The state, conflict and the individual: the effect of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) insurrections in Sri Lankan on the mental welfare of a population.
This article describes the nature and effect of violence and conflict on the social and personal welfare of a local population using the example of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (VP) insurrections in Sri Lanka. It considers the impact of violence on individuals and communities both directly from traumatic events and indirectly through the social and political consequences of the violence. Mental health is taken as an indicator of human welfare, and its relationship to the political and economic factors that form the environmental context is examined. The paper concludes that the mental welfare of a population following an insurrection is impaired by the effect of individual trauma, the nature of violence experienced and the way that social and economic conditions supporting mental health are undermined.
Watkins
Jonathan D
JD
Section for Health Policy, Health Services Research Centre, Institute of Psychiatry, London SE5 8AF. jonathan_watkins@mac.com
D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008603:Mental Health; D011057:Politics; D012946:Social Welfare; D013188:Sri Lanka / Q000453:epidemiology; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D014857:Warfare