Basic Principles for NGO Interventions and Critique of Psycho-social Trauma Projects
Current patterns of violent conflict worldwide mean that over 90% of all casualties are civilian and the terrorisation of whole populations is used as a means of social control. Victims must also endure the deliberate demolition of their economic, social and cultural worlds. How such events are understood is crucial in determining the ways war-affected populations experience and describe them, and the forms of coping and help-seeking brought into play. These are complex and dynamic processes, with outcomes shaped by social, cultural and political forces.The paper analyses psychosocial trauma projects and identify principles for NGO interventions.