Product Description

In an interview granted years before September 11, 2001, Osama bin Laden has stated that he considers both soldiers and civilians of the enemy legitimate targets. That position is not unique, and the wars of the past century have proven with increasing numbers of civilian casualties. This book addresses the impact of war and extreme stress on civilian populations, as well as psychology's response to these phenomena. Contributors examined and developed interventions in locations including Africa, the Balkans, Afghanistan, Siberia, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia. Subjects include: women under the Taliban, AIDS patients faced with governmental denial, survivors of the Rwanda massacres, post-Pol Pot Cambodia, Nazi Holocaust victims, Kuwaitis after the Iraqi invasion, Argentine mothers of "disappeared" youth, and more. The authors examine such rehabilitation efforts as art therapy and role-playing in the former Yugoslavia, community mobilization in Angola, body-work for torture victims who have found their way to London, and counseling for former child prostitutes now in Vietnamese schools. Preventative measures include classes in ethnopolitical conflict resolution, reconciliation and "peace-building" activities, and the revival of indigenous practices after decades of repression.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1517535 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 344 pages

Review
“This volume is a contribution to the developing literature on the impact of war and extreme stress on civilian populations. Harrowing stories of survival are all faithfully retold within the context of colonization, racism, culture, and the occupation in which they took place. The question as to how to give appropriate clinical attention to these civilians is addressed in four parts. The case studies and assessment section casts a wide net over the opportunities for healing at both individual and communal levels. The section addresses not only the negative impacts of war on individuals, such as depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress, but it also investigates the legacy of warfare on a community level....[t]he work is extraordinary. I find myself extremely grateful for the research that has been conducted in this field which is so neglected, yet so sorely in need of attention.”–The AHP Perspective Magazine

Review
"Something has happened, within the lifetime of those born after the 1920s, regarding the human capacity to kill large numbers of people, to disrupt entire communities through organized acts of violence, and to wage war against civilians. We have left major portions of the world's populations scarred by these events, barely able to understand our collective inhumanity and sometimes frozen in our ability to respond. Healing is a profound and difficult undertaking. The approaches are as varied as the circumstances under which the victims described in this book were devastated, but the compassion and reflection in each chapter is remarkable. Krippner and McIntyre's book covers the range of most of the effective procedures used to treat the traumas of war. With healing comes the hope that the future need not repeat the horrors of the past. This collection is essential reading for those who would hope to understand how we can reweave humanity from the ravages of contemporary conflict." - Marc Pilisuk, Former President Society for the Study of Peace, Conflict and Violence American Psychological Association

About the Author
STANLEY KRIPPNER is Alan W. Watts Professor of Psychology at Saybrook Graduate School, San Francisco.

TERESA M. MCINTYRE is Professor of Health Psychology at the University of Minho, Lago do Paco, Braga, Portugal.

Customer Reviews

A Remarkable Book
Each chapter of this remarkable book is different, yet each describes the heroic efforts being made to alleviate human suffering due to the ravages of ethnic, religious, or political warfare. The chapter authors represent five continents, and they describe the attempts being made to treat the victims (primarily women and children) of war trauma. Especially poignant are the Angolan children's drawings that open each section of this book, and depict a "child's view" of death and destruction.

Incredible Book
Krippner and McIntyre have taken the time to look at the pschological aspects of war and violence on civilians. This is a very well researched book with a number of outstanding contributors. A must book for those interested in not only the short term but long term effects of war on humans.