Age Differences in Understanding Peace, War, and Conflict Resolution

Abstract

Children's and adolescents' understanding of conflict and strategies for peace were assessed in response to concerns raised during the Gulf War. The sample comprised 156 schoolchildren aged 7-18 years. Major findings included a unilinear developmental progression in understanding the concept of war and peace. There was a tendency for the younger children to have concepts of war which broadly incorporated many negative aspects and to cite government rather than individuals as having responsibility for ensuring peace. The older children were more likely than the younger children to express the belief that there should be no intervention in others' conflicts. Age differences in strategies for resolving conflict and establishing peace between individuals were found to be greater than developmental differences in strategies for conflict and peace between countries. There was little evidence for assuming that children develop a strategy for resolving conflicts which is generalised across interpersonal and international domains. Across ages, the concept of peace was specified less well than the concept of war, although the overall patterns of findings suggest that most children understand peace.