Nasjonalt kunnskapssenter om vold og traumatisk stress | |
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| Abbreviation | NKVTS |
|---|---|
| Formation | 2004; 21 years ago (2004) |
| Type | Government-owned research institute |
| Location | |
| Fields | Violence andsexual abuse;disaster management,terrorism,armed conflicts andtraumatic stress; andforced migration andrefugee health |
Director | Inger Elise Birkeland |
| Affiliations |
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| Staff | 101[1] (2019) |
| Website | nkvts |
TheNorwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (Norwegian:Nasjonalt kunnskapssenter om vold og traumatisk stress,NKVTS) is aresearch centre in Oslo,Norway, and Norway's national research institution in violence andsexual abuse;disaster management,terrorism,armed conflicts andtraumatic stress; andforced migration andrefugee health research. It is interdisciplinary and employs experts mainly inpsychology,psychiatry, and thesocial sciences. In addition to carrying out research and related activities, the institute advises theGovernment of Norway in its areas of expertise and has some officialemergency management functions at the national level. NKVTS has 101 employees.
NKVTS was established by theGovernment of Norway in 2004 through the merger of four research institutions, mainly at theUniversity of Oslo, and was wholly owned by the University of Oslo until 2019 when ownership was transferred to theNorwegian Research Centre, itself owned by four universities. While organised as an independentlimited company, it remains anaffiliated institute of the University of Oslo[2] and cooperates closely with theDepartment of Psychology and theFaculty of Medicine, where several of its research professors also hold professorial chairs. The centre was located atOslo University Hospital, Ullevål 2004–2013, and is now located inNydalen, Oslo.
NKVTS has its roots in themilitary anddisaster psychiatry research of the University of Oslo and theNorwegian Armed Forces Joint Medical Services from the 1950s. Its oldest predecessor institution was the Division of Disaster Psychiatry, a joint unit of theUniversity of Oslo Faculty of Medicine and the Norwegian Armed Forces, that was established by the chief psychiatrist of the Norwegian Armed Forces,Arne Sund, a pioneer in military psychiatry and the founder of the field of disaster psychiatry. Through Sund's efforts Norway became "an international pioneer in the research onmass killings, war,catastrophes,accidents and all forms of violence."[3] NKVTS has extensive international cooperation and has been represented in various UN bodies, such as theUnited Nations Committee against Torture.
NKVTS was established by theGovernment in 2004 through the merger of four institutions:[4]
The oldest predecessor institution, the Division of Disaster Psychiatry, has its roots inLeo Eitinger's research onpsychological trauma among soldiers, refugees and concentration camp survivors at the University of Oslo from the 1950s.[5][6] Eitinger's research had a foundational impact on the psychological-psychiatric service of the Norwegian military. From the 1960s military psychiatry research was carried out in cooperation between the University of Oslo and the Norwegian Armed Forces Joint Medical Services, and chief military psychiatristArne Sund established Norwegian military psychiatry as leading withinNATO; Sund is also regarded as the founder of the newer field ofdisaster psychiatry. In 1978 the Division of Disaster Psychiatry was established as a formal unit within both the university and the Norwegian Armed Forces Joint Medical Services, with Sund as its director. Through Sund's efforts Norway became "an international pioneer in the research on mass killings, war, catastrophes, accidents and all forms of violence."[3] In 1984 Sund was succeeded by military psychiatristLars Weisæth who led the institution until it became part of NKVTS. The Norwegian military's Stress Management Team for International Operations, established in 1996, was part of the Division of Disaster Psychiatry. The Psychosocial Team for Refugees was established by the government as part of the Directorate of Health in 1986, and became a centre at the University of Oslo in 1990. The two other institutions were established by the government in 1995 and 1996. The four institutions were merged to form NKVTS as a joint initiative of theMinistry of Health, theMinistry of Justice and Public Security, theMinistry of Defence, theMinistry of Labour, and theMinistry of Children and Family Affairs.
NKVTS is funded directly by the government. The institute was part of theUniversity of Oslo from its establishment in 2004 until 2019, and remains anaffiliated institute of the University of Oslo from 2019. The institute was located atOslo University Hospital, Ullevål 2004–2013, and is now located inNydalen, Oslo, in the immediate vicinity of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security. In 2018 the government proposed to integrate NKVTS into theNorwegian Institute of Public Health.[7] In 2019 the government proposed that NKVTS continues as an independent state-owned research institute, and that the government's shares are administered by theNorwegian Research Centre, a research organisation owned by four universities; NKVTS maintains its close academic links with the University of Oslo as an affiliated institute.
The centre has 101 employees (2019). It employs experts inpsychology,psychiatry, law, sociology,criminology,social anthropology and other disciplines, with the main emphasis on psychology and psychiatry. Its academic staff include research professors (equivalent to full professors), senior researchers (associate professors), researchers (assistant professors) and a number of postdoctoral fellows, doctoral candidates and research assistants. NKVTS cooperates closely with theDepartment of Psychology, theFaculty of Medicine and theFaculty of Law at the University of Oslo, where several of its research professors also hold professorial chairs.[1]
Nora Sveaass, then research director for refugee health and forced migration at NKVTS, was elected as a member of theUnited Nations Committee against Torture in 2005.[8]
NKVTS has major research projects on the psychological and social impact ofterrorism, including the2011 Norway attacks. NKVTS also has several research projects on the psychological impact of natural catastrophes such as the2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, and onchild soldiers in Africa,torture, traumatised refugees, war victims and soldiers,child sexual abuse andsexual violence, andviolence in close relations.
In addition to carrying out research the centre advises the Government of Norway in its areas of expertise. NKVTS has certain official functions related toemergency management at the national level.
The current director of the institute isInger Elise Birkeland, a former political adviser to Prime MinisterGro Harlem Brundtland.
B.E. Saunders of theMedical University of South Carolina has described the institute as "one of the most highly respected research organizations in the world dedicated to research on violence and traumatic stress. Since its inception, it has conducted a series of highly sophisticated studies focusing on a wide array of topics, including the prevalence and impact of different forms of violence and abuse among children and adults, mental health treatment of posttraumatic stress disorder and other trauma-related problems, and how best to implement and incorporate evidence-based interventions practices into community service agencies. These studies have had enormous impact not only in Norway, but internationally."[9]
The list includes researchers at NKVTS' four predecessor institutions.
Media related toNorwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies at Wikimedia Commons
