Projects

Organized violence may have lasting and devastating effects on the individual and community level. Our previous studies in crisis regions including Uganda revealed consequences of violence on psychological functioning and proved the feasibility and efficacy of specialized approaches for the treatment of trauma-spectrum disorders. Within the present project, we examine former child soldiers who were abducted by a rebel army and war affected children who have not been abducted. Child soldiers have a reputation for ongoing aggressiveness within their families and communities after relocation to the home villages.

The present project aims at examining pathological consequences of conflict beyond PTSD and for the exemplary study of prototypical forms of psychological mechanisms, in particular, the relationship between trauma and the "cycle of violence" hypothesis, a relationship that is also relevant in societies not affected by war.

• Elbert, Thomas - Project head

• FB Psychologie