Exposure to natural disasters has a devastating impact on the psychological and social well-being of children, adolescents and adults. It is now widely accepted that early psychosocial interventions that help to mitigate the effect of trauma, alleviating psychological distress, and strengthen resiliency must be an integral part of humanitarian assistance.
An innovative psychotrauma research- and outpatient clinic has been established by the University of Konstanz, Department of Clinical Psychology in joint collaboration with VIVO (victim`s voice), focusing on the treatment of refugees who have suffered traumatic events.
Terrorism is the “systematic threat or use of unpredicted violence by organized groups to achieve a political objective. Terrorism`s impact has been magnified by the deadliness of modern-day weapons and the ability of mass communications to inform the world of such acts” (Merriam Webster, 2000). This remarkably insightful definition, written more than a year prior to the devastating attacks on our nation, is supported by studies conducted by psychological researchers in the aftermath of these attacks.
What to Expect After Trauma: Possible reactions in elementary school, middle school and high school students and teachers Guidelines for teachers.
When a natural disaster affects a community, the resulting trauma can reverberate even with those not directly affected by the disaster. Disasters of this type can be sudden and overwhelming. In addition to the often catastrophic toll on lives and property, a disaster like a tsunami(tidal wave), hurricane or fire can have an impact on those who have lost loved ones and even those who feel more vulnerable as a result of learning about the disaster.
Tsunamis such as those that recently hit South Asia can have serious public health consequences. This page provides information on those public health issues.
Current knowledge about post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) has sensitized the public and the mental health community to the damaging potential of exposure to traumatic events.
The goal of the International Trauma Treatment Program is to undermine the use of torture through establishing an international network of practitioners who fight torture by transforming torture victims into survivors. By preparing practitioners from war zones to treat, and to train other practitioners to treat, trauma survivors in their home countries, we seek to leverage our resources by creating a snowball effect that greatly increases the number of practitioners worldwide who fight torture.
The International Federation of Health and Human Rights Organisations (IFHHRO) was established as a network of organisations with similar human rights agendas, upon an initiative of the Johannes Wier Foundation (the Netherlands) and Physicians for Human Rights (USA) in 1989. The organisation has affiliated and observer organisations; in 1996 the organisation was transformed into a federation.
In recent years, awareness has grown of the necessity of understanding the inner world of refugees (in particular traumatized refugees), immigrants, and their children. These groups have come in increasing numbers to Scandinavia, and otherwise confident and capable professionals in all arenas of mental health, social work and other fields have often felt inadequate when working with them.
This Handbook presents the approved DMH interventions used to provide support both at your Red Cross chapter and on a disaster relief operation (DRO) that spans multiple affected chapters. You will use DMH interventions to support individuals, families, neighborhoods, communities and Red Cross workers across the continuum of disaster preparedness, response and recovery.
Historically, the popular understanding of torture has helped to maintain a gender-biased image of the torture victim: it is the male who pervades the political and public sphere and thus it is the male who is likely to be targeted by state violence and repression.
Children are particularly at risk of harm and ill-treatment resulting from deprivation of liberty, a situation which is clearly recognized in international standards. This Handbook sets out the relevant provisions of the human rights standards that apply to monitoring places of detention for children, and provides guidance on implementing these in practice. PRI has a long experience in assisting states to implement international standards in the field of penal reform and juvenile justice and is well-placed to provide this expert guidance.
Recent years have seen a great increase in the number of programmes established to provide psychological help for refugees and victims of wartime violence in both Western and non-Western countries. Such programmes have, in the main, shared the conceptual and theoretical framework developed in Western psychology and psychiatry around issues of trauma and stress.
Over the past five years, Australia has accepted approximately 50 000 individuals through its Humanitarian program. To integrate these individuals specialised medical and psychological services have been established in major centres of Australia.
Since the 1980s onwards, voluntary repatriation has been promoted by governments, NGOs and UN agencies as the ultimate solution to refugees displacement. Policy makers, donor countries, practitioners and researchers have typically disregarded, or at least overlooked, the meaning of repatriation from the returnees point of view. It is assumed that beyond the technical aspects of repatriation, the return of forced migrants to their country of origin does not raise any particular challenge to those concerned. A returnee is perceived as the reverse condition of a refugee. While refugees are seen as uprooted and displaced, returnees are considered to be naturally re-rooted and placed back in the right order of things.
This document is based on research conducted in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka between January and April 2001. (for historical reference)
Repatriation as a part of reconstructive process in torture survivors (interpersonal and intrapersonal process). Made in collaboration with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency.
VIVO works to overcome and prevent traumatic stress and its consequences within the individual as well as the community, safeguarding the rights and dignity of people affected by violence and conflict. vivo further aims to strengthen local resources for the development of peaceful, human rights-based, societal ways of living.
Narrative report from 6th International Conference for Health and Human Rights – held in Cavtat, Croatia 21-24 June 2001.
FIACAT brings together ACAT national associations from four continents, and has been serving them since 1987. FIACAT helps the ACAT network to thrive by encouraging exchanges between the various groups. It initiates joint actions and campaigns and organises regional and international training seminars. FIACAT represents ACATs in international and regional bodies or in Coalitions.
The Handbook is targeted at groups and individuals working in governement and non-governemental sectors, with some prior knowledge of the Conventions provisions, but who would like to know more. It should be stressed, however, that for legal or other experts on the Convention, the Handbook may not offer much additional information.
Western health professionals and the public have a misguided image of war and its aftermath that is often far removed from the actual experience of non-westernised societies. A British psychiatrist looks at the effects of war and at the belief that the emotional reactions of victims of war should be modified.
The “International Conference on Children, Torture and Other Forms of Violence: Facing the Facts, Forging the Future” brought together 183 participants from 73 countries from all regions, representing a wide range of international and national NGOs, other organisations and observers from governments and international governmental organisations.
Action by Christians for the Abolition of Torture (ACAT-France) is an ecumenical organisation fighting against torture and the death penalty around the world and defending asylum rights (only available in French).
These guidelines are based on the International Federations publication, Psychological Support: best practices from Red Cross and Red Crescent programmes (2001), and other existing literature. They are intended as suggestions only and should be considered a source of inspiration rather than a standard checklist applicable for all emergency situations.
This leaflet is designed as a practical tool for delegates before, during and after their mission. Its aim is to help them to recognize, prevent and reduce stress in the Field.
This tool is applicable to forcibly displaced populations in humanitarian crisis as a result of persecution, war, and conflict. Given the evolution of humanitarian relief work, peace keeping and peace enforcing operations, increasingly, humanitarian protection and assistance is extended to besieged and non-displaced populations.
The objective of this Protocol is to establish a system of regular visits undertaken by independent international and national bodies to places where people are deprived of their liberty, in order to prevent torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.
DIGNITY’s vision is a world without torture. Their mission is to be the leading global organization for research-based prevention of torture, rehabilitation of traumatized victims, and documentation of serious human rights violations. (DIGNITY, former known as RCT.) DIGNITY is headquartered in Copenhagen and currently employs around 140 staff globally. We have active partnerships with more than 30 local and international NGOs and research institutions around the world.
REDRESS helps torture survivors obtain justice and reparation. Reparation (including rehabilitation and compensation) plays an important part in the rebuilding of the lives of those who have suffered torture. Seeking legal redress also helps to combat the practice of torture by exposing torturers and the regimes which support them.
OMEGA intend to provide support, care and treatment for persons who have been victims of organised violence and systematic health and human rights violations, as well as for their relatives and children, in the social, legal, cultural, spiritual, medical, psychological and psychotherapeutic spheres.
In 1991 the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) launched the Psychological Support Programme (PSP) as a crosscutting programme under the Health & Care Division. To assist the IFRC with the implementation of the programme, the Danish Red Cross and IFRC established the Reference Centre for Psychological Support as a centre of excellence in 1993
Reporting on the work of the Psychosocial Working Group. (A Joint Academic-Humanitarian Agency Initiative regarding response to the Psychosocial Needs of Refugees and War-affected Populations)
This document summarises the present position of the Department of Mental Health and Substance Dependence on assisting populations exposed to extreme stressors, such as refugees, internally displaced persons, disaster survivors and terrorism-, war- or genocide-exposed populations.
A book published on the occasion of the IRCT’s 20th anniversary, in 2005, tells the history of the organisation through personal tales and testimonies.
Psychological trauma is not like physical trauma: people do not passively register the impact of external forces but engage with them in an active and social way.
Useful resources and information to guide interventions (kept for historical reasons).
PsySR uses psychological knowledge and skills to promote peace with social justice at the community, national and international levels.
Torture Abolition and Survivors Support Coalition International (TASSC) is the only organization founded by and for survivors of torture. It was established in 1998, on the guiding principles that torture is a crime against humanity and that survivors are the strongest and most effective voice in the campaign to end the practice of torture.
Working to improves the lives and protects the rights of women, children and youth displaced by conflict and crisis. We research their needs, identify solutions and advocate for programs and policies to strengthen their resilience and drive change in humanitarian practice. Since our founding in 1989, we have been a leading expert on the needs of refugee women and children, and the policies that can protect and empower them.
The purpose of this fact sheet is to tell what is known about the impact of violence and disasters on children and adolescents and suggest steps to minimize long-term emotional harm.
This Field Manual is intended for mental health workers and other human service providers who assist survivors following a disaster. This pocket reference provides the basics of disaster mental health, with numerous specific and practical suggestions for workers.
Health issues related to changes in lifestyle are emerging with the long-term settlement of refugee communities. Reduced physical activity, diets high in fats and sugars, and smoking place refugee groups, particularly those from South Asian, Middle Eastern and African groups, at risk of cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes. Including refugee groups and their ethnic communities in mainstream prevention, screening and intervention services and iv Refugee Health Care: A handbook for health professionals programmes is of importance in maintaining good health outcomes for settled communities.
People who are seeking asylum are not a homogeneous population. Coming from different countries and cultures, they have had, in their own and other countries, a wide range of experiences that may affect their mental and physical health and nutritional state. In the United Kingdom they face the effects of poverty, dependence, and lack of cohesive social support. All these factors undermine both physical and mental health.
Some 450 million people worldwide currently suffer from some form of mental disease or brain condition, but almost half the countries in the world have no explicit mental health policy and nearly a third have no program for coping with the rising tide of brain-related disabilities.
We all use the word “trauma” in every day language to mean a highly stressful event. But the key to understanding traumatic events is that it refers to extreme stress that overwhelms a person`s ability to cope.
There is a growing awareness among healthcare providers that traumatic experiences are widespread and that it is common for people who have been traumatized to develop medical and psychological symptoms associated with the experience.
The “Field Guide to Child Soldier Programs in Emergencies” is one in a series compiled by Save the Children (SC) as part of its Children and War Capacity Building Initiative. The SC Children in Crisis Unit developed this initiative in order to support SC staff in responding to the priority care and protection needs of children and adolescents during new emergencies and in situations of chronic armed conflict or displacement.
Training Module on Women`s Traditional Conflict Resolution and Mediating Practices.
The Centre for Humanitarian Psychology (CHP) is an international organisation whose aim is to provide psychological support to humanitarian workers in the field. We work through a network of professionals who are both psychologists and familiar with humanitarian work, trainers, partners and volunteers, in Europe and in the field. (also in French and Spanish)
This report outlines the know problems of child soldiers and the different forms of recruiting. The report zooms in on the Colombia situation and the motives with which Colombian children join these armed groups. Finally there’s a list of actions that can be taken to change this situation and the contributions of War Child in these actions.
To help survivors of torture begin to rebuild their lives. Sharing expertise with partner organisations in the UK and internationally, Freedom from Torture operates as a centre of learning and knowledge in the care, treatment and protection of torture survivors.
Save the Children began in the aftermath of the First World War and the Russian revolution to help refugee and displaced children across Europe. Since then, wars, especially civil wars, have increased: More than 50 of them were raging in 1995. A central feature of these conflicts is that 80-90 percent of the victims are civilians, most of them women and children (for historical reference).
Understanding the modem use of torture entails the dispelling of myths about its nature and purpose. There remains a perception that torture is practiced randomly, that it is punishment carried to an extreme, that it is performed by psychopaths or sadists, that it exists outside of governmental responsibility and is practiced by “less civilized” societies.
Focus on the ground-breaking report by Graça Machel which drew global attention to the devastating impact of armed conflict on children. Millions of children are caught up in conflicts in which they are not merely bystanders, but targets. Some fall victim to a general onslaught against civilians; others die as part of a calculated genocide. Still other children suffer the effects of sexual violence or the multiple deprivations of armed conflict that expose them to hunger or disease. Just as shocking, thousands of young people are cynically exploited as combatants. (78 pages, .pdf, for historical reference)
Historically very few measures have been taken to address sexual violence against women committed during armed conflict, it is not true to say that there has always been complete silence about the issue. Belligerents have often capitalized upon the abuse of their women to garner sympathy and support for their side, and to strengthen their resolve against the enemy. Usually, the apparent concern for these women vanishes when the propaganda value of their suffering diminishes, and they are left without any prospect of redress (for historical reference).
This manual has been created for professional use, to assist health practitioners in conducting evaluations of asylum applicants. It is not intended for general audiences because of the traumatic nature of the contents. It is important for any reader of this document to be prepared to process the strong emotional reactions that this material may evoke.
The Guidelines provide basic advice on appropriate action, particularly preventive, and are also intended to encourage active reflection and discussion between colleagues. They seek to promote attitudinal changes in relation to sexual violence where these are an obstacle, to improve or initiate services that address psychosocial as well as health needs, and, overall, to create an awareness and sensitivity to the special needs and concerns of refugees who have been subjected to sexual violence. (102 pages, .pdf for historical reference)
This resource guide for College Educators is offered as assistance to educators as they help students to become aware of the history and reality of refugees and asylees and to prepare for work among these newcomers as social work professionals.