2025/07/05 by Juan Pablo Aranguren Romero, Juan Pablo Aranguren-Romero, Sergio Daniel Arrieta-Vera +10
Health Professions · Psychology · #Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development #Community Health and Development #Resilience and Mental Health
paper · doi:10.1080/00207411.2025.2526217
crossref issued 2025/07/05 · crossref published 2025/07/05 · crossref published-online 2025/07/05 · openalex publication_date 2025/07/05 · crossref created 2025/07/05 · crossref deposited 2025/07/05 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/15 · crossref indexed 2026/07/31
Colombia’s history of political violence and internal conflict has impacted the psychosocial wellbeing of the population, particularly children and young people. Not much is known, however, about whether age-specific and culturally appropriate services exist, nor about the role of community organizations in this. This research took the city of Buenaventura as a case study in order to address this gap in knowledge. As a major Pacific coastal port, Buenaventura is of economic importance. At the same time it experiences high levels of poverty and exclusion, especially its large population of minoritised Afro-Colombian and indigenous people, and has been significantly impacted by violence during decades of armed conflict and operational paramilitary and neo-paramilitary groups. Based on semi-structured interviews and group discussions with show that these organizations develop strategies that contribute to the emotional wellbeing of children and adolescents, through enabling collective scenarios for a nonviolent daily life, supporting emotional expression through artistic practices and therapeutic psychosocial actions, and drawing on traditional practices of Afro-descendant communities in the Colombian Pacific. This article develops a deeper understanding of age and culturally informed approaches to emotionally supporting young people in violent contexts, that is of broader relevance in a context of increasing global conflict.