Developmental Psychology and Peace

Abstract

Research dating back to the 1960s shows that as children age, their understandings and conceptions about peace change along with their cognitive and social development. This work highlights the importance of context, interpersonal relationships, and cognitive capabilities on how children develop ideas and behaviors related to peace. The literature to date mainly draws from three theoretical bases to situate peace attitudes within ontological development: socialization theory, Piaget’s cognitive stages of development, and social-cognitive theory. Drawing on these models, empirical research has demonstrated that children generally move from concrete and material notions that focus on negative peace to abstract, norm-related concepts that incorporate interpersonal dynamics. At the same time, these processes vary with a number of factors, including cultural norms, historical context, and gender. This chapter presents an ecologically based and culturally grounded theoretical framework to study how children—as part of developmental processes and changes—come to form ideas and behaviors related to peace. An ecological model—Spencer’s PVEST—provides a more effective conceptualization of how individual children interpret historical and cultural contexts in developing understandings of peace and taking on roles as peacemakers. Empirical evidence gathered in different cities in Colombia demonstrates the utility of the theoretical framework for the field of peace and developmental psychology. The chapter ends by discussing how such work in developmental psychology informs peace and human rights education. An ecologically focused theoretical framework would provide a more effective guide for policies and programs seeking to promote understandings of peace and peace building in educational settings.