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The Effects of Societal Violence in War and Post-War Contexts

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The Palgrave Handbook of Sociocultural Perspectives on Global Mental Health

Abstract

Violent conflict can have devastating and lasting consequences for mental as well as physical health. Posttrauma interventions have been a key focus of the global mental health movement, but have also given rise to an extensive body of literature criticizing the inappropriate transfer of Western psychological assumptions to contexts where they may not be meaningful. This chapter focuses on what has emerged from this debate and argues for building a richer cross-cultural understanding of mental disorder in war and post-war situations by paying attention to the complex interrelations of trauma-focused pathways, psychosocial pathways, and local expressions of distress.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Global Health & Social Medicine, King’s College London, London, UK

    Hanna Kienzler

  2. Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA

    Peter Locke

Authors
  1. Hanna Kienzler
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  2. Peter Locke
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Psychology, Health and Society University of Liverpool, Liverpool, United Kingdom

    Ross G. White

  2. School of Social and Political Science, University of Edinburgh, Edinburgh, United Kingdom

    Sumeet Jain

  3. Department of Social Work and Social Care, University of Sussex, Brighton, United Kingdom

    David M.R. Orr

  4. CERMES3, Paris, France

    Ursula M. Read

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Kienzler, H., Locke, P. (2017). The Effects of Societal Violence in War and Post-War Contexts. In: White, R., Jain, S., Orr, D., Read, U. (eds) The Palgrave Handbook of Sociocultural Perspectives on Global Mental Health. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-39510-8_14

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