Conflict, trauma and mental health: Exploring pathways to peace and violence in fragile and conflict-affected situations

The effect of violent conflict is more than material. It can lead to a range of negative outcomes at the individual level such as moral injury and mental health problems. It can also impact at the group level by generating collective traumas, influencing collective memories and narratives, fraying social relations, lowering trust in institutions and exacerbating intergroup tensions. Such negative outcomes at both individual and group levels can fuel cycles of violence. Unpacking the relationship between adverse experiences in conflict and individual and collective propensity for political violence must avoid reductionist explanations. Understanding the complex relationship between conflict, trauma and mental health can help inform more effective interventions and policies to mitigate cycles of violence. This panel will discuss the role of individual and collective traumas – from adverse childhood experience to collective memories – in conflicts in the Middle East and elsewhere, highlighting the implications for policy and practice.

Speakers:
• Fiona McEwen, Co-Lead and Survey / Interventions Director for XCEPT at King’s College London
• Craig Larkin, Reader in Middle East Politics and Peace and Conflict Studies, King’s College London
• Nafees Hamid, Co-Lead and Research and Policy Director for XCEPT at King’s College London

On 1 and 2 October 2024, XCEPT hosted a conference on the Middle East and North Africa region, bringing together local, regional, and international experts, policymakers and practitioners in a series of moderated panel and roundtable discussions to assess emerging trends and consider how policy and programme responses should adapt to better support conflict stabilisation, resolution, and prevention.

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