Arts-Based Practices in Regions Affected By War
Author(s):
Alpha M Woodward
Publication Year:
2012
Type:
journal article
Journal/Book Title
Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy
Publisher
Editor(s):
Pages:
Volume:
12
Issue:
2
Abstract:
Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), cultural disintegration, political confusion and unresolved inter-ethnic conflict are just some of the hurdles that can face citizens in war affected areas. After the Dayton Peace Accord[1] was signed in 1995 ending the deadly armed conflict in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH), international government and charity organizations and a variety of NGOs flooded into the country to help rebuild the infrastructure and to offer transitional economic and political support for the beleaguered, fragmented population. Although arts-based activities, therapies and projects were also part of the international influx, this form of psychosocial intervention was piecemeal, somewhat random, and often unable to sustain a long term or systemic approach to the massive psychosocial needs of the people. There appears to be little peerreviewed fieldwork research to support claims of effectiveness of arts-based projects in post-conflict regions. Therefore, considering the growing number of projects that use the creative arts as an intervention for trauma, conflict transformation and community building in war affected populations, the purpose of this paper is to search for, and to critically examine, empirical arts-based research conducted in war affected areas and/or any population that may have been directly impacted by activities of armed conflict.
Citation (Chicago Author-Date):
Woodward, Alpha M. 2012. “Arts-Based Practices in Regions Affected By War.” Voices: A World Forum for Music Therapy 12 (2). https://doi.org/10.15845/voices.v12i2.633.