Effect of Political Conflict : Georgian Children's Perspective and Attitudes Towards Russians.

Abstract

There is a risk that historical tensions between Georgia and Russia that recently escalated into actual military violence may have certain effect on people, especially on children who are the most sensitive and vulnerable part of any society. Political animosity can spread at individual level causing prejudice and alienation. Using qualitative methods such as drawings and interviews current study deals with understanding Georgian children’s perspectives and attitudes towards Russians in this situation. Participants of the study are ten children of age 11-14: six - from conflict-zone who directly experienced the war and four - from Tbilisi who know about the war via secondary sources. Although qualitative design reduces chance of generalization, it gives possibility of in-depth look at the problem. Analysis of data showed that majority of participants view Russians negatively – most drawings have violent context and image of Russian is either aggressive or indifferent. However in two cases Russian is viewed as positive and friendly. It is notable that both of these children have Russian acquaintance while the rest do not know any of them personally. On the other hand most participants, who are negatively predisposed towards Russians, distinguish between categories of ‘Russian’ and ‘Russian child’ which is perceived far more positively.

Key words: Georgian children, Russians, children’s perspective, attitudes, prejudice