Skip to main content

Children, Adolescents, and Families Exposed to Torture and Related Trauma

  • Chapter
The Mental Health Consequences of Torture

Abstract

The child and adolescent population of South Africa will be the first generation to enter into adulthood in the postapartheid period. The academic achievement and economic productivity of these young people, as well as the stability they bring to marriage and family life, their views of their social institutions, and their role in society, are all vital to the future of this region. Thus, their recovery from the years of political violence and apartheid, together with their adaptive response to the challenges of the adverse social conditions of the postapartheid era, is essential for the well-being of South Africa. (Used with permission.)

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 189.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 249.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Baker, A. M. (1990). The psychological impact of the intifada on Palestinian children in the occupied West Bank and Gaza: An exploratory study. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 60, 496–505.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Bawa, U. (1995). Organized violence in apartheid South Africa: Children as victims and perpetrators. In Foundation for Children (Ed.), Children: War and persecution, Proceedings of the Congress, Hamburg, September 26–29, 1993 (pp. 182–190). Osnabrück, Germany: Secolo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Boothby, N. (1994). Trauma and violence among refugee children. In A.J. Marsella, T. P. Bornemann, E. Solvig, & J. Orley (Eds.), Amidst peril and pain: The mental health and well-being of the world’s refugees. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cairns, E. (1996). Children and political violence. Oxford, England: Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, D. C., Pynoos, R. S., & Goebel, A. E. (1996). Mechanisms and processes of adolescent bereavement. In R.J. Haggerty, L. R. Sherrod, N. Garmezy, & M. Rutter (Eds.), Stress, risk, and resilience in children and adolescents: Processes, mechanisms, and interventions (pp. 100–146). New York: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Comite di Defensa da los Derechos del Pueblo. (1989). The effects of torture and political repression in a sample of Chilean families. Social Science in Medicine, 28, 735–740.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dawes, A. (1989). The effects of political violence on socio-moral reasoning and conduct. In A. Dawes & D. Donald (Eds.), Childhood, and adversity: Psychological perspectives from South African research (pp. 200–219). Cape Town, South Africa: Philip.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Bellis, M. D., Chrousos, G. P., Dorn, L. D., Burke, L., Helmers, K., Kling, M. A., Trickett, P. K., & Putnam, F. W. (1994). Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis dysregulation in sexually abused girls. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, 78, 249–255.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Eisa, J., & Nofel, E. (1993). Screening forwar exposure and. Post–traumatic stress disorder among children in Kuwait. Age 7–17. Preliminary report. Ministry of Education, Kuwait [in Arabic].

    Google Scholar 

  • Eth, S., & Pynoos, R. S. (1994). Children who witness the homicide of a parent. Psychiatry, 57,287–305.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Famularo, R., Kinscherff, R., & Fenton, T. (1988). Propranolol treatment for childhood posttraumatic stress disorder, acute type. American Journal of Diseases of Children, 142, 1244–1247.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Garbarino, J., Kostelny, K., & Dubrow, N. (1991). What children can tell us about living in danger. American Psychologist, 46(4), 376–383.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, K. (1989). Children in political violence. Social Science in Medicine, 28, 659–667.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Glod, C. A., Teicher, M. H., Martin, H., Hartman, C., & Harakal, T. (1997). Increased nocturnal activity and impaired sleep maintenance in abused children. Journal of the American Academy of Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry,36(9), 1236–1243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goenjian, A. K., Pynoos, R. S., Karayan, I., Minassian, D., Najarian, L. M., Steinberg, A. M., & Fairbanks, L. A. (1997). Outcome of psychotherapy among pre-adolescents after the 1988 earthquake in Armenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 154, 536–542.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goenjian, A. K., Pynoos, R. S., Steinberg, A. M., Najarian, L. M., Asarnow J. R., Karayan, I., Ghurabi, M., & Fairbanks, L. A. (1995). Psychiatric co-morbidity in children after the 1988 earthquake in Armenia. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry,34(9), 1174–1184.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Goenjian, A. K, Stilwell, B. M., Steinberg, A. M., Fairbanks, L. A., Galvin, M., Karayan, I., & Pynoos, R. S. (1999). Moral development and psychopathological interference with conscience functioning in adolescents after trauma. Journal of the American Academy of Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry,38(4), 376–384.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goenjian, A. K., Yehuda, R., Pynoos, R. S., Steinberg, A. M., Tashjian, M., Yang, R. K., Najarian, L. M., & Fairbanks, L. A. (1996). Basal Cortisol and dexamethasone suppression of Cortisol and MHPG among adolescents after the 1988 earthquake in Armenia. American Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 929–934.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Green, B. L., Korol, M., Grace, M. C., Vary, M. G., Leonard, A. C., Gleser, G. C., & Smitson-Cohen, S. (1991). Children and disaster: Age, gender, and parental effects on PTSD symptoms. Journal of the American Academy of Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry, 30(6), 945–951.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harmon, R. J., & Riggs, P. D. (1996). Clonidine for posttraumatic stress disorder in preschool children. Journal of the American Academy of Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35(9), 1247–1249.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Keilson, H. (1980). Sequential traumatization of children. Danish Medical Bulletin, 27, 235–237.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Kilpatrick, D. G., Saunders, B. E., Resnick, H. S., & Smith, D. W. (1995). The national survey of adolescents: Preliminary findings on lifetime prevalence of traumatic events and mental health correlates. Charleston, SC: National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center, Medical University of South Carolina.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kinzie, J. D., Sack, W., Angell, R., Clarke, G., & Binn, R. (1989). A three-year follow-up of Cambodian young people traumatized as children. Journal of the American Academy of Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28(4), 501–504.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kinzie, J. D., Sack, W. H., Angell, R. H., Manson, S., & Rath, B. (1986). The psychiatric effects of massive trauma on Cambodian children: I. The children. Journal of the American Academy of Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry, 25(3), 370–376.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kirsten, J. C., Holzer, I. M., Koch, L., & Severin, B. (1980). Children and torture. Danish Medical Bulletin, 27, 238–239.

    Google Scholar 

  • Laor, N., Wolmer, L., Mayes, L. C., Gershon, A., Weizman, R., & Cohn, D.J. (1997). Israel preschool children under Scuds: A 30-month follow-up. Journal of the American Academy of Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36(3), 349–356.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loughrey, G. C, Bell, P., Kee, P., Roddy, R. J., & Curran, P. S. (1988). Post-traumatic stress disorder and civil violence in Northern Ireland. British Journal of Psychiatry, 153, 554–560.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • March, J. S., Amaya-Jackson, L., & Pynoos, R. S. (1997). Pediatric posttraumatic stress disorder. In. J. M. Weiner (Ed.), Textbook oj child, and adolescent psychiatry (2nd ed.). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marmar, C. R., Foy, D., Kagan, B., & Pynoos, R. S. (1994). An integrated approach for treating posttraumatic stress. In R. S. Pynoos (Ed.), Posttraumatic stress disorder: A clinical review (pp. 99–132). Lutherville, MD: Sidran Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Montgomery, E. (1998). Refugee children from the Middle East. Scandinavian Journal of Social Medicine, 54(Suppl.): 1–152.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Murphy, L., Pynoos, R. S., & James, C. B. (1997). The trauma/grief focused group psychotherapy module of an elementary school-based violence prevention/intervention program. In J. D. Osofsky (Ed.), Children in a violent society (pp. 223–255). New York: Guilford Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nader, K., Pynoos, R. S., Fairbanks, L. A., Al-Ajeel, M., & Al-Asfour, A. (1993). A preliminary study of PTSD and grief among the children of Kuwait following the Gulf crisis. British Journal of Clinical Psychology, 32, 407–416.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Ornitz, E. M., & Pynoos, R. S. (1989). Starde modulation in children with posttraumatic stress disorder. American Journal of Psychiatry, 146, 866–870.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pennebaker, J. W., & Susman, J. R. (1988). Disclosure of traumas and psychosomatic processes. Social Science and Medicine, 26(3), 327–332.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, B. D. (1994). Neurobiological sequelae of childhood trauma: Posttraumatic stress disorders in children. In M. Murberg (Ed.), Catecholamine function in posttraumatic stress disorder: Emerging concepts, progress in psychiatry (pp. 233–255). Washington, DC: American Psychiatric Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Perry, B. D., & Pate, J. E. (1994). Neurodevelopment and the psychobiological roots of post–traumatic stress disorder. In L. F. Koziol & C. E. Stout (Eds.), The neuropsychology of mental disorders: A practical guide (pp. 129–146). Springfield, IL: Thomas.

    Google Scholar 

  • Punamaki, R. (1987). Psychological stress responses of Palestinian mothers and children in conditions of military occupation and political violence. Quarterly Newsletter of the Laboratory of Comparative Human Cognition, 9, 76–84.

    Google Scholar 

  • Putnam, F. W., & Trickett, P. K (1993). Child sexual abuse: A model of chronic trauma. Psychiatry, 56,82–95.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pynoos, R. S., & Eth, S. (1986). Special intervention programs for child witnesses to violence. In M. Lystad (Ed.), Violence in the home: Inter disciplinary perspectives (pp. 193–216). New York: Brunner/ Mazel.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pynoos, R. S., Frederick, C., Nader, K., Arroyo, W., Steinberg, A. M., Eth, S., Nunez, R, & Fairbanks, L. (1987). Life threat and posttraumatic stress in school-age children. Archives of General Psychiatry, 44, 1057–1063.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pynoos, R. S., Goenjian, A. K., & Steinberg, A. M. (1998). A public mental health approach to the postdisaster treatment of children and adolescents. Child and Adolescent Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 7(1), 195–210.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pynoos, R., Goenjian, A. K., Tashjian, M., Karakashian, M., Manjikian, R., Manoukian, G., Steinberg, A. M., & Fairbanks, L. (1993). Posttraumatic stress reactions in children after the 1988 Armerian earthquake. British Journal of Psychiatry, 163, 239–247.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pynoos, R. S., & Nader, K. (1988). Children who witness the sexual assaults of their mothers. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 27(5), 567–572.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pynoos, R. S., & Nader, K. (1989). Children’s memory and proximity to violence. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 28(2), 236–241.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Pynoos, R. S., Steinberg, A. M., & Wraith, R. (1995). A developmental model of childhood traumatic stress. In D. Cicchetti & D.J. Cohen (Eds.), Manual of developmental psychopathology: Vol. 2. Risk, disorder; and adaptation (pp. 72–95). New York: Wiley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Raundalen, M. (1993, June). Family and war: Some observations and suggestions for further research. Paper presented at the Third European Conference on Traumatic Stress, Bergen, Norway.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sabin, D., Sack, W. H., Clarke, C. N., Meas, N., & Richart, I. (1996). The Khmer Adolescent Project: 3. A study of the trauma from Thailand Site Two Refugee Camp. Journal of the American Academy of Child, and Adolescent Psychiatry, 35(3), 384–391.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sack, W. H., Angell, R. H., Kinzie, J. D., &Rath, B. (1986). The psychiatric effects of massive trauma on Cambodian children: II. The family, the home, and the school. Journal of the American Academy of Child, and, Adolescent Psychiatry, 25(3), 377–383.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sack, W. H., Clarke, G. N., & Seeley, J. (1996). Multiple forms of stress in Cambodian adolescent refugees. Child, Development, 67(11), 107–116.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sack, W. H., Seeley, J. R., & Clarke, G. N. (1997). Does PTSD transcend cultural barriers: A look from the Khmer Adolescent Refugee Project. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 36(1), 49–54.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Saigh, P. A., Yule, W., & Inamdar, S. C. (1996). Imaginal flooding of traumatized children and adolescents. Journal of School Psycho logy, 34:163–183.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stein, M. B., Koverola, C., Hanna, C., Torchia, M. G., & McClarty, B. (1997). Hippocampal volume in women victimized by childhood sexual abuse. Psychology and Medicine, 27(4), 951–959.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Straker, G. (1992). Faces in the revolution: The psychological effects of violence on township youth in South Africa. Athens, OH: Ohio University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Straker, G. (1993). The effects of diverse forms of political violence on adolescent emotional and moral concerns. In Foundation for Children (Ed.), Children.: War and persecution, Proceedings of the Congress, Hamburg, September 26–29, 1993 (pp. 182–190). Osnabrück, Germany: Secolo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuber, M. L., Nader, K., Yasuda, P., Pynoos, R. S., & Cohen, S. (1991). Stress responses after pediatric bone marrow transplantation: Preliminary results of a prospective longitudinal study. Journal of the American Academy of Child, and Adolescent Psycfiiatry,30(6), 952–957.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stuvland, R. (1993). Psychological and, educational help to school-children affected by war: Results from a screening of children in Croatia. Zagreb, Croatia: Ministry of Education, Government of Croatia, in cooperation with UNICEF Zagreb.

    Google Scholar 

  • Stuvland, R., & Barath, A. (1993). The “case”of former Yugoslavia. In Foundation for Children (Ed.), Children: War and persecution, Proceedings of the Congress, Hamburg, September 26–29, 1993 (pp. 182–190). Osnabrück, Germany: Secolo.

    Google Scholar 

  • Swartz, L., & Levett, A. (1989). Political repression and children in South Africa: The social construction of damaging effects. Social Science in Medicine, 28, 741–750.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Tudin, P., Straker, G., & Mendolsohn, M. (1994). Social and political complexity and moral development. South African Journal of Psychology, 24(3), 163–168.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • UNICEF. (1995). War-time survey of exposure, posttraumatic stress reactions, and depression among children and adolescents. Report of UNICEF Psychological Program for the ex-Yugoslavia region.

    Google Scholar 

  • van der Kolk, B. A. (1985). Adolescent vulnerability to post-traumatic stress. Psychiatry, 48,365–370.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Vesu, P., & Kastrup, M. (1995). Refugee status, torture, and adjustment. In J. R. Freedy & S. E. Hobfoll (Eds.), Traumatic stress: From theory to practice. New York: Plenum Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Yule, W. (1992). Post-traumatic stress disorder in child survivors of shipping disasters: The sinking of the Jupiter. Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, 57, 200–205.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Yule, W., & Canterbury, R. (1994). The treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder in children and adolescents. International Review of Psychiatry,6, 141–151.

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2001 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Pynoos, R.S., Kinzie, J.D., Gordon, M. (2001). Children, Adolescents, and Families Exposed to Torture and Related Trauma. In: Gerrity, E., Tuma, F., Keane, T.M. (eds) The Mental Health Consequences of Torture. The Plenum Series on Stress and Coping. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1295-0_14

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-1295-0_14

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-4613-5483-3

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-1295-0

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics