Assisting Young Children Caught in Disasters: Multidisciplinary Perspectives and Interventions

This volume discusses 14 different types of disasters and their implications on the social, emotional and academic development of young children, from birth through age eight. It focuses on human-related crises and disasters such as community violence exposure; war and terrorism; life in military families; child trafficking; parent migration; radiation disasters; HIV/AIDS; and poverty. The environment-related disasters addressed in this book include hunger; hurricanes; earthquakes; frostbites; wildfires; and tornadoes. The volume includes suggestions for interventions, such as using picture books with young children in coping with natural disasters and human crises. In addition, each chapter provides research-based strategies for early childhood and related professionals to be used in the classroom.

Many children in our world today experience some type of disasters and/or crises. These crises or disasters can either be human- or environment-related and can interrupt children’s daily lives. They often negatively impact children’s development, education, and safety. Bringing together authors representing a variety of countries including Australia, Canada, China, Finland, Haiti, Hungary, Kenya, USA, and Zimbabwe, this book provides truly global perspectives on the various types of disasters and their implications for our work with young children. 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Springer
• Release date: Oct 24, 2017
• ISBN: 9783319628875

Book preview

Part I

Human Crises and Their Implications on the Education and the Social-Emotional Development of Young Children

Introduction to Part I

The first part of this book is dedicated to human crises and their implications on young children. There are eight chapters included this part. In Chap. 2, Harris provides a conceptual framework for understanding the influence of Community Violence Exposure (CVE) on children of color and shares implications for educators regarding the development and academic performance of children. In Chap. 3, Myers-Walls discusses the impact of war and terrorism on children and provides early childhood educators with strategies to assist children who are impacted by such disasters. In Chap. 4, Culler and Saathoff-Wells share information about attachment security and ambiguous loss in young children related to parental deployments. They also provide various strategies and resources for teachers to assist children living in military families. In Chap. 5, Davy provides information about child trafficking in southeast Asia and shares implications/recommendations for early childhood professionals who are working with children whose lives are impacted by human trafficking. In Chap. 6, Tao, Miller, and Gao share insights into the lives of Chinese children who are left behind as their parents migrate for work. The authors share some strategies for educators in order to help children cope with being separated from their parents. In Chap. 7, Murray describes the psychosocial effects of radiation disasters on children and provides early childhood teachers with some strategies for the classroom. In Chap. 8, Chitiyo and Chitiyo discuss the consequences of HIV/AIDS on the development of young children in southern Africa and provide classroom teachers with recommendations for practice. Lastly, in Chap. 9, Levin describes the effects of poverty on the development of young children and shares classroom strategies to help combat poverty in the lives of young children.

© Springer International Publishing AG 2018

Judit Szente (ed.)Assisting Young Children Caught in Disasters Educating the Young ChildAdvances in Theory and Research, Implications for Practice13https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62887-5_2

2. The Impact of Community Violence Exposure on the Developmental Outcomes of Young Children of Color

Yvette R. Harris¹  

(1)

Department of Psychology, Miami University, 90 North Patterson Ave, Oxford, OH 45056, USA

Yvette R. Harris

Email: [e-mail]

Keywords

Community violence exposureChildren of colorPTSDTrauma sensitive classrooms

In the twenty-first century, there have been record levels of neighborhood violence in communities of color which include witnessing violence such as the death of a loved one , classmate, or neighbors, as well as experiencing personal violence . Many young children are reared, nurtured, and educated in communities that are commonly referred to Urban War Zones (Garbarino 2001). Those urban war zones have the same characteristics of war zones across the world (e.g., Aleppo Syria, Somalia) and as such children residing in Urban War Zones witness the deaths of relatives, neighbors, and peers on an on-going basis. Consequently, their physical, cognitive, and social-emotional development are impacted all of which are critical in determining their early academic and socioemotional performance in the classroom . Similar to children living in War Zones they experience immediate and long-term trauma . Empirical evidence suggests that exposure to chronic and persistent violence impairs their ability to form secure attachment relationships, to regulate their emotions, and without intervention leads to life lasting mental health , behavioral, and cognitive challenges (Lieberman and Knorr 2007).

Conceptual Framework for Understanding the Influence of Community Violence Exposure on the Developmental Outcomes of Children of Color

The ways in which CVE impacts the developmental outcomes of young children of color is conceptualized from four different perspectives. Each perspective posits a different constellation of environmental correlates of adverse outcomes and situates their experiences and developmental outcomes from a contextual/environmental perspective. For example, Garbarino (2001) takes an ecological perspective utilizing a triparte model. The Triparte Ecological Model is depicted in Fig. 2.1. As illustrated in the model, the first component focuses on accumulated risk. Accumulated risk refers to the notion that community violence occurs in a broader context of other risk factors present in the environment. Those risk factors for some young children of color include poverty , mass incarceration and mass re-entry, and lack of employment opportunities for their parents. When the risk accumulates, or builds overtime, for young children residing in environments with chronic community violence exposure their social maps change (see second component in Fig. 2.1). Social maps are children’s representation of the predictability, stability, and safety of their worlds. Social maps also consist of children’s beliefs about what is morally acceptable behavior and their perceptions of their pathways to the future. A damaged social map, according to Garbarino, inevitably leads to trauma (see last component in Fig. 2.1). Hence, trauma alters their perceptions of the meaning and importance of life. It changes their expectations of the future and trauma results in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD ). PTSD is a constellation of behavioral symptoms e.g., avoidance of places, people and activities that are reminders of the trauma or emotional numbness; psychological symptoms e.g., flashbacks of the trauma , re-experiencing the trauma , concentration problems, being easily irritated and angered; and sleep disorder symptoms e.g., difficulty sleeping or experiencing nightmares (American Psychological Association 2013). Lastly, as a result of persistent trauma , children may develop lifelong psychic scars. Garbarino (2001) encourages educators and those working with young children of color who experience chronic CVE to adopt an ecological contextual perspective.

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Fig. 2.1

Triparte ecological model

Foster and Brooks-Gunn (2009) put forth a variant of the Stress Process Model to account for adverse developmental outcomes of young children of color exposed to chronic levels of community violence . Figure 2.2 provides an illustration of their model. As indicated in the model, the social context, in this case the neighborhood, contributes to such stressors as community violence . Community violence alone can lead to adverse developmental outcomes such as violence perpetration, depression , anxiety, behavior problems, and PTSD . However, resources such as family factors (maternal-child relationships), school factors (teachers , peers, or school connectedness), and community support programs (e.g., Boys and Girls Club, Big Brothers/Big Sisters) often serve as buffers to adverse developmental outcomes.

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Fig. 2.2

Stress process model

Alternately, Margolin and Gordis (2000) suggest that we conceptualize the link between CVE and young children’s developmental outcomes from a developmental perspective. In that developmental framework, they encourage educators and researchers to consider the intensity of the violence and address the question of whether children are more vulnerable to CVE at certain ages. Figure 2.3 provides a sketch of their perspective. As shown in the figure, how children react to community violence is determined by their age. For preschool children, there may be regression to earlier behaviors (e.g., bedwetting, using lower level language skills, or separation anxiety), whereas for early school-aged children, there may be a decrease in their social skills, their concentration skills, and an increase in aggressive behavior.

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Fig. 2.3

Developmental perspective to violence exposure model

Developmental outcomes are also determined by the children’s cognitive level.

Preschool children, in comparison to early school-aged children are likely to encounter violent situations while with adult caregivers. In this case, they engage in social referencing with adults to assess the severity of the violent encounter and to determine their response.

Furthermore, they have limited cognitive competencies to filter memories of the violent encounter and as such, the event becomes more salient and vivid for them overtime. In addition, they have the tendency to engage in magical thinking and may feel that at some level their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors caused the violent event. Early school-aged children on the other hand are perhaps the most vulnerable group. Unlike preschool children, they are well equipped with the cognitive competencies to accurately appraise the situation. They are well-aware of the intentions of others and may ruminate about their potential victimization.

Moving beyond risks, trauma and developmental age, Bandura and Walters (1977) offer a Social Learning Theory perspective. This perspective proposes that children learn through such mechanisms as observation and imitation to respond to stressful or violent events as a result of observing adults and their responses to CVE. Since children, especially younger children, often witness violence in the presence of adult guardians, they may also learn to imitate the emotional and behavioral responses of these adults. Consequently, they learn to view violence as an acceptable or unacceptable method of resolving conflict with peers and others. This relationship is illustrated in Fig. 2.4

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Fig. 2.4

Social learning theory model of community violence exposure and reaction

Rates of CVE for Children of Color

According to data released by the National Survey of Children’s Exposure to Violence (Finkelhor et al. 2015), each year, a million children experience some form of community violence exposure . CVE often ranges from witnessing stabbings, beatings, drive by shootings, gang wars , hearing gun shots, or violence by law enforcement actions (Hamblen and Goguen 2003) to personal victimization (e.g., assaults and robbery). Young children of color, in comparison to their Caucasian counterparts and in contrast to adults, are more likely to be exposed to chronic community violence (The National Center for Victims of Crime 2017).

Thus, for many children of color witnessing or being a victim of community violence has become a part of their day to day lives and a normative developmental experience (Jipguep and Sanders-Phillips 2003).

The research of Hurt et al. (2001) on community violence exposure and physical and cognitive outcomes suggests that out of 119, 7-year-old participants 75% heard guns shot, 60% observed drug deals, 18% saw a dead body, and 10% had witnessed shootings or stabbing in their home environments. Shahinfar et al. (2000) shared that 58% of the preschool children in their study witnessed violence in the form of someone being chased, beaten, pushed or shoved and 37% had witnessed severe forms of violence .

Researchers also have obtained estimates of community violence exposure from parents.

Child Trends (2015) surveyed parents about their perceptions of the safety of their neighborhoods (as a proxy measure for CVE) and observed that parents of color were more likely than Caucasian parents to report that their children lived in unsafe neighborhoods (see Fig. 2.5).

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Fig. 2.5

Percentage of parents who report children are living in unsafe neighborhoods (Source: Child Trends Data Bank (2015). Retrieved from http://​www.​childtrends.​org/​wp-content/​uploads/​2016/​05/​118_​Exposure_​to_​Violence.​pdf http://​www.​childtrends.​org/​wp-content/​uploads/​2016/​05/​118_​Exposure_​to_​Violence.​pdf)

Farver et al. (1999) found that 70% of mothers in their study reported witnessing arrests, 98% reported hearing gunshots, 46% witnessed dead bodies, and 42% witnessed shootings. These findings seem to vary according to gender. That is, 22% of males in comparison to 20% of females have experienced some form of CVE in the past year (Finkelhor et al. 2015). School-aged children in comparison to preschool-aged children are more likely to witness violence or personally experience violence .

CVE and Physical Outcomes

One way in which CVE affects children physically is by disrupting their developing brain, both the structures and the circuitry. Such brain structures as the amygdala, the hippocampus, and the prefrontal cortex are the primary brain regions compromised by stress and chronic exposure to community violence . All three structures work together to regulate responses to fearful events and situations. The amygdala is responsible for making sense out of stimuli that may be threatening to an individual (Zald 2003) and it dictates how an individual perceives the threatening situations. It shares connections with the hippocampus, which is the structure responsible for storage of long-term memories and memories for recollection of past events. In this case, the hippocampus governs the recollection of stressful events. Lastly, the prefrontal cortex is responsible for organizing emotional reactions, planning, and our allocation of attention (Quirk and Beer 2006). More specifically, the prefrontal cortex determines our thoughts and eventually our physical reactions to the stressful events (Thompson and Massat 2005).

CVE also increases the production of hormones such as cortisol and norepinephrine (adrenaline). Increases in cortisol are linked with depression and learning problems; whereas increases in norepinephrine are associated with hypertension. Given that CVE begins early in life for some children of color, the trauma may impact their developing brain during critical or sensitive periods of brain development (Bremner 2006) which will ultimately impact their performance in the classroom .

Research also suggests that continued exposure to stress or trauma as in the case of community violence activates the fight or flight system (Cannon 1915). The fight or flight system is considered to be a gut or biological response to real or perceived harm. While this system is adaptive in most cases, it is the continual activation of the system in absence of rest that compromises the immune system and causes potential physical problems. Consequently, children of color exposed to continual community violence experience a host of health problems. These health problems range from increased hospitalizations due to complications from asthma to such physical problems as headache, sleep disturbances, somatic problems, and eating disturbances (Buss et al. 2015).

Perhaps the most common outcome of chronic CVE is PTSD . According to Bremner (2006) , early trauma may lead to PTSD . Statistics suggest that while approximately 20% of the population develops PTSD symptoms after exposure to a traumatic event, children of color especially African American children are two times more likely to develop PTSD (Goldmann et al. 2011). The term PTSD , is often used to characterize a constellation of symptoms that are caused by (1) repeatedly perceiving memories of the event through visualization; (2) engaging in behavioral re-enactments of the event; (3) fears related to the trauma event; and (4) pessimistic and hopeless attitudes about the future (Löfving-Gupta et al. 2015; Terr 1991). The resulting behaviors include hyper reactivity, mood swings and changes, and depression .

There is a current push from clinicians to use an alternative diagnosis and set of guidelines for identifying trauma in young children. The term Developmental Trauma Disorder (DTD) was introduced by psychiatrist Bessel van der Kolk in 2005. His argument was that the diagnosis of PTSD does not take into account the different types of trauma that children are exposed to overtime, nor does it take into account how trauma and the resulting behavior vary according to the children’s developmental level. According to Schmid et al. (2013) , a child with DTD may present the following symptoms: (1) scholastic: they underperform academically, have disciplinary problems, conflict with school personnel, and learning disabilities; (2) familial: they avoid adult guardians, run away from home, and engage in behaviors that injures others; (3) peer group: they isolate themselves from peers, experience conflict with peers, and engage in inappropriate age affiliation; (4) legal: they disregard the law, experience juvenile arrests and an increase in the severity of the offenses; and (5) health: they experience physical illnesses, chronic pain, or