The effects of exposure to violence on social network composition and formation

Abstract

How does exposure to violence affect civilian social networks during wartime? Social networks play critical roles in civil wars by enabling civilians to endure the destruction of conflict. However, little is known about how these networks change in response to violence. I employ original survey data from camps for the internally displaced in Kachin State, Myanmar, an area of active civil conflict, to determine how exposure to violence affects the social networks of internally displaced people (IDPs). I find that those exposed to violence have fewer initial, new, and close ties. However, those exposed to violence do not form ties with other exposed IDPs at a higher rate than with non-exposed IDPs.