A Social-Ecological, Process-Oriented Perspective on Political Violence and Child Development

Abstract

Youths' risk for adjustment problems in contexts of political violence is well-documented. However, outcomes vary widely, with many children functioning well. Accordingly, moving beyond further documenting the risk for many negative outcomes associated with living in contexts of political violence, a second generation of research is moving towards identifying the mechanisms and conditions that contribute to children's adjustment. Increasing support is emerging for understanding effects on children in terms of changes in the social contexts in which children live, and in the psychological processes engaged by these social ecologies. Selected themes are considered, including (a) the need to study multiple levels of the social ecology, (b) differentiating between the effects of exposure to contexts of political versus non-political violence, and (c) theories about explanatory processes. Selected research pertinent to these directions is reviewed, including findings from a six-wave longitudinal study on political violence and children in Northern Ireland.

Keywords: Child adjustment; Community violence; Emotional security; Family conflict; Political violence; Social ecological model.

Figure 1

Theoretical framework for social ecology of political violence in Northern Ireland. Adapted from Cummings et al. (2009).

Figure 2

Tests of the conceptual model of the role of children’s emotional security in relations between community violence and child adjustment. SAB sectarian antisocial behavior; NAB nonsectarian antisocial behavior; SDQ Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Standardized path coefficients reported. Error variances omitted from the model. *p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001.

Figure 3

Testing a social ecological model of relations between political violence and child outcomes. SAB = sectarian antisocial behavior; NAB= nonsectarian antisocial behavior; SDQ = Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire. Standardized path coefficients are reported. Solid lines denote significant paths; dashed lines indicate nonsignificant paths. *p<.05; **p<.01; ***p<.001.

Figure 4

Three-way Interaction: The Moderating Roles of Ethno-Political Group Membership and Strength of Ethno-political Identity on the Relation between Sectarian Antisocial Behavior and Emotion Problems.