Research article is devoted to the study of the psychological characteristics of the socialization of children during an armed conflict. They are divided into three categories: children living under conditions of war; children of internally displaced persons, and not numerous, but also struck by the aftermath of the war group – children who, as a result of the Joint Forces Operation, have become half orphans. All of these categories of children are characterized by the problem of social deadaptation and desocialization, which is especially true for those, who have been living in the Joint Forces Operation zone for the fifth year already. Paper considers the influence of life-threatening situations on children of different ages living in war conditions, internally displaced persons and children living in families of dead and wounded soldiers of the Joint Forces Operation. Children living in the territory of the Joint Forces Operation are characterized by an early experience of death, cruelty, violence and a lack of sense of security. An important task of the protection of the children living in the territory of the Joint Forces Operation is to overcome psychological stress from hostilities, and to inform them about the safety of the environment. For children living in the families of dead and wounded soldiers of the Joint Forces Operation several displays of negative psychic responses are characteristic, especially in the first weeks of loss. During this period the child is most in need of love, understanding and support. For most of the children of internally displaced persons adaptation problems are typical – mainly those faced by most children who fall into the new collective. However, most of them still feel anxiety and other emotions (surprise, disgust, indignation), that arise as a result of cultural differences. The consequences of Joint Forces Operation, as a rule, have an extremely negative impact on the psyche of children. Post-traumatic stress and adaptation disorders are the most common and unfavorable forms of mental disabilities of children, who experienced life-threatening situations. The severity of the clinical displays of disorder adaptation depends on the age of the child, the level of involvement in the stressful event, and on the nature of the reaction of the closest relatives (first of all parents) to difficult life situations. Given this, it is important to ensure the legal protection of children. Legislatively, the rights of the child are protected by the Law of Ukraine «On the Protection of Childhood». It was amended accordingly to define children, who suffered from armed conflicts, but there is still no additional state support for the child, who has got the status of a victim as a result of hostilities. Unlike the status of the internally displaced person, the status of the victim of hostilities is granted for life and is not canceled when the conflict ends. Therefore, nowadays the children of war are no longer represented by the older generation, but by the generation, that is just passing the stages of socialization, formation of the inner self and the future external, collective «ourselves» (that is, the political and civic culture of society and the whole people).
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Open Access
Jan 1, 2021
Krzysztof Trębski 
