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Publication

Recognizing the diverse and complex nature of violence in childhood

2021, Taylor, Laura K., Bähr, Celia

Research on the prevention and intervention against violence in children is urgently needed. In contrast to a narrow approach, typically focused on physical violence against children, the authors offer a novel and urgently needed framework that captures the episodic, structural and cultural nature of both violence and peace. Ranging from intersectional risks to global climate change, we comment on the utility of this approach, as well as possible extensions. We echo the call for recognizing children’s agency, shown in our own research on children’s peacebuilding in settings of protracted political conflict, and link the points raised to other global policy frameworks, such as United Nations Security Council Resolution 2250 on Youth Peace and Security.

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Helping Kids! Cross-Cultural Research on Children’s Prosocial Behavior in Societies Transitioning to Peace

2021-09-04, Bähr, Celia, Dautel, Jocelyn, Maloku, Edona, Taylor, Laura K., et al.

Intrastate conflicts dominate the twenty-first century. Understanding the psychological mechanisms necessary to transform such settings into more peaceful societies is essential. Toward that end, Helping Kids! is a cross-cultural project that focuses on children in conflict-affected contexts. Moving away from the conceptualization of youth as perpetrators or powerless victims, Helping Kids! recognizes that children can foster a peaceful future, despite growing up in the shadow of war. This chapter approaches peace holistically and understands it as not merely the absence of violence, exploring a conceptualization of positive peace. In line with this understanding, Helping Kids! goes beyond reducing prejudice to focus on intergroup prosocial acts. The chapter first outlines how outgroup prosociality can be understood as an antecedent of peacebuilding, then presents evidence from elementary school-aged children in five different contexts of intergroup conflict (Northern Ireland, Croatia, Kosovo, Republic of North Macedonia, and Israel) to reflect both the complexity and diversity of this area of research. We highlight both the common characteristics as well as differences across the Helping Kids! contexts and how children can contribute to a transition to peace. The chapter concludes with recommendations for future research and practice.

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A multi-level, time-series network analysis of the impact of youth peacebuilding on quality peace

2023-04-04, Taylor, Laura K., Bähr, Celia

Purpose: Over 60% of armed conflicts reoccur; the seed of future conflict is sown even as a peace agreement is signed. The cyclical nature of war calls for a focus on youth who can disrupt this pattern over time. Addressing this concern, the developmental peacebuilding model calls for a dynamic, multilevel and longitudinal approach. Design/methodology/approach: Multilevel time-series network analysis of a dataset containing 193 countries and spanning the years between 2011 to 2020 was performed. This statistical approach allows for complex modelling that can reveal new patterns of how different youth peace-building dimensions, identified through rapid evidence assessment (i.e. education, engagement, information, inclusion) promote quality peace over time. Such a methodology not only assesses between-country differences, but also within-country change. Findings: While the within-country contemporaneous network shows positive links for education, the temporal network shows significant lagged effects for all four dimensions on quality peace. The between-country network indicates significant direct effects of education and information, on average, and indirect effects of inclusion and engagement, on quality peace. Originality: This approach demonstrates a novel application of multilevel time-series network analysis to explore the dynamic development of quality peace, capturing both stability and change. The systemic analysis illustrates how youth peace-building dimensions impact quality peace in the macrosystem globally. This investigation of quality peace thus illustrates science of peace does not necessitate violent conflict.