Childhood in the shadow of war: filled with work and play

Personal play identity and the fundamental elements in its development process

“…In particular, studies reveal that war, natural disasters, or internal conflicts and violence cause mental disorders due to post-traumatic stress in children (Berman, 2001 ; Catani et al, 2008 ), and they also negatively alter the nature and structure of play processes (Chazan & Cohen, 2010 ;Feldman, 2019 ; Paksuniemi et al, 2015 ). Although it is known that children continue to play even during war (Paksuniemi et al, 2015 ) and war cannot constitute an impediment for play, children do engage in play in an unsafe environment, in which they are subjected to acute stress (Feldman, 2019 ). Children exposed to this type of violence experience long-term mental and physical health problems and traumas (Berman, 2001 ); inevitably they reflect their negative experiences in their play.…”

“…According to Wang et al ( 2020 ), the closure of schools upon the COVID-19 pandemic, the physical and mental health of 180 million primary and middle school children and 47 million preschool children could potentially be adversely affected, due to less physical activity, long-term screen viewing, irregular sleep, unsuitable diets, and weight gain. However, play has a therapeutic power (Chazan & Cohen, 2010 ; Post et al, 2019 ) and is known to survive not only through destructive social events, such as war and terrorism (Feldman, 2019 ; Paksuniemi et al, 2015 ) but also in natural disasters (Kousky, 2016 ). In this context, although the healthy development of play identity is affected by negative social events or natural disasters, the healing power of play within its own dynamics is considered to have the potential to treat the damage that might occur in play identity.…”

“…Besides ethology, play is related to the economy that directly affects child health and development (Boyden & Dercon, 2012 ), and the technology that guides the change of the game/toy structure (Goldstein, 2011 ). In addition to the former, personal experiences, play memories (Eck, 2017 ; Sandberg, 2001 , 2003 ), socio-cultural effects (Elkonin, 2005 ; Vygotsky, 1978 ), experiences of social pain such as war and terror (Catani et al, 2008 ; Feldman, 2019 ; Paksuniemi et al, 2015 ) together with the individual and social identities created by these common experiences (Tajfel & Turner, 2004 ; Turner, 2010 ) show the interaction of play with psychology and sociology. From this perspective, play that Lakoff ( 1973 ) defined about half a century ago as a fuzzy concept can also be considered as a dynamic and complex concept having a strong interaction with many disciplines.…”

Meenutused nukkudest ja nendega mängimisest 1940.–1950. aastate Eestis

“…(Sandberg & Vuorinen 2010;Akar-Vural et al 2009;Brannen 2004 et al). Uurimustes Teise maailmasõja ajal kasvanud laste elust tuginetakse samuti tänaste täiskasvanute mälestustele (Paksuniemi et al 2015;Moshenska 2019). Neis tuuakse välja, et vaatamata rohketele kohustustele ja vaesusele leidsid lapsed ikkagi aega mängimiseks.…”

Social Constructions of Childhood: From Not-Yet-Adults to People in Their Own Right

“…Black children were found to deploy "he-said-she-said" talk as a mode of navigating conflicts, constructing social order, and negotiating personal identities (Goodwin 1990 (Corsaro, 1997;Valentine 2004;Jirata and Kjørholt, 2015;Paksuniemi et. al., 2015).…”