syndrome psychotraumatique chronique chez l’enfant : Cas d’une réfugiée de guerre du Congo-Brazzaville résidant au Gabon.
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.2025/ja3p.v1.s1.14Keywords:
Key-words: Psychotraumatic syndrome - Child - Refugee - Congo-Brazzaville – GabonAbstract
This article presents a clinical case study that examines chronic post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in a child refugee from the Congo-Brazzaville civil wars, who has been residing in Gabon since 2000. The study explores the clinical manifestations of PTSD in this context and demonstrates the use of free drawing as a therapeutic modality to facilitate the verbalization and symbolization of the child's traumatic experiences. Data collection involved multiple sessions utilizing free drawing, complemented by semi-structured clinical interviews with the child and their parents. The analysis of the child's drawings and interview transcripts revealed depictions of violence and death, alongside a range of psychological and physical symptoms consistent with childhood psychotrauma, including re-experiencing phenomena, avoidance behaviors, hyperarousal, selective mutism, sleep disturbances, language development delays, and regressive behaviors, suggestive of developmental suspension. The therapeutic intervention, characterized by a reassuring environment and an empathic approach, aimed to promote the expression of affects, speech, and emotions, facilitating the elaboration of loss and fostering psychological repair. The study implicitly hypothesizes that a child refugee exposed to war-related trauma will develop chronic PTSD with specific symptomatic manifestations and developmental challenges, and further suggests that the integration of free drawing within clinical interviews can be an effective method for accessing and addressing the psychological sequelae of such trauma in this population. The findings underscore the often underestimated prevalence and inadequate management of psychotrauma among child refugees in Africa, despite their frequent exposure to traumatic events and the potential for severe long-term impacts on their psychoaffective development.
References
Bika, G. (2022). Le Rorschach et le TAT de réfugiés de guerre : De la violence subie/agie au traumatisme psychique. Psychologie clinique et projective, 32(2), 131‑150.
Bika, G. (2023). L’expression de la violence à travers le rorschach d’un milicien déserteur. Perspectives dynamiques. Revue Congolaise de Psychologie, 6, 62‑81.
Bowlby, J. (1999). Attachment and loss (2nd ed). Basic Books.
Crocq, M.-A., & Guelfi, J.-D. (avec American psychiatric association). (2015). DSM-5 : Manuel diagnostique et statistique des troubles mentaux (5e éd). Elsevier Masson.
Dewulf, A.-C., Van Broeck, N., & Philippot, P. (2006). L’état de stress post-traumatique chez l’enfant : Questions autour de la description diagnostique: Bulletin de psychologie, Numéro 481(1), 119‑132. https://doi.org/10.3917/bupsy.481.0119
Docherty, M., Moreno, F., Niwa, E. Y., & Boxer, P. (2023). Ethnopolitical violence exposure and children’s aggression. In C. R. Martin, V. R. Preedy, & V. B. Patel (Eds.), Handbook of anger, aggression, and violence. Springer Nature Switzerland AG., 191‑214.
Fazel, M., Wheeler, J., & Danesh, J. (2005). Prevalence of serious mental disorder in 7000 refugees resettled in western countries : A systematic review. 365.
Guerre et catastrophe. Souffrance et traumatisme psychique de l’enfant in Maqueda, F (Eds). (1999). In Traumatismes de guerre. Actualités cliniques humanitaires. (Desclée De Brouwer, p. 29‑37).
Hélène, R. (2013). Quelles sont les réactions possibles en différé ? In L’enfant face au traumatisme (p. 35‑76). Dunod; Cairn.info. https://shs.cairn.info/l-enfant-face-au-traumatisme--9782100590063-page-35?lang=fr
Herman, J. L. (1997). Trauma and Recovery : The Aftermath of Violence—From Domestic Abuse to Political Terror. https://beyondthetemple.com/wpcontent/uploads/2018/04/herman_trauma-and-recovery-1.pdf
Lewis, S. J., Arseneault, L., Caspi, A., Fisher, H. L., Matthews, T., Moffitt, T. E., Odgers, C. L., Stahl, D., Teng, J. Y., & Danese, A. (2019). The epidemiology of trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder in a representative cohort of young people in England and Wales. The Lancet Psychiatry, 6(3), 247‑256. https://doi.org/10.1016/S2215-0366(19)30031-8
Malchiodi, C. A. (Éd.). (2003). Handbook of art therapy. Guilford Press.
Maqueda, F., Bailly, L., Péchiné, C., Métraux, J.-C., Grandbesançon, Y., & Granjon, E. (1999). Traumatismes de guerre : Actualités cliniques et humanitaires. (Desclée De Brouwer).
Mestre, C. (2021). L’enfant et la guerre. Spirale. Bébés d’ici, bébés d’ailleurs., 1(97), 131‑133.
Scheeringa, M. S., Zeanah, C. H., & Cohen, J. A. (2011). PTSD in children and adolescents : Toward an empirically based algorithma. Depression and Anxiety, 28(9), 770‑782. https://doi.org/10.1002/da.20736
Terr, L. (1991). Childhood traumas : An outline and overview. American Journal of Psychiatry, 148(1), 10‑20. https://doi.org/10.1176/ajp.148.1.10
Unicef. (2009). Progress_for_Children-No.8_FR_081309.pdf (N° 8; La convention relative aux droits de l’enfant). Unicef. https://factsforlife.org/pdf/Progress_for_Children-No.8_FR_081309.pdf
Vila, G. (2006). Aspects cliniques des états de stress post-traumatiques chez l’enfant et l’adolescent. In L. Jehel (Eds). In Psycho-traumatologie. Evaluation, clinique, traitement. (Dunod, p. 130‑138).
Wali Wali, C. (2010). Les réfugiés congolais au Gabon : Modes de circulation et d’installation dans un espace frontalier: Thèse soutenue par Christian Wali Wali le 25 juin 2010 à l’Université de Poitiers. e-Migrinter, 6, 94‑97. https://doi.org/10.4000/e-migrinter.1337
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Categories
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Journal Africain de Psychologie et Psychologie Pathologique
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
