Population and Communities
Research cluster
Only a handful of all of the world's
victims of torture and organised violence (TOV) are receiving
treatment for their traumas. The overall majority has to cope with
the condition themselves or cope with the support that they can
obtain in their immediate surroundings. In order to develop
cost-effective efforts with the objective to limiting social,
economic and health related problems among TOV survivors, there is
a need to gain knowledge about how people in different cultures and
life contexts are coping with their traumatic experiences, with a
focus on the factors that pre-dictate positive and negative coping
and development. The existing knowledge about the differences and
the coherences between the consequences of TOV and the entire life
situation (economic, social, cultural and health related
parameters) is insufficient.
Ongoing research projects
Research within this cluster examines
both the domestic and international dimensions of
the TOV problems and aims to shape the intervention strategy and
practice at the community, regional, national and international
level. IT combines methods within health science and social science
with the aim of obtaining knowledge to enhance preventive and
healing interventions on various levels of social organisation in
families and the entire population.
The research within the field of
population and communities is centered on the following areas:
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Population studies, focusing on
traumatisation within particularly vulnerable groups.
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Describing and analysing the
consequences of TOV on individuals, communities and institutions
together with the preventive and rehabilitative interventions that
are tied to this.
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Describing how structures of meaning
mediate the experiences of TOV.