This project explores how children living in conflict zones respond to violence, displacement, and systemic injustice—not only as victims, but as active agents of survival and resistance. Drawing on over a decade of research, it investigates how children assert their identity, protect their well-being, and build resilience through activism and everyday acts of agency.
Through interviews and participatory methods like drawings, life stories, and mapping exercises, the study centers children's voices and their lived experiences. It examines how children's political awareness and community engagement can be protective psychological factors, helping them navigate adversity with strength and creativity.
During the STIAS residency, I will begin writing a book that highlights these children's stories, challenging traditional, depoliticized approaches in psychology. The project draws on liberation psychology, decolonial thought, and critical social science to reframe how we understand mental health in contexts of chronic oppression.
Ultimately, this work aims to shift the focus from trauma to empowerment—emphasizing how children resist erasure, reclaim space, and imagine better futures, even in the most difficult circumstances.