Psychological evaluation of refugee children in relation to war experiences and social network

Evaluación psicológica de niños refugiados en relación a experiencias de guerra y redes sociales

The main purpose of this study is to achieve a deeper knowledge of children of refugee families and evaluate the efficiency of brief family therapy. In the project 24 families from Bosnia and Herzegovina take part. They have been randomly assigned to two groups; one group goes through three family therapy sessions while the other one serves as a comparison group. One criterion is that there is a child 5-12 years old in the family. The non-intervention group is offered family therapy at a follow-up interview.

The two groups are interviewed both at the beginning and about half a year later. The symptoms of one of the children in the family are evaluated. Various projective psychological methods are used.

The study is in progress. The background of refugee children is discussed from what importance the social network and experiences of actual war-situations have in relation to their inner world, evaluated by a play method. Some case reports will be presented evaluating the play method before and after the family therapy sessions. In these psychological assessments there are signs showing that they have gone through traumatic experiences but it is not possible to pin down exactly from where the trauma originates. Other factors are influencing their inner world like parent support, network and living in a strange environment during the war situation.