War Trauma and its Aftermath
An International Perspective on the Balkan and Gulf Wars
By (author) Laurence Armand French, Lidija Nikolic-Novakovic
Not available to order
Publication date:
16 December 2011Length of book:
198 pagesPublisher
UPAISBN-13: 9780761858027
War trauma has long been associated with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), a term coined in 1980 to explain the post-war impact of Vietnam veterans. The Gulf and Balkan wars added new dimensions to the traditional PTSD definition, due largely to the changing dynamics of these wars. With these wars came unprecedented use of reserve and National Guard personnel in U.S. forces along with the largest contingent of female military personnel to date. Rapid deployment, sexual assaults, and suicides surfaced as paramount untreated problems within coalition force. Rapes, torture, suicides, and a high prevalence of untreated civilian victims of the Balkan wars added to the new dimensions of the traumatic stress continuum. Suicide bombers and roadside bombings added to the definition of combat stress, as military personnel in Iraq and Afghanistan were forced to be constantly vigilant for these attacks—regardless of whether they served in combat areas.
Post-traumatic stress disorder as associated with combat has evolved since it was initially recognized in 1980 by the American Psychiatric Association. French and Nikolic-Novakovic have dealt with the new aspects of traumatic stress such as rapid redeployment, sex abuse, suicides, and pervasive hypervigilance due to suicide and roadside bombings in the contexts of both Gulf Wars and the Balkan Wars. Both authors have personal experiences of warfare and very effectively address the issues resulting from war trauma. —Robert B. Williams, PhD, CPsychol, CSci, senior lecturer in psychology, Crandall University
War devastated the former Yugoslavia since it began to unravel in 1991. The war affected all groups involved in the conflict, both combatants and civilians, leaving a large segment of these emerging societies…traumatized — often with little or no treatment options. French and Nikolic-Novakovic do a remarkable job in providing a balanced perspective to this on-going social crisis. —Vojislav Jovic, PhD in law and criminal justice, Serbia
War devastated the former Yugoslavia since it began to unravel in 1991. The war affected all groups involved in the conflict, both combatants and civilians, leaving a large segment of these emerging societies…traumatized — often with little or no treatment options. French and Nikolic-Novakovic do a remarkable job in providing a balanced perspective to this on-going social crisis. —Vojislav Jovic, PhD in law and criminal justice, Serbia