Psychotherapy: Children who grow up in war zones, unstable political situations or who live with constant terror threats will suffer from long-term effects to their psychological development, a conference was told at the weekend.
"There should be rules against sending children onto the frontline in conflict zones," said Dr Abigail Golomb, child psychoanalyst and child and adolescent psychiatrist from Tel Aviv, Israel who was addressing the International Association for Forensic Psychotherapy conference in Dublin Castle on Saturday.
Responding to a question about the effects on children of sectarian conflicts around primary schools in the North, Dr Golomb said: "I think it is wrong for parents to bring children into these situations. Children grow up confused by the conflict they witnessed between their parents and the police. I think we are not doing enough to develop interventions to prevent the development of excessive hate and revenge."
Dr Golomb said the trivialisation of constant violence in a war zone leaves children very confused. "Constant violence becomes trivial, mundane and people can no longer respond with the same intensity, moral indignation and repugnance and sense of tragedy. Children are confused by the difference between what is said - violence is bad - and what is conveyed by their family and society when their reactions to violence become indifference, detachment and trivialisation," she said.
"At the other extreme, some adults and many teenagers get a thrill not only from televised violence but from real violence," she said, citing an example of how teenagers who claimed to get a kick out of watching the night-time bombing of bridges in former Yugoslavia were more prone to alcohol and drug abuse later in life.
Dr Golomb questioned if terrorism coupled with media coverage of atrocities has "contributed to a qualitative long-term change in our society and our children". She believes constant exposure to traumatic events not only affects nations, families and children but the traumatic impact on the children's psychological development then has another impact on the society [ as the children grow up] which ultimately leads to a change in the development of society.
Terrorism thrives on disrespect:
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