Gathering in Groups: Peace Advocacy in Health Professional Associations

Trauma, Violence, & Abuse

Haj‐Yahia

Feldman

et al. 2013

Research has documented a link between political violence and the functioning of individuals and communities. Yet, despite the hardships that political violence creates, evidence suggests remarkable fortitude and resilience within both individuals and communities. Individual characteristics that appear to build resilience against political violence include demographic factors such as gender and age, and internal resources such as hope, optimism, determination and religious convictions. Research has also documented the protective influence of individuals' connection to community and their involvement in work, school or political action. Additionally, research on political violence and resilience has increasingly focused on communities themselves as a unit of analysis. Community resilience, like individual resilience, is a process supported by various traits, capacities, and emotional orientations towards hardship. This review addresses various findings related to both individual and community resilience within political violence and offers recommendations for research, practice, and policy.2

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Individual and Collective Dimensions of Resilience Within Political Violence

Trauma, Violence, & Abuse

Haj‐Yahia

Feldman

et al. 2013

“…Recognising war and political violence as a fundamental public health problem and regarding its prevention as a central task of health professionals is thus essential (Hagopian et al 2009) …”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Conflict, health care and professional perseverance: A qualitative study in the West Bank

Hagopian

2011

Global Public Health

Self Cite

Conflict, health and professional perseverance: Effects of military occupation on healthcare delivery in the West Bank". Global Public Health 6.5 (2011), 520-533. AbstractThe past three decades have been a time of considerable global conflict, affecting over 50 countries and causing substantial impacts on civilian health. While many effects are direct results of violence, conflict also impinges on health through indirect means. The restricted mobility of health care staff and patients, targeting of health care workers, and stressful working conditions disrupt the ability of health care workers in conflict zones to function effectively. This paper explores the challenges experienced by health care workers in West Bank, Palestine, as well as their strategies of persistence. Research activities included participant observation and interviews with health care providers, which were then analysed for common themes.

“…In light of the far-reaching effects of political violence demonstrated in this review and elsewhere, prevention of political violence itself should be prioritized, as pointed out by other health scholars (Hagopian et al ., 2009, de Jong, 2010). In terms of secondary or tertiary prevention, or recovery from or management of effects of political violence, an increase in knowledge of the collective effects of political violence is particularly salient for mental health professionals focusing on conflict zones.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Political violence, collective functioning and health: A review of the literature

Medicine, Conflict and Survival

2013

Political violence is implicated in a range of mental health outcomes, including PTSD, depression, and anxiety. The social and political contexts of people’s lives, however, offer considerable protection from the mental health effects of political violence. In spite of the importance of people’s social and political environments for health, there is limited scholarship on how political violence compromises necessary social and political systems and inhibits individuals from participating in social and political life. Drawing on literature from multiple disciplines, including public health, anthropology, and psychology, this narrative review uses a multi-level, social ecological framework to enhance current knowledge about the ways that political violence affects health. Findings from over 50 studies were analyzed and used to build a conceptual model demonstrating how political violence threatens three inter-related domains of functioning: individual functioning in relationship to their environment; community functioning and social fabric; and governmental functioning and delivery of services to populations. Results illustrate the need for multilevel frameworks that move beyond individual pathology towards more nuanced conceptualizations about how political violence affects health; findings contribute to the development of prevention programs addressing political violence.