Peltonen Kirsi | Akateeminen Kirjakauppa

This study focuses on mental health and social relations of children exposed to violence. Two distinct forms of violence, namely collective and interpersonal are studied. The participants in this study are Palestinian children exposed to military violence and Finnish and Danish children with and without exposure to parental violence. The main question is how experiences of violence are related to children’s mental health and social relations (Articles II and III). The effectiveness of interventions in conditions of military violence is reviewed. (ArticleI).

The main results show that both forms of violence impair a child’s psychological wellbeing in multiple ways. The findings suggest that the dose response effect is evident between both military and parental violence and mental health problems. Social relations, however, are somehow differently affected, experiences of military violence being more clearly harmful to social relations than experiences of parental violence. Positive social relations turned out to be a protective factor for mental health in situations involving military violence.

It is also shown that effective interventions among children exposed to collective violence exist. Knowing about protective and risk factors and efficacy intervention techniques derived from this knowledge is extremely important. The evidence of most effective interventions among children and adolescents exposed to violence will be achieved with methodologically and theoretically strong intervention research designs.