is growing evidence toshow that this form of violence is taking astaggering toll on the world's children.Many indicators suggest that large numbersof children are living in societies where eth-nic and political violence are a common oc-currence—a fact of life. It is also clear thatchildren are at risk under these conditions,and that the consequences of growing upamid danger, chaos, and deprivation can besevere (Garbarino, Kostelny, & Dubrow,

1991). Children who are exposed to ethnicand political violence are more likely to de-velop a variety of difficulties, includingmental health disorders, behavior problems,sleep disturbances, somatic complaints, andaltered levels of cognitive functioning andmoral reasoning (Baker, 1990; Cairns, 1987;Dawes, Tredoux, & Feinstein, 1989; Dodge& Raundalen, 1991; Kinzie, Sack, Angell,Manson, & Rath, 1986; Punamaki, 1989;Straker, 1988).

Growing Up Amid Ethnie andPolitical Violence: A Global Problemof Increasing Proportions

Modern wars have become increasinglylethal for civilians—estimates suggest thatcivilian casualties have increased during thetwentieth century from approximately 19%of all casualties in World War I to 48% inWorld War II to more than 80% during the1980s (Goldson, 1993; Grant, 1991; Sivard,1987). As a result, increasing numbers ofchildren are directly exposed to ethnic andpolitical violence. It is no longer uncom-

Preparation of this article was supported in part by a grant from the National Institute ofMental Health (MH-49233) to Gary W. Ladd. We are very grateful to Susan Somerville forher suppori and encouragement throughout the preparation of this special section, and for herthoughtful comments on this manuscript. Special thanks to Helena Lin, who helped us researchand confirm the factual content of this article.

[Child Development, 1996, 67,14-18. © 1996 by the Society for Research in Child Development, Inc.All rights reserved. 0009-3920/96/6701-0001$01.00]

mon for children to be bystanders caught incrossfire (Cairns, 1987), targets of militaryoperations (United Nations, 1994), or activeparticipants in war (e.g., gang members ormilitary conscripts; see Dodge, 1991). It hasbeen estimated that, over the last 10 years,more than 200,000 children have been re-cruited to participate in armed conflicts (e.g.,Benjamin, 1994). Regardless of their role insuch conflicts, it is clear that children areoften counted among the victims. During thelast decade alone. It has been estimated that10 million children have been traumatizedby the effects of war, 1.5 million childrenhave died in armed conflicts, and an ad-ditional 4 million have been disabled,maimed, blinded, or have suffered braindamage (Benjamin, 1994).

Even larger numbers of children are in-directly affected by ethnic and political vio-lence. What has become increasingly clearis that, in today's world, children need notbe participants in violent acts and situationsto be affected by them. Even when childrenare shielded from participation in such con-flicts, many will witness violent events indi-rectly (e.g., hear shelling, see riots on TV),listen to others talk about violence, lose fam-ily members or know relatives who havebeen traumatized, or be abruptly displacedfrom their homes and communities.

The indirect effects of political and eth-nic violence are well illustrated by theworld's refugee situation. As of the late1980s, estimates place the number of refu-gees who fled across international borders inexcess of 14 million, of which 80% arewomen and children (Allodi, 1989; Commit-tee on Labor and Human Resources, U.S.Senate, 1990). An additional 16 million peo-ple worldwide are thought to be "internallydisplaced" within their own countries. Thistype of displacement occurs when peopleflee their homes and communities to seekmore secure surroundings within their ownnational borders (see Ajdukovic & Ajdu-kovic, 1993). Persons displaced in this man-ner are often victims of political repressionor wars perpetrated upon them by their owngovernments—a form of ethnic and politicalviolence that has reached such proportionsthat it is now monitored along with inter-national conflicts by the United Nations.Within these two populations (i.e., refugeesand displaced persons), totaling more than30 million people, it is estimated that 20%are children under 5 years of age, and be-tween 45% and 50% are children under theage of 15. Mortality rates in these popula-

Ladd and Cairns IS

tions are far in excess of what is observedfor children during "normal" times in devel-oping nations, and appear highest for chil-dren living in internally displaced popula-tions (Committee on Labor and HumanResources, U.S. Senate, 1990). Children whosurvive these migrations are often trauma-tized by the violence they have been forcedto flee, or by the stress of resettlement (seeAhearn & Athey, 1991). Even more dis-turbing is the possibility that the scope ofthese problems has been underestimateddue to a lack of data in many of the world'strouble spots, unreliable reporting practices,and the tendency for governments to concealpolitically motivated violence and ethnicatrocities.

Need for Research on Ethnie andPolitical Violence

Unfortunately, the research literature onethnic and political violence is at a veryearly stage, and much remains to be learnedabout how this type of violence affects chil-dren and their development. Even more un-fortunate is the fact that this topic has notcaptured the attention of developmentalistsin any lasting way, nor has it evolved into avisible or prominent field within the devel-opmental sciences.

Major world wars, and the great inhu-manities that are perpetrated in them, havetended to produce considerable soul-searching about the nature of human beingsand the future of civilization. In this context,prominent psychologists such as WilhamJames (1910) and Jean Piaget (1934) havecondemned war and tried to focus the scien-tific community's attention on the risks andconsequences that war poses for children.Postwar sentiment has also characterizedchildren as a solution for the world's ills—ameans by which to control the future andcreate better lives for subsequent genera-tions. This "Salvationist" view of the child,as Sears (1975) termed it, has had a majorimpact on both funding and research infields such as medicine and child develop-ment during postwar periods.

Unfortunately, this impetus—that is,war-induced concern for children's develop-ment and welfare—has not yielded an en-during community of researchers who aredevoted to understanding the effects of po-litical and ethnic violence. Rather, interestin political and ethnic violence and its ef-fects on children has tended to rise duringmajor conflicts, such as World Wars I and II,

16 Child Development

and dissipate during postwar periods. Al-though more prevalent and frequent, smallerwars conducted between nations and vio-lence motivated by ethnic and political is-sues within national borders have attractedless attention from the scientific community.As a result, research on ethnic and politicalviolence and its effects on children has beensporadic, and evidence has been slow to ac-cumulate. One consequence of this state ofaffairs is that few, if any, longitudinal studieshave been conducted on children's exposureto ethnic and political violence; even less isknown about the long-term impact of thistype of violence on children's development.

Especially in Western nations, such asthe United States, research on ethnic andpolitical violence has not been a priorityamong researchers who are interested inchildren and child development. Rather, de-velopmentalists have tended to construe vio-lence rather narrowly, often excluding formsthat may have ethnic or political origins, andhave tended to study problems that are lesscontroversial, such as aggression within vari-ous socializing contexts (e.g., school, media,family, peer group) and violence that is re-lated to crime and criminality (e.g., conductdisorders, delinquency).

There are a number of reasons why de-velopmentalists have been slow to under-take research on ethnic and political vio-lence. One obvious reason is that researchon ethnic or politically motivated violenceposes certain risks for investigators. Giventhat the world's "trouble spots" (e.g., inter-national conflicts; countries experiencingpolitical unrest, civil wars; cities crippled byterrorism, riots, etc.) serve as the principal"sites" for this type of investigation, re-search on political and ethnic violence is in-herently dangerous. Moreover, in such loca-tions, it is often difficult if not impossibleto gather data systematically or implementconventional data-gathering strategies. An-other potential deterrent is that such re-search often poses ethical and political di-lemmas for scientists. Although scientistsmay wish to enter violent contexts with nopreconceived ideas or remain neutral on po-litical issues, it may in practice be difficultto do so in highly charged situations or con-texts in which children's health and welfareare at stake. Yet, to take sides, or conductprojects that can be perceived as takingsides, may put investigators at risk and raisequestions about the "objectivity" of their in-vestigations. Finally, the nature of ethnic

and political violence and the cultural con-text in which it occurs may pose difficultiesfor researchers, or discourage active pro-grams of investigation. Researchers mayhave difficulty obtaining access to politicallytroubled areas, and their investigative aimsand interests may not always be welcomed.Governments may, for example, wish to con-ceal acts of ethnic and political violence toavoid censure or sanctions imposed by othernations. Rare or incipient forms of violence(e.g., acts of international terrorism withinthe United States) may be difficult for inves-tigators to study systematically, or fall to sus-tain ongoing programs of research. Otherforms of ethnic and political violence maybe difficult to identify and investigate be-cause they are so well embedded in the fab-ric of a culture (e.g., acts stemming fromprejudice or discrimination) that they are im-plicitly condoned or denied.

Another impediment to this emergentfield is that research on ethnic and politicalviolence does not have an established iden-tity within contemporary scientific commu-nities (e.g., professional societies), nor doesits mission fit well into national and interna-tional research priorities and funding "cate-gories." It is somewhat surprising that sucha void would exist when one considers themany disciplines that social scientists haveinvented in response to other political oreconomic "causes" (e.g., industrial psychol-ogy, occupational psychology, military psy-chology, etc.), few of which are as central tohuman welfare as world peace. One prom-ising development is that the AmericanPsychological Association has recently es-tablished a Division entitled "PeacePsychology" (i.e.. Division 48). Hopefully,this Division will provide a context for newresearch and funding opportunities—spe-cifically, a nexus for cross-disciplinary sci-entific collaboration, and a staging area fornew research initiatives. Similar organiza-tions and funding priorities are needed inother professional societies and fundingagencies that are interested in children'swelfare, including those focused on health,education, and psychological development.

Potential Benefits of Research onEthnic and Political Violence

A number of compelling arguments canbe made for the establishment of an endur-ing research community that is devoted tounderstanding the effects of ethnic and po-litical violence on children. First, such a

Ladd and Cairns 17

community would further establish the im-portance, legitimacy, and visibility of thishne of inquiry, and provide a forum for dis-cussing emergent issues, controversies, andfindings. Second, the dissemination of find-ings by such a community of researcherswould help to raise scientific and public con-sciousness about ethnic and political vio-lence throughout the world and foster aninternational awareness of the needs ofchildren and families who are victimized bythese forms of violence. Third, a concertedresearch effort in this domain would buildan empirical knowledge base that will notonly expand our understanding of ethnic andpolitical violence and its effects on children,but also provide a foundation upon which tolaunch action research and formulate pre-vention and intervention programs. Fourth,because ethnic and political violence hasbeen underinvestigated, studies conductedin this domain offer an opportunity to extendour knowledge about development underadverse circumstances and less than optimalrearing conditions. Like research conductedon child abuse, poverty, and other forms ofadversity, dangerous and violent conditionsoffer important lessons about subjects suchas risk and resilience, and can teach us agreat deal about psychological mechanismssuch as stress, coping, and support (see arti-cles included in this section; Garbarino,Kostelny, & Dubrow, 1991). However, weshould also recognize that by investigatingethnic or politically motivated violence, re-searchers stand to gain information about aunique form of stressor, and thus extendknowledge beyond that which has beenlearned by investigating phenomena such ascrime, delinquency, and other forms of vio-lence and aggression. Essentially, studiesconducted on ethnic and political violenceoffer the opportunity to expand our under-standing of a particular class of violence andits effects within differing cultural contexts,value systems, and ideologies. Finally, infor-mation that is gathered globally on ethnicand political violence may have applicationsto more localized problems. For example,some of the findings obtained in past re-search on dislocations and refugee popula-tions parallel those obtained with foster and/or abused children; in both cases, it wouldappear that separating children from theirparents is to be avoided if at all possible, andthat when such separation does take placechildren adjust better when their new sur-roundings are highly similar to those theyare accustomed to (Ressler, Boothby, &Steinbock, 1988).

Objectives for the Special Section onEthnic and Political Violence

The idea for this special section grewout of conversations that occurred betweenits editors at the ISSBD meetings that wereheld in Minneapolis during 1991. Our aim inassembling this section was to foster greaterawareness of this important topic among thereaders of Child Development and, hope-fully, stimulate new research on ethnic andpolitical violence in many of the disciplinesthat are represented within the SRCD. Wealso intended this section as a place for re-searchers to present and discuss (a) issues,questions, and domains within this area ofinquiry that are in need of empirical at-tention; (b) strengths and weaknesses inexisting knowledge; (c) new theoreticalperspectives and empirical findings;(d) methodological problems and potentialstrategies for overcoming these barriers.

To achieve these aims, scholars frommore than 30 nations were invited to submitempirical papers on a broad range of topicsrelated to ethnic and political violence andits effects on children and youth. The eightpapers that were accepted for publication inthis issue provide a look at only a few ofthe many programs of research on ethnic andpolitical violence that are currently underway in various locations throughout theworld. In addition to the commentary byCairns and Dawes that is included in thissection, readers who develop an interest inthis area may wish to consult several otherrecent publications that contain reviews ofresearch, empirical articles, and case studieson various forms of ethnic and political vio-lence. These sources include special issuesof the International Journal of MentalHealth (1988-1989) and Child Abuse andNeglect (1993), a special section in the Inter-national Journal of Behavioral Develop-ment (1994, vol. 17, no. 4), and books editedby Dodge and Raundalen (1991) and Leavittand Fox (1993).

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Ajdukovic, M., & Ajdukovic, D. (1993). Psycholog-ical well-being of refugee children. ChildAbuse and Neglect, 17, 843-854.

Allodi, F. (1989). The children of political perse-cution and torture: A psychological study of aLatin American refugee community. Interna-tional Journal of Mental Health, 18, 3-15.

18 Child Development

Baker, A. (1990). The psychological impact of theIntifada on Palestinian children in the occu-pied West Bank and Gaza: An exploratorystudy. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry,60, 496-505.

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