MA Humanitarianism and Conflict Response / Course details

The course will enable students to critically interrogate the norms, practices and approaches to mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian crises from a social science perspective. Students are therefore not required to have any prior medical knowledge. Instead, the course considers the causes, risks, and approaches to mental health in situations of natural hazards, conflict, displacement and violence, with a focus on the interaction between mental health and trauma, workplace culture, and security risk management in humanitarian contexts. The first part of the module considers the conceptualisations of mental health from various perspectives, whilst the second part focuses on looks at how psychosocial support is created in practice from top-down NGO interventions to community-led approaches. 

The course will feature some guest lecturers from different disciplines and backgrounds in order to provide a comprehensive approach to mental health in humanitarian crises which will complement student experiences when on field visits or in their future careers as aid workers.

• Provide students with insights into a rarely researched and taught area of humanitarian practice.
• Highlight the long-term mental health consequences of humanitarian crises, often more severe than physical injuries.
• Emphasize the psychological impact on both victims and aid workers.
• Bring mental health to the forefront of humanitarian scholarship and practice.
• Ensure future humanitarian efforts prioritize mental health in crisis response and recovery. 

Two hour sessions per each week.

Session 1: Introduction & Medical approaches to mental health

This session will introduce the module to students and briefly outline the different approaches to mental health from a medical and social science perspective, before handing over to a colleague from the medical school who will introduce the cognitive elements of anxiety, depression and ptsd.

Session 2: Social science perspectives of mental health

This session outlines the key perspectives to mental health from a social science perspective, considering the social determinants of mental health in both the Global North and the Global South.

• Tutorial 1: Effects of trauma – different humanitarian crises

Led by the tutor, students will have been expected to read three papers in advance on the causes and symptoms of mental health relating to a) natural hazards, b) conflict and violence and c) displacement.

Session 3: Western approaches to psychosocial support

This session will detail the current approaches to mental health as practiced in the Global North and in the South by humanitarian agencies. This will cover areas such as counselling, CBT etc.

Session 4: Community approaches to psychosocial support

This session will consider the different ways mental health conditions are treated by non-medical actors, such as communities, religious groups and traditional healers.

Session 5: Psychosocial effects and responses to Gender Based Sexual Violence

This session considers one particular area which is common to many humanitarian crises and looks at the ways in which GBSV causes mental health issues and how mental health issues can be a cause for GBSV. It will examine the variety of approaches used to treat this.

Session 6: Case Study – Western vs non-Western approaches to psychosocial support in Haiti

Led by a medic, Joshua Walker, this session looks at how a non-western approach to the multiple humanitarian crises of Haiti has had much better outcomes that a western approach

• Tutorial 2: Case studies

In this session, students will be assessed on presentations which detail successful and failed attempts of western notions of psychosocial support in humanitarian case studies.

Session 7: Treating children affected by crises

This session focuses on the ways in which children can be affected differently by humanitarian crises and yet, may necessitate treatment along the lines of adults. When is this appropriate and how is this assessment made?

Session 8: Refugees and asylum seekers in the UK

Led by Ross White (Glasgow) this session considers how the NHS and UK-based NGOs are dealing with mental health as a result of displaced people who now find themselves in the UK. It asks how these institutions can adapt to problems which are not the norm and therefore require solutions which veer away from accepted practices.

Session 9: Prevention, interventions and sustainability

This session looks to the future of mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian crises to outline areas not only for future research but best practices which can adapt to the changing nature of these crises.

• Tutorial 3: Practical session

Led by Thea Soltau, this session is a practical exploring theatre and performance as a means to treat mental health issues.

Lectures and tutorials.

The students will also utilize case studies, hands-on exercises, and role-playing scenarios to learn how to offer non-medical interventions in humanitarian crises. Students are encouraged to develop their own theoretical and applied understanding through guided individual reading, creative project, and research essay. 

• Critically interrogate the literature on social science perspectives of mental health and psychosocial support and have touched on the medical literature.
• Develop a critical understanding of the way differences between western scholarship and interventions in the field (whether in the Global North or Global South).
• Compare and contrast psychosocial support interventions in different contexts and crises.
• Critically reflect on alternative interventions and approaches as practiced by individuals rather than organisations.

• Be able to translate conceptualisations of mental health to different arenas
• Verbally present on case studies of mental health and psychosocial support
• Propose alternative interventions for improving mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian contexts.
• Write a critical essay demonstrating research skills on this topic in various humanitarian settings.

• Have more experience and knowledge of mental health than average Masters level graduates who wish to enter the field of aid work.
• Able to communicate the complexities of mental health and psychological support to a variety of audiences
• Develop a more human approach to humanitarian response

Breslau, J. 2004. Cultures of trauma: Anthropological Views of Posttraumatic Stress disorders in International Health. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry. 28 (2): 113 -126.   

Cardozo, et al. (2005) ‘The Mental Health of Expatriate and Kosovar Albanian Humanitarian Aid Workers’, Disasters, 29:2, 152-170.

De Jong, Joop. T.V.M.  2005. Commentary: Deconstructing Critiques of the Internationalisation of PTSD. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry. 29, pp. 361 – 370.

Galea. S, Nandi, A. & Viahov, D.  2005. The Epidemiology of Post-traumatic stress disorder after disasters. American Journal of Epidemiology. Vol. 27, (1), pp. 78 – 91.   

Giorgia, D. (2014) ‘The Psychological Impact of Working in post-conflict environments: A personal account of intersectional traumatisation’, Journal of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support in Conflict Affected Areas, 12:1, 91-94.

Henry, D. 2006. Violence and the Body: Somatic Expressions of Trauma and Vulnerability during War. Medical Anthropology Quarterly. Vol. 20. (3) pp. 379-398. 

Johnson, H. & Thompson, A. 2008. The development and Maintenance of PTSD in civilian adult survivors of war trauma and torture: a review. Clinical Psychology Review. Vol. 28, pp. 36 -47.   

Whiteley, R. (2015) ‘Global Mental Health: Concepts, conflicts and controversies’, Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 24:1, 285-291.

Website:

Brain Basics: https://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/educational-resources/brain-basics/brain-basics.shtml

World Health Organization. (2012). Assessing mental health and psychosocial needs and resources: Toolkit for humanitarian settings. World Health Organization.

Tol, W. A., Le, P. D., Harrison, S. L., Galappatti, A., Annan, J., Baingana, F. K., ... & van Ommeren, M. (2023). Mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian settings: research priorities for 2021–30. The Lancet Global Health, 11(6), e969-e975.

Tol, W. A., Purgato, M., Bass, J. K., Galappatti, A., & Eaton, W. (2015). Mental health and psychosocial support in humanitarian settings: a public mental health perspective. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 24(6), 484-494.

Evidence from the academic and grey literature acknowledges that mental health is a serious issue for humanitarian response, yet, very little is done to calculate the impact, measure, treat or support those who suffer mentally as a result of humanitarian crises. This module will give students who wish to be aid workers a key advantage in what is an extremely competitive job markets. They will have the skills necessary to evaluate current (if any) mental health treatment in the field and suggest ways forward for providing support which is not only context but also evidence driven. This unit also provides a solid basis for those who wish to enter an under-researched area from an academic basis.