Professor Zelizer Publishes Article on Trauma Sensitive Peace-Building

Dr. Craig Zelizer, Associate Director of the Conflict Resolution Program,recently published an article "Trauma Sensitive Peace-Building: Lessons for Theory and Practice" in the New Peer Reviewed Journal, Africa Peace and Conflict Journal (Vol. 1, #1, 2008).

A brief abstract is below :
Over the past several decades, peace-building and trauma studies have emerged as interdisciplinary fields that seek to better understand their respective social phenomena and develop appropriate responses. Practitioners of peace-building often work in severely conflicted settings with groups that have been exposed to traumatic events, while a number of trauma professionals interact with individuals and groups from conflicted regions. Despite increased cooperation based on the work of scholars and practitioners who have begun to explore the intersection between peace-building and trauma, significant challenges remain, particularly concerning how peace-builders can make their work more trauma sensitive. This article provides a brief overview of of the fields of trauma studies and peace-building, highlights connections between the two areas, reviews recent literature, and discusses the concept of trauma-sensitive peace-building and several challenges of putting of conducting practice in this area.