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Four principles of mental health research and psychosocial intervention for child soldiers: lessons learned in Nepal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Brandon A. Kohrt ,
Mark J. D. Jordans  and
Christopher A. Morley
Brandon A. Kohrt
Affiliation:
Departments of Psychiatry and Anthropology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, USA, email brandonkohrt@gmail.com Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO-Nepal), Kathmandu, Nepal
Mark J. D. Jordans
Affiliation:
Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO-Nepal), Kathmandu, Nepal Department of Research and Development, HealthNet TPO, Amsterdam, the Netherlands
Christopher A. Morley
Affiliation:
Department of Behavioral Sciences and Health Education, Rollins School of Public Health, Emory University, Atlanta, USA
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Abstract

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Child soldiers represent a challenging population for mental health and psychosocial support (MHPSS), as we have little evidence regarding their needs or the efficacy of interventions. Despite an increasing breadth of MHPSS interventions for children affected by war, very few are supported by evidence (Jordans et al, 2009). In a recent decade-long conflict, Maoists and the government of Nepal conscripted thousands of children to serve as soldiers, sentries, spies, cooks and porters. After the war ended in 2006, we began a project incorporating research into the development of interventions for former child soldiers. Through this work, conducted with Transcultural Psychosocial Organization (TPO) Nepal, we identified four key principles to guide research and intervention with child soldiers (Fig. 1). We present these principles as location- and context-specific examples of the growing effort to develop guidelines and recommendations for research and intervention in acute post-conflict settings (Inter-Agency Standing Committee, 2007; Allden et al, 2009).

Type
Thematic Paper — Child Soldiers
Information
International Psychiatry , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , July 2010 , pp. 57 - 59
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits noncommercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2010

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