Background

Background

If we are to teach real peace in this world, and if we are to carry on a real war against war, we shall have to begin with the children.

- Mahatma Ghandi (1869 -1948)

Background

IN PROCESS

Can more peaceful childhoods promote a culture of peace?

Increasing evidence from a broad range of disciplines shows that how we raise our children affects the propensity for conflict and the potential for peace within a given community. In this first-of-its-kind volume, Pathways to Peace: The Transformative Power of Children and Families, experts from a range of disciplines, including members of the ECPC Executive Committee and Advisory Board, examine the biological and social underpinnings of child development and the importance of strengthening families to build harmonious and equitable relations across generations.

To provide you an introduction to this field of work, our student staff has broadly synthesized the sections reflected in this scholarly collection.

In 2013, the Ernst Strüngmann Forum convened a think tank at their institute in Frankfurt, Germany to review a premise that has fascinating implications for research, practice, and policy: Do the ways we raise children hold promise for promoting peace in the world? Learn about the steps taken to produce this first-of-its-kind volume.

Early childhood is a unique opportunity to transform from a culture of war to a culture of peace.

Although we are living in tumultuous times, there is much hope in the prospect of early childhood development programs as a tool for building peace.

Human development is very much a social process, and underlying biological mechanisms help explain how we develop socially.

Environments that are stressful or deprive young children of psychosocial development may influence individuals to have aggressive tendencies and other violent behaviors later on in life.

Analyzes of how the various forms of violence impacts the development of children and also discusses how psychological interventions can enhance positivity and peacebuilding in a community.

A review of evidence and outcomes of a variety of early childhood programs designed to promote peace, while also analyzing the impact such interventions had on children and their parents.

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