There is an urgent need to conduct research into the effects of political conflict on children growing up in South Africa. This paper discusses some international literature which may be relevant to researchers in this area. The first section briefly assesses the usefulness of the background literature on children in war and disaster situations. The second section outlines some of the clinical effects of political conflict on children. The third illustrates some of the ways in which intra-personal, inter-personal and contextual factors play a role in the stress process. The fourth section incorporates previous discussion into a model for understanding the effects of political conflict on children and offers a brief critique of some of the existing research. The final section explores the implications of the international literature for the South African researcher and examines the usefulness of conducting this kind of research.