The war informer Yugoslavia (1991-95) exposed hundreds ofthousands of children and adolescents to very intensive, often multiple traumatic experiences, followed by a chain f chronic and increasing problems in exile. This paper describes the theoretical framework, implementation and evaluation of Youth Clubs, a community-based psychosocial intervention implemented during the war years with the aim of supporting the psychosocial recovery and reintegration ofyoung refugees in Serbia.

The ever-growing range of approaches to psychosocial intervention in areas of armed conflict reflects a wide diversity in underlying perspective. Practitioners are faced with questions of effectiveness and appropriateness of interventions. The author presents a conceptual framework formulated by the Pychosocial Working Group that offers a way of understanding psychosocial well being that embraces the breadth of the field..

Nowadays, the mental health profession is aware of the importance of the social network for the coping and healing processes in persons affected by war. In war-related circumstances the natural social network is impoverished or lost. Volunteers represent a possibility for the enlargement and enrichment of the social network.. They can specially contribute in various ways to the empowerment and well-being f children affected by war and of refugee children. This article describes the activities of volunteers of different provenance and in different war-related situations.

After surviving a recent massacre in the north ofthe Democratic Republic of Congo, a group of 22 staff members of a community health nursing programme requested the assistance of the author. During a three-day meeting the traumatic experiences ofthe participants were discussed. Several steps, including performing a ritual (‘burying the dead’) and psycho-education on stress and trauma, were developed using the resources ofthe group. In view ofthe high numbers of traumatised communities, participants felt the need to pass on what they had learned.