Abstract
Background: Iraq is consistently exposed to large-scale traumatic events such as successive wars since 1980 to the present day, economic sanctions, sustained organized violence, and terrorism. These unsafe circumstances have negatively impacted the psychosocial status of the Iraqi community. Objective: To study the prevalence of witnessing or exposure to various types of violence, and its association with mental health problems in a sample of Iraqi men. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study that was conducted from April to September 2014. The target population were men from different age groups that were collected through a convenience sampling technique from two large cities; Baghdad (the capital city) and Mosul (the second largest city in Iraq). The source of data was from different institutions, colleges and lay people. The data collection process was done using the Self-Reporting Questionnaire 20 which is recommended by the World Health Organization for screening psychiatric disturbances. Results: A total of 480 Iraqi males agreed to participate in the study. The main type of violence reported was witnessing violence (55.4%), followed by exposure of friends or relatives to violence (51.4%), and witnessing or exposure to sexual assault was least reported (3.8%). The most frequent feeling recorded was of worry (72.9%), getting easily upset (65.4%), suffering from headaches (62.7%) and lethargy (59.4%). Severe psychological changes were evident in 68.5% of men, while moderate changes were present in 31.5%. Analysis of the feelings and behavioral changes in relation to the participants' history of exposure to violence revealed a significant association with witnessing shooting or stabbings, displacement, friends or relatives' exposure to violence, and viewing corpses. Conclusion: There is a high prevalence among Iraqi men of exposure to, or witnessing violence that showed an association with their mental condition, which, if proved causally, may be a leading cause for future devastating effects on their health, wellbeing and quality of life.
Highlights
The fourth level looks at the broad societal factors that help create a climate in which violence is encouraged or inhibited. These include the availability of weapons and social and cultural norms. Such norms include those that give priority to parental rights over child welfare, those that regard suicide as a matter of individual choice instead of a preventable act of violence, those that entrench male dominance over women and children, those that support the use of excessive force by police against citizens, and those that support political conflict
Reliable data on non-fatal child abuse are scarce, but studies from various countries suggest that children below the age of 15 years are frequently victims of abuse or neglect that requires medical care and intervention by social services
As the World report on violence and health has shown, certain factors appear to be strongly predictive of violence, even if direct causality is sometimes difficult to establish
Summary
The World Health Organization defines violence [4] as: The intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against oneself, another person, or against a group or community, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in injury, death, psychological harm, maldevelopment or deprivation. In addition to direct physical injury, victims of violence are at increased risk of a wide range of psychological and behavioural problems, including
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
