Building a conceptual framework for psychosocial intervention in complex emergencies: reporting on the work of the psychosocial working group

Construyendo un marco conceptual para intervención psicosocial en emergencias complejas: informando sobre el trabajo de la mesa psicosocial

The search for more effective approaches in response to the psychosocial needs of refugees and war-affected populations has led to the development of new paradigms. It is characteristic of such pioneering work that there should be a lack of consensus on goals, strategy and best practice. The Psychosocial Working Group has been established with support from the Andrew Mellon Foundation. Its aim is to facilitate dialogue between and amongst academics and practitioners within humanitarian agencies regarding different approaches to psychosocial interventions.

The core group first met in June 2000, and involves the Christian Children's Fund; Columbia University, Program on Forced Migration and Health; the Harvard Program in Refugee Trauma; the International Rescue Committee, Program for Children Affected by Armed Conflict; Medecins sans Frontieres, Holland; Queen Margaret University College, Centre for International Health Studies; Save the Children Federation, Children in Crisis; and the University of Oxford, Refugee Studies Unit. This group embarked on a program of work to produce four key deliverables: the development of a unifying conceptual framework; the provision of an inventory of key resources; the definition of a research and development agenda; and the undertaking of a number of small scale collaborative applied field studies.

In the initial stages, emphasis has been placed on the development of the conceptual framework that should serve as a tool for relating the apparently disparate strands of work in this field. It should facilitate informed dialogue between approaches that are frequently characterised as in conflict - or incompatible - with each other. The group is developing graphic representations of the key dimensions of psychosocial responses in complex emergencies. These representations - which are still under development - attempt to model the 'Social Ecology of a Community'; 'Engagement with Stress' (both internally and externally); and to suggest a prototype 'Rationale for a Programmatic Response'. In January 2001 the Psychosocial Working Group will be meeting with a wider group of colleagues with considerable experience of key aspects of psychosocial interventions, to refine the graphic representations and to produce the basis for documentation that would seek to clarify the conceptual issues.

This paper will explore the conceptual framework at its current stage of development, considering the key dimensions and relationships by which programmatic psychosocial interventions in complex emergencies can be described. There will be an opportunity to consider how specific examples of psychosocial programs might fit in, and to discuss implications for planning effective interventions, evaluation and research.