Universite Libre de Bruxelles
Belgium
Ljiljana Oruc
University of Sarajevo, Psychiatric Clinic
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Women in war: the nature and extent of psychological responses to
conflict and atrocity
Mujeres en la guerra: naturaleza y extensión de las respuestas
psicológicos al conflicto y las atrocidades
Recent decades have seen an increase of research into the
psychosocial and psychiatric consequences of war, particularly on
male veterans and refugees. There is insufficient literature on
female civilians being published in the country of trauma origin. Yet
there is a growing body of criticism toward the predominance of North
American and Western European definitions of mental health, and an
almost exclusive use of their therapeutic models.
This study, conducted in Sarajevo and surrounding refugee
settlements, explores the psychosocial effects of war on women,
particularly:
One hundred and fifty female civilians were placed into three
categories of war experience:
Local psychiatrists interviewed women, obtaining demographic details
and using scales to estimate PTSD, anxiety, depression, social coping
and self-esteem. Results indicate an overwhelming presence of PTSD,
depression, and anxiety, as well as low self-esteem and poor social
functioning. War experiences were most dramatic for displaced people,
suggesting a positive correlation between the magnitude of the
traumatic event and the extent of traumatic response.
In order to
implement effective responses in the wake of war, it is necessary to
determine the principal factors influencing an individual's path to
recovery. Moreover it is essential to redress the serious imbalance
that exists in trauma research regarding non-western societies in
general and female war victims in particular.