Educational and Socio-Psychological Needs of Internally Displaced Children in Ukraine

Abstract

In 2014 the ongoing armed conflict in Ukraine forced thousands of people to leave their homes and seek refuge elsewhere. The number of officially registered internally displaced persons (IDPs) has exceeded 1.76 million. More than 300 thousand of them are children. The aim of the paper is to present the results of sociological research “Study of socio-psychological needs of school-age children, displaced from the Anti-Terrorist Operation Zone (ATO)”. Quantitative and qualitative research methods, the survey of parents and teachers who work with IDP children have been applied. Results show IDP children do not have specific needs the satisfaction of which would require a separate intervention. On the contrary, there is a need for maximum integration in the social environment of the host community. The research was conducted within the framework of the project “Integration Through Dialogue”, 2015–2017, with the support of the European Commission.