FACTORS, DETERMINANTS, AND CONSEQUENCES OF THE EMERGENCE OF THE CATEGORY “CHILDREN OF INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS” IN UKRAINE

Abstract

The article provides a comprehensive theoretical and analytical examination of the factors, determinants, and consequences of the emergence and institutionalization of the category “children of internally displaced persons” in Ukraine under conditions of prolonged armed aggression and large-scale internal displacement of the population. The socio-psychological dimension of the problem is emphasized, as it determines the specific features of adaptation, integration, and restoration of the life potential of IDP children in the context of forced displacement and a multicultural environment. The author’s understanding of the concept “children of internally displaced persons” is substantiated as a distinct socio-demographic and socio-psychological category that combines legal certainty of status with an increased level of social and psychological vulnerability. A set of macro-, meso-, and micro-level factors and determinants shaping this category is analyzed, including military-political, socio-economic, legal and institutional, socio-psychological, educational and cultural, demographic, and family-related ones. The consequences of the emergence of the category “IDP children” are systematized at different levels of social organization: individual (psycho-emotional state, post-traumatic reactions, features of socialization and learning motivation), family (role transformations, increased psychosocial burden, risks of maladaptation), institutional (education, social protection system, mental health care), community and national (pressure on infrastructure, the need for intersectoral interaction and improvement of state policy). It is proven that the consequences of children’s internal displacement are systemic and long-term in nature, combining risks of social marginalization with development potential provided that targeted, comprehensive, and interdisciplinary support is ensured.