Ethnopolitical Violence Exposure and Children’s Aggression

Traditionally, prejudice has been conceptualized as simple animosity. The stereotype content model (SCM) shows that some prejudice is worse. The SCM previously demonstrated separate stereotype dimensions of warmth (low-high) and competence (low-high), identifying four distinct out-group clusters. The SCM predicts that only extreme out-groups, groups that are both stereotypically hostile and stereotypically incompetent (low warmth, low competence), such as addicts and the homeless, will be dehumanized. Prior studies show that the medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is necessary for social cognition. Functional magnetic resonance imaging provided data for examining brain activations in 10 participants viewing 48 photographs of social groups and 12 participants viewing objects; each picture dependably represented one SCM quadrant. Analyses revealed mPFC activation to all social groups except extreme (low-low) out-groups, who especially activated insula and amygdala, a pattern consistent with disgust, the emotion predicted by the SCM. No objects, though rated with the same emotions, activated the mPFC. This neural evidence supports the prediction that extreme out-groups may be perceived as less than human, or dehumanized.

To assess the nature of chronic exposure to terror and its psychological and cognitive toll on Palestinian youths, as is reflected in posttraumatic symptoms, future orientation, and attitudes toward peace. In the summer of 2001, 245 Palestinian and 300 Israeli-Palestinian adolescents in the sixth to ninth grades were assessed with self-report questionnaires that measured level of exposure to terror, posttraumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, anger, dissociation, future orientation, and attitudes toward peace. Palestinians experienced significantly more traumatic events than Israeli Palestinians; the groups did not differ, however, in their subjective perception of the threat. Palestinians also reported higher levels of posttraumatic symptoms, more pessimistic future orientation, and less favorable attitudes toward peace negotiations than the Israeli Palestinians. The groups did not differ in reported psychological symptoms related to chronic exposure to stress. In both groups, subjective perceptions of the threat were implicated in the pathogenic sequelae of exposure to terror-induced trauma. Chronic or repeated exposure to terror may be related to complex posttraumatic symptoms beyond those specified in DSM-IV or ICD-10, including negative personal and national future orientation. The role of subjective appraisal deserves professional attention.

Drawing on empirical studies and literature reviews, this paper aims to clarify and qualify the relevance of resilience to youth experiencing political conflict. It focuses on the discordance between expectations of widespread dysfunction among conflict-affected youth and a body of empirical evidence that does not confirm these expectations.