The Norwegian Centre for Violence and Traumatic Stress Studies (, NKVTS) is a research centre in Oslo, Norway, and Norway's national research institution in violence and sexual abuse; disaster management, terrorism, armed conflicts and traumatic stress; and forced migration and refugee health research. It is interdisciplinary and employs experts mainly in psychology, psychiatry, and the social sciences. In addition to carrying out research and related activities, the institute advises the Government of Norway in its areas of expertise and has some official emergency management functions at the national level. NKVTS has 101 employees.
NKVTS was established by the Government of Norway in 2004 through the merger of four research institutions, mainly at the University of Oslo, and was wholly owned by the University of Oslo until 2019 when ownership was transferred to the Norwegian Research Centre, itself owned by four universities. While organised as an independent limited company, it remains an affiliated institute of the University of Oslo and cooperates closely with the Department of Psychology and the Faculty of Medicine, where several of its research professors also hold professorial chairs. The centre was located at Oslo University Hospital, Ullevål 2004–2013, and is now located in Nydalen, Oslo.
NKVTS has its roots in the military and disaster psychiatry research of the University of Oslo and the Norwegian Armed Forces Joint Medical Services from the 1950s. Its oldest predecessor institution was the Division of Disaster Psychiatry, a joint unit of the University 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 on mass killings, war, catastrophes, accidents and all forms of violence." NKVTS has extensive international cooperation and has been represented in various UN bodies, such as the United Nations Committee against Torture.
History
NKVTS was established by the Government in 2004 through the merger of four institutions: The Division of Disaster Psychiatry, a joint unit of the University of Oslo Faculty of Medicine and the Norwegian Armed Forces Joint Medical Services, based at Gaustad Hospital The Psychosocial Centre for Refugees at the University of Oslo Faculty of Medicine's Department of Psychiatry The Norwegian National Resource Center on Child Sexual Abuse at Aker University Hospital, affiliated with the University of Oslo The Norwegian Resource Centre for Information and Studies on Violence at Oslo University College
The oldest predecessor institution, the Division of Disaster Psychiatry, has its roots in Leo Eitinger's research on psychological trauma among soldiers, refugees and concentration camp survivors at the University of Oslo from the 1950s. 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 psychiatrist Arne Sund established Norwegian military psychiatry as leading within NATO; Sund is also regarded as the founder of the newer field of disaster 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." In 1984 Sund was succeeded by military psychiatrist Lars 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 the Ministry of Health, the Ministry of Justice and Public Security, the Ministry of Defence, the Ministry of Labour, and the Ministry of Children and Family Affairs.