Understanding Violence Against Civilians by Government and Rebel Forces: Perspectives from Political Science and Health Behavior

Media coverage of contemporary civil wars conveys the public health consequences of violence, but also veils the reasons for and extended consequence of brutality. Because of civil wars and the violence they engender, public health systems degrade, access to basic needs such as food and clean water declines, and people are forced from their homes and into refugee camps where infectious diseases easily spread. These consequences of civil war significantly affect the lives of noncombatant populations, degrading their health and reducing their lifespans at both individual and population levels. Yet, the most direct and often brutal consequence of civil conflict for civilian populations comes in the form of directly targeting noncombatant populations with atrocious violence. This chapter discusses the unintuitive yet “rational” thinking and acts of combatants, and their resultant effects.