UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS School of Social Work

Transcription

1 UNIVERSITY OF NEVADA, LAS VEGAS School of Social Work SWK 471.1/671.1 Professor: Margaret Oakes, Ph.D. Effects Of War And Terrorism Lcsw (Ca.), Lmsw-Acp (Tx) On Individuals and Communities Office: FDH Rm. 405 Summer Session 1, 2002 Tel: (702) Room: FDH moakesccmail.nevada.edu Time: Mon.- Thurs. 5:30-8:40 P.M. Credits: 3 COURSE DESCRIPTION The Course exams the effects that such overwhelmingly and horrifying experiences as war and terrorism have on the individual and their social environment. Unlike other traumatic events, war effects the whole environment. If we look at the concept of terrorism in the framework of terror perpetrated on aggregates groups, rather than on one individual., such terror could be perpetrated by governments, organizations linked to governments, organizations not sanctioned by official bodies, but operating. The purpose of such terrorist methods in all their forms will be discussed. War will be examined in its role in changing the community environment, and finally, the personal effects both terror and war have on the individual, family, and all those around them. There will also be some content on treatment of both individuals and families as well as programs designed to aid in the reconstruction of communities. COURSE RATIONALE This course is developed to help social workers and other helping professions understand the background of a variety of clients that come to them from countries with conflictive environments. It also will help them incorporate, not only psychological sequelae resulting from such but also larger social ramifications that effect not only small client systems, but larger systems as well. This course provides a further look at cross-cultural and international culture issues, that go beyond traditional cultural configurations to include historical and present configurations of violence upon both individuals and the communities they live in. COURSE OBJECTIVES At the end of the course students will: Objective 1 Schedule Class 1-4, 8 Understand the nature and function of both war and terrorism in all its forms, governmental or non-governmental. 1

2 Objective 2 Schedule Class 2-9 Objective 3 Schedule Class 7-9 Understand the effects it has on the larger environment, communities, and finally, on small systems of families and individuals. Understand how people and communities cope with war and terrorism and the trauma it engenders. Objective 4 Understand the cultural aspects of trauma. Schedule Class 8 Objective 5 Understand aspects of working with individuals from war torn countries, as well as to gain knowledge of programs that work with them on an international level. Schedule Class 10 and 11 Instructor s relationship to the subject matter: The instructor has been a licensed clinical social worker in California since 1980, where she has worked as a therapist in various clinics in the Los Angeles Country Mental Health System including a child psychiatry clinic connected with USC Medical Center where many Central American clients came with emotional problems caused in part by events in war torn countries. She spent three years in Nicaragua where she conducted therapy in a mental health center for children and in an accelerated high school where many students were returning from military service. She also conducted a human rights investigation of a civilian bombing in rural El Salvador for to the Truth Commission of the United Nations in San Salvador. At the University of Texas at Austin, her dissertation topic was the Emotional Effects of War in Rural El Salvador: A Field Study. This was conducted in El Salvador in conjunction with the Universidad Centroamericana, the Latin American Institute at the University of Texas, and an international research study 2

3 on the effects of war on health. She is continuing to research both stress and coping in refugees from war torn countries in Las Vegas. Class Requirements Attendance 10% Students will be expected to attend all classes. Points will be subtracted if class is missed. Summaries of articles assigned 20% Written short summaries of all assigned readings other than the novel will be turned in before the end of the week in which they are assigned. They will be expected within two days of being assigned. If they are not turned in within the same week, points may be subtracted from the grade. Paper 35% Using concepts we have used in class, you will analyze what you saw as the effects of war and terror on individual characters, the families, and communities in the various parts of Sri Lanka portrayed in the novel, Anil s Ghost. Group Project 35% Take a specific country or place that is presently either in a state of war or suffering from state terror or unsanctioned terrorist activity and present a report in class. This will include research in news magazines, internet, and media for an in depth view of the war and its effects on the population of that country. Presentation will be accompanied by a written report. Class Schedule Week 1 Class 1/ May 20 Introduction to concepts of war and terrorism Causes and configurations Different Regions at War Regions afflicted by terrorism Sponsored by either state or anti-state organizations Class2/ May 21 What happens in War Social change the lie - Ignacio Martin-Baro Purposes of war Social Aspects 3

4 Class 3/May 22 Different types of terrorism and the social effects: similarities and differences from happenings in war Purposes and causes of terrorism Both state sanctioned and anti-state terrorism Class 4/May 23 Social effects of war Effects of war on social structures And the social, economic, and physical environment Week 2 MAY 27 Holiday No Class Class 5/May 28 Individual effects of war PTSD and trauma of all kinds Major depression and loss Multiple loss/delayed loss Class 6/May 29 Family effects Including vulnerability of children & the aged Combatants and civilians Individual and societal effects of terrorism of all types Class 7/May 30 Coping mechanisms, and survival Week 3 Class 8/June 3 What is common to human kind and what is interpreted by culture Differing interpretations and reactions to war due to different histories, culture, and oppression Class 9/June 4 Migration and war A conglomeration of types of trauma PRESENTATIONS 4

5 Class 10/ June 5 International Social Work and its Relation to War UNRA, Unesco, and The United Nations NGO s and their efforts at helping those at war PRESENTATIONS Class 11/ June 6 Working with immigrants and refugees from countries at war Considerations PRESENTATIONS Required Readings Ondaatje, Michael (2000). Anil s Ghost. New York, Vintage International Kostelny, Kathleen & Garbarino, James (1994). Coping with the consequences of living in danger: the case of Palestinian children and youth. International Journal of Behavioral Development. 17:4, P Martin-Baro, Ignacio (1989). Political violence and war as causes of psychosocial trauma in El Salvador. International Journal of Mental Health 18:1, P Martin-Baro, Ignacio. Martin-Baro, Ignacio (1994). The psychological value of violent pol;itical repression. Writings for a Liberation Psychology. Harvard Univ., Cambridge. Oakes, Margaret & Lucas, Faith (Fall, 2001). How war affects daily life: Adjustments in Salvadoran social networks The Journal of Social Work Research and Evaluation: An International Publication. Ohio State Univ. Press, Springer Publishing, Columbus. Wesaeth, Lars, and Eitinger, Leo and Raphael, Beverly (1993). Posttraumatic stress phenomena: common themes across wars, disasters, and traumatic events. International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes. Edited by Wilson, John P. P New York. Plenum Press Bibliography Lifton, Robert Jay (1993). From Hiroshima to the Nazi Doctors: The Evolution of Psychoformative Approaches to Understanding Traumatic Stress 5

6 Syndromes, International Handbook of Traumatic Stress Syndromes. Edited by Wilson, John P. & Raphael, Beverley. Plenum Press, N.Y. Mahjoub, Abdel Wahab, Leyens, Jacques, Vzerby, Vincent, Di Giacomo, Jean- Pierre (1989). War stress and coping modes: res of self-identity and time perspective among Palestinian children.. International Journal of Mental Health. 18:2, Martin-Baro, Ignacio (1994). Writings for a Liberation Psychology. Harvard Univ., Cambridge. Mooney, James (1965). The Ghost Dance Religion and the Sioux Outbreak of st Pre, Chicago. NASW (1995). Spring 1996 Viodeoconference Begin Planning Now! Promote/Stop Development Bulletin. 4: (Jan., 95). Office of Peace and International Affairs, National Association of Social Workers, Washington, D.C. Punamaki, Raija-Leena (1988). Historical-political and individualistic determinants of Coping modes and fears among Palestinian children. International Journal of Psychology. 23,. P Elsevier Science Publishers B.V., North- Holland. Punamaki, Raija-Leena (1989). Factors affecting the mental health of Palestinian children exposed to political violence. International Journal of Mental Health: 18: Reynolds, Pamela (1990). Children of tribulation: the need to heal and the means to heal war trauma. Africa, 60:1, P Rieck, Miriam (1994). The psychological state of Holocaust survivors offspring: an epidemiological and psychodiagnostic study. International Journal of Behavioral Development: 17:4, Roe, Michael (1992). Displaced women in settings of continuing armed conflict. Women and Therapy: Sack, William H., Clarke, Gregory, Seeley, Jon (1995). Posttraumatic stress disorder across two generations of Cambodian Refugees. Journal of the American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry: Sept., 34:9, Schissel Bernard (1993). Coping with Adversity: Testing the origins of resiliency in mental health. International Journal of Social Psychiatry : 39:1, Schaller, J. G., & Nightingale, E. O. (1992). Children and childhoods: Hidden casualties of war and civil unrest (editorial). Journal of the American Medical Association, 268,

7 Solomon, Zahava, Laor, Nathaniel, & McFarlane Alexander C.. Acute Posttraumatic reactions in soldiers and civilians. Part III, Adaptations to Trauma, Edited by Van der Kolk, Bessel A.. P chapt. 5, P Tedeschi, Richard, Park, Crystal L., & Calhoun, Lawrence G.(ed) Posttraumatic Growth: Positive Changes in the Aftermath of Crisis. Lawrence Erlbaum Assoc, Thompson, Maritza & McGorry, Patrick (1995). Psychological sequelae of torture and trauma in Chilean and Salvadorean migrants: a pilot study. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry: 29, Toner, Ignatius (1994). Children of the troubles in Northern Ireland: perspective and intervention. International Journal of Behavioral Development: 17:4, van der Kolk, Bessel A (1987). Psychological Trauma. American Psychiatric Press, Inc. Washington, D.C. Yael Danieli (ed.)(1998). Handbook of Multigenerational Legacies of Trauma. Plenum Press, NY & London. Zaharlick, Amy & MacDonald, Jeffery L. (1994). ed.. Selected Papers on Refugee Issues:III Arlington, VA., American Anthropological Association. Zwi, A. & Ugalde, A. (1989). Towards an epidemiology of political violence in the third world. Social Science and Medicine, 28,