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Debunking "Research" on Emotional Problems of Palestinian Children

(Lancet - UK) - In their report on emotional problems of children living in war zones, Abdel Aziz Mousa Thabet and colleagues (May 25) commit the error of inferring causality from a cross-sectional analysis. Their conclusion, that their findings are evidence that children's emotional responses to different kinds of exposure to political violence are acute and severe, is not justified. Similar reasoning would lead to the conclusion that low-calorie drinks cause obesity, since many obese people drink these beverages. The association of emotional problems in Palestinian youths with living in a strife-ridden area does not show that either is the cause of the other. A plausible alternative explanation is that the educational, political, religious, and social environment in which Palestinian children are raised causes emotional problems and the continuing conflict in the region. Textbooks demonize Jews and encourage violence against them. Palestinian leaders review squads of kindergarten students adorned with mock explosive belts. Palestinians have been described as having "grown intoxicated with the idea of power through death. They are exalting the most vicious acts of their own young." Children who grow up knowing their parents' fondest hope is for them to become suicide or homicide bombers cannot be expected to perform normally on standard tests of emotional wellbeing. Is it any wonder that products of this society have emotional problems? I would argue that this sociological milieu is responsible for the emotional problems Thabet and colleagues note, and that the continuing conflict is not the cause, but the inevitable result, of a generation of people raised to hate. Jonathan Shuter, M.D.; Montefiore Medical Center, New York
2002-10-11 00:00:00
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