Preventing Violence and Terrorism and Promoting Positive Relations Between Dutch and Muslim Communities in Amsterdam

ManyWestern European countries have seen increasing tension between local communities
and immigrant groups, especially Muslims, with mutual grievances. These
tensions have been more apparent and stronger since 9/11/2001. Intensified by further
terrorist attacks, the war on terror, and the fear of terrorism, negative attitudes toward
Muslim populations have been increasing. While relevant to many European
countries, this article focuses on the conditions and relationships between groups in

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Internet resources on the mental health and psychosocial care for children and adolescents

The internet is an enormously rich source of information, but its richness can also be its weakness. How do you find what you need? How do you know that what you find can be trusted? In this contribution we will present a selection of some internet resources on psychosocial and mental health aspects for children and adolescents that we have found to be useful for work in post-conflict settings in low and middle-income countries.

IFRC Reference Centre for Psychosocial Support http://psp.drk.dk/sw30190.asp

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Torture narratives and the burden of giving evidence in the Dutch asylum procedure

Asylum requests by victims of torture who have fled to the Netherlands are often rejected. In these cases, the torture stories of the asylum seekers have failed to convince officials judging their asylum request. The author studied the cases of asylum seekers whose claims were first rejected, but then supported by Amnesty International, and eventually, after a court appeal, received residency. The author, therefore, concludes that the initial rejections are the result of the manner in which these asylum seekers were interrogated by civil servants of the immigration authority.

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Community based volunteers as partners for agencies working with formerly abducted children and youth: experiences from northern Uganda

The 20 year conflict in northern Uganda between the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) and the Government of Uganda has resulted in a severe humanitarian crisis. Agencies working in the sector of psychosocial support over the years have developed a concept to work closely with community members who are made responsible for many of the community based activities. This article describes the experiences of these community volunteer counsellors (CVCs).

Keywords: abducted children, community volunteer counsellors (CVCs), counselling

 

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Peer counsellors training with refugees from Iraq: A Jordanian case study

The author trained 49peer counsellors in two refugee camps, over the course of 2004, and traced the impact of their work until the end of 2005 at the request of CARE International in Jordan. The article gives an overview of the training content and strategies, as well as the process of integrating peer counselling as a self-help tool into a community that is affected by ongoing stress and trauma. ‘Peer counselling’ was understood as a process of mutual support that addresses people in need in their respective environment and also therefore includes components of community social work.

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Pathways to embodied empathy and reconciliation after atrocity: Former boy soldiers in a dance/movement therapy group in Sierra Leone

A time limited dance/movement therapy group, facilitated by adult males, provided creative movement opportunities and other embodied healing activities for adolescent orphans who, as boys, had been involved in wartime atrocities. This fusion of Western trauma treatment and ritual proved transformative in helping the youths overcome violent impulses and rediscover the pleasure of collective endeavour.

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A new start, an open end. The reintegration of individual demobilized combatants in Colombia

This article is the result of a study carried out by IKV Pax Christi, a government programme that aims to demobilize combatants of the guerrilla and paramilitary and reintegrate them into Colombian society. The lessons learned during this research, regarding the failures of the government reintegration programme, have been of great use to the indigenous communities in northern Cauca. As a result, these communities have decided to start their own reintegration programme at the community level with an indigenous approach.

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Individual demobilization and reintegration process in Colombia: implementation, challenges and former combatants’ perspectives

After decades of armed conflict, the Colombian government has implemented a voluntary individual disarmament, demobilization and reintegration programme (DDR). This paper is based on interviews of former combatants from illegal armed groups, from both the left and right, governmental officials, and military personnel involved in the processes. The findings of this research suggest that the individual demobilization process as a military strategy is a success.

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Psychosocial support for children, families and teachers in Iraq

In 2003, a community based psychosocial programme for children in Iraq was started. Psychosocial activities were implemented in primary schools and in primary health care settings aimed at child mental health protection. This field report describes the programme and some of the difficulties that were encountered. It concludes that even in circumstances as difficult as they are in Iraq it is possible to run psychosocial programmes - if reliable partners are involved.

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Sensitization around psychological trauma: the results of a campaign in a district of the Democratic Republic of Congo

In the north eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), an area affected by war and armed conflicts, a sensitization campaign about (coping with) traumatic stress has been carried out. This campaign has positively influenced the awareness of key community members to traumatic stress. In this paper, the campaign and its results are presented.

Keywords: Democratic Republic Congo, sensitization, traumatic stress, armed conflict

 

Introduction

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