BACKGROUND: Suicide is a leading cause of death worldwide, but the precise effect of childhood adversities as risk factors for the onset and persistence of suicidal behaviour (suicide ideation, plans and attempts) are not well understood. AIMS: To examine the associations between childhood adversities as risk factors for the onset and persistence of suicidal behaviour across 21 countries worldwide.

Community-based sociotherapy was introduced in Rwanda in 2005 in order to contribute to the healing of social worlds that were severely damaged by war and genocide. People who participate in sociotherapy perceive this intervention as medicine for their troubled hearts. Each sociotherapy group, averaging twelve people, holds fifteen weekly meetings. Two facilitators guide the group through six different phases: safety, trust, care, respect, new rules, and memory.

Rates of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) are exceptionally high among asylum-seekers. Reportedly, stressors caused by the asylum procedure and psychological consequences of torture contribute to the maintenance of symptoms and interfere with treatment. In a pilot randomized controlled trial, the authors examined the efficacy of trauma-focused treatment in 32 asylum-seekers with PTSD resulting from state-sponsored violence and other traumatic events. Narrative exposure therapy (NET) was compared with treatment as usual (TAU), with a focus on stabilization and psychoactive medication.

While it is sensible that governments and academics endeavour to assess the effectiveness of counterterrorism policies, this article argues that it is almost impossible to measure arithmetically the outcome of counterterrorism efforts for a variety of reasons. However, this does not mean that the effect of governmental policy cannot and should not be assessed. This article argues that it is not necessarily the policy measures and their intended results as such, but much more the way in which they are presented and perceived, that determine the overall effect of the policy in question.