Psychology and Cultures

Useful Web Links

Equipping Humanitarian Workers in Conflict Situations
This article argues that pranimary attention has to be given to the psychosocial wellbeing of the national staff to equip them as agents of positive change, and proposes a mechanism to address this need that has been modeled by World Vision in Rwanda.

The Psychosocial Working Group
The main aim of the PWG is to address the lack of consensus on goals, strategy and best practice that currently challenges the field of psychosocial intervention in complex emergencies. While their work is primarily geared towards beneficiaries, national staff usually fall under this category and the PWG's suggestions apply.

Risks associated with the psychological adjustment of humanitarian aid workers
The Australasian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies
This article addresses the fact that contemporary humanitarian aid personnel are at risk of experiencing traumatic and daily cumulative stress, and that international staff and national staff may experience stress in different ways, have different needs, and use different coping mechanisms. Eleven areas of situational and individual risk are proposed that are likely to have applicability across different contexts, countries and people.


Group interpersonal psychotherapy for depression in rural Uganda, JAMA
This report on a recent randomized controlled trial in Uganda found that group interpersonal psychotherapy was helpful in reducing depression and dysfunction. A clinical trial proved feasible in the local setting.