Integration of knowledge on children and political violence

The introductory chapter presents the major goal of this volume: creating a forum for the integration of three areas: theory and research on the effects of exposure to political violence (EPV), intervention to aid victims of EPV, and the prevention of EPV. It notes the relative lack of application of social science research and theory to prevention of EPV. The chapter presents suggested definitions of political violence and what is meant by child, and describes the gap between international law forbidding political violence to children and a recent increase in children’s EPV. The chapter also presents an overview of social science theory related to research and intervention and descriptions of the three sections in the book. Section I involves research on effects of EPV, Section II addresses intervention, and Section III discusses prevention of EPV. The introduction concludes with summaries of each chapter and a description of the relation of these chapters to the overall perspective of the book.