Sofie Vindevogel

Forced conscription of children during armed conflict: experiences of former child soldiers in northern Uganda.

OBJECTIVE Child soldiering can be considered as one of the worst practices of institutionalized child abuse. However, little is known about the scope and nature of this abuse and the consequent experiences of children enrolled in an armed faction. This research aims at enriching the knowledge on the experiences of child soldiers in the Lords Resistance Army (LRA) in northern Uganda. METHODS The databases of 4 former Interim Care Centres for returned child soldiers in northern Uganda, comprising socio-demographic information of 8,790 returnees, and additional data from the Rachele Rehabilitation Centre on war-related experiences of 1,995 former child soldiers, are analyzed using descriptive statistics, analysis of covariance and regression analysis. RESULTS During on average 1.5 years in captivity, nearly all participants had various war-related experiences, whereby 88% witnessed and 76% forcibly participated in atrocities. Variations in exposure to warfare appear to be mainly associated with age of abduction, duration of captivity, location of captivity, being military trained, and being a rebels wife. CONCLUSIONS These findings testify to the vastness of abuse lived through by the child soldiers in this study. They fulfilled a multifaceted position in the LRA, which delivers a range of potential direct and indirect consequences. The variables decisive in differential experiences unveil trends in the strategic abduction by the LRA and in differential exposure to warfare among child soldiers. IMPLICATIONS The variation in exposure to warfare urges for an individualized approach and monitoring of returning child soldiers. In order to address the potential indirect impact of child soldiering, support also needs to be oriented towards the childs network, based on a socio-ecological approach.

Toward a Relational Understanding of the Reintegration and Rehabilitation Processes of Former Child Soldiers

Worldwide, about 250,000 children are employed in armed factions. Their time in the army or rebel group charges them with a range of difficult and possibly traumatizing experiences. Moreover, when returning from the armed group, they often encounter difficulties reintegrating into their community and familial context, in particular social processes of stigmatization, discrimination, and expulsion. This article frames these difficulties within the broader social context, where organized violence induces deeply rooted processes of collective trauma on entire communities. Elaborating on diverse initiatives supporting the rehabilitation and reintegration processes of former child soldiers, a relational approach is put forward to address possible gaps in current humanitarian approaches. Additionally, current gaps and possible ways forward in research studying this group, starting from a relational approach, are discussed.

Unpacking constructs: a network approach for studying war exposure, daily stressors and post-traumatic stress disorder

Conflict-affected populations are exposed to stressful events during and after war, and it is well established that both take a substantial toll on individuals’ mental health. Exactly how exposure to events during and after war affect mental health is a topic of considerable debate. Various hypotheses have been put forward on the relation between stressful war exposure (SWE), daily stressors (DS) and the development of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). This paper seeks to contribute to this debate by critically reflecting upon conventional modeling approaches and by advancing an alternative model to studying interrelationships between SWE, DS, and PTSD variables. The network model is proposed as an innovative and comprehensive modeling approach in the field of mental health in the context of war. It involves a conceptualization and representation of variables and relationships that better approach reality, hence improving methodological rigor. It also promises utility in programming and delivering mental health support for war-affected populations.

Toward a culturally sensitive conceptualization of resilience: Participatory research with war-affected communities in northern Uganda

Resilience research with war-affected populations has long conceptualized resilience as the absence of psychopathology and operationalized it by use of standardized measures. However, literature on resilience increasingly highlights the importance of also including indicators of positively valued functioning as well as contextually sensitive indicators of resilience. This study used a participatory approach to examine the contextual conceptualization of youth resilience in the aftermath of war in northern Uganda, as defined by groups of stakeholders (youths, parents, elders, leaders, teachers) in four communities. The results identify 40 indicators covering a multiplicity of domains of functioning. The rationales behind these indicators were clustered into the broad themes: progress, self-reliance, social connectedness, morality, health, and comfort. The findings suggest that positively and negatively valued aspects of functioning are both key to conceptualizing resilience, and indicate the importance of including contextually distinguished indicators. The findings further point to the role of individual and collective processes in the construction of resilience, and to the need to take into account the contexts wherein resilience is conceptualized and observed. This study generated contextually sensitive indicators of young people’s resilience, which can be used, complementary to existing measures of functioning, to provide a more comprehensive and culturally sensitive view of youths’ resilience in the wake of war adversity.

Dealing with the consequences of war: Resources of formerly recruited and non-recruited youth in Northern Uganda

PURPOSE This article explores resources that help formerly recruited young people in dealing with war-related adversity and subsequent challenges, hence fostering their resilience. METHODS Self-reports on pertinent resources were collected from 1,008 northern Ugandan youth, of whom 330 had formerly been recruited by the Lords Resistance Army. Based on the conceptual framework developed by the Psychosocial Working Group, the reported resources were thematically clustered and quantitatively analyzed. RESULTS This study identified a range of human, social, and cultural resources, with little difference between groups. Religious beliefs, social support, and mental health resources were most frequently reported by former child soldiers. CONCLUSIONS These results reveal a multitude of resources and suggest that it is important to build on these resources in interventions that aim to support former child soldiers in the aftermath of armed conflict.

The role of religion in alcohol consumption and demand reduction in Muslim majority countries (MMC).

Religion inspires civil alcohol policies and limits alcohol use in MMC, but its protective role should be further explored as consumption rates and enforcement practices vary between countries with similar prohibition policies. Also, religion (e.g. Islam) is far from a univocal concept and may even keep problem users from seeking help.

“It Helps Me Transform in My Life From the Past to the New”: The Meaning of Resources for Former Child Soldiers

Although former child soldiers face considerable challenges after their return from the warring faction to the war-affected society, the presence of resources enables many to maintain well-being in the wake of child soldiering. Academic research has recently engaged with identifying these salient resources, but has left the question why they are helpful to former child soldiers largely unaddressed. This study therefore focuses on the meaning underlying certain phenomena that causes them to become resources. Semistructured in-depth interviews and a free-listing task on resources were conducted with 48 northern Ugandan former child soldiers. The phenomenological hermeneutical method is applied to analyze their lived experiences and the meaning they assign to resources. Four essential themes emerge from this study, representing the fourfold meaning of resources for former child soldiers in helping them (a) to break with their former existence as child soldiers, (b) to be able to overcome the challenges in their current life, (c) to belong to others and the environment to which they have returned, and (d) to become the person they aspire to be. Considering these research themes in the context of former child soldiers’ return process, parallels with theories on transition are recognized and further explored so as to contextualize this emerging meaning. As such, this research delivers empirical evidence illustrating how resources help to pilot former child soldiers through transition in the wake of child soldiering.

War-related experiences of former child soldiers in northern Uganda: Comparison with non-recruited youths

Abstract Background: Armed conflict imposes huge hardship on young people living in war zones. This study assessed former child soldiers’ experience and perception of stress in common war events during the armed conflict in northern Uganda and compares it with their non-recruited counterparts. Aim: To investigate whether child soldiers experienced more severe exposure to war events, and explore how war might affect youths differently, depending on the co-occurrence of these events. Methods: The study was undertaken in four northern Ugandan districts in 22 secondary schools with a sample size of 981 youths, about half of whom had been child soldiers. The participants completed a questionnaire on socio-demographic characteristics and stressful war events which was analyzed using descriptive statistics, a probabilistic index and correlation network analysis. Results: Former child soldiers had significantly greater experience of war events than their non-recruited counterparts. The violence of war is more central in their experience and perception of stress, whereas the scarcity of resources and poor living conditions are most central for non-recruited participants. The extent to which a war event, such as separation from the family, is perceived as stressful depends on the experience and perception of other stressful war events, such as confrontation with war violence for former child soldiers and life in an Internally Displaced Persons’ camp for non-recruited participants. Conclusion: The network approach permitted demonstration of the many ways in which war-affected youths encounter and appraise stressful war events. War events might function as moderators or mediators of the effect that other war events exert on the lives and well-being of young people living in war zones. This demands comprehensive and individualized assessment.

Alcohol misuse, policy and treatment responses in Sub-Saharan Africa: The case of Uganda

Abstract Alcohol has become an important feature in the lives of many inhabitants of Sub-Saharan Africa and is increasingly associated with excessive consumption and negative personal and social consequences. Uganda is one of the Sub-Saharan countries with the highest rate of alcohol-related burden in the world, but supply and demand reduction strategies such as regulatory measures, prevention and treatment programs are hardly available. Consequently, the aim of this article is to critically review the situation in Uganda as part of a regional trend. First, the origins of alcohol misuse and emerging policy initiatives in Sub-Saharan Africa are discussed. Then, the consequences of alcohol misuse in Uganda are highlighted, as well as policy and treatment responses. Recommendations are formulated for developing more effective and culturally adapted treatment programs and policies.

Psychosocial Wellbeing of ‘Vulnerable’ Refugee Groups in (Post-)Conflict Contexts: An Intriguing Juxtaposition of Vulnerability and Resilience

Refugees often find themselves in a precarious situation, characterised by multiple vulnerabilities. The label ‘vulnerable’, as specifically applied to certain categories of refugees like unaccompanied minors, child soldiers or elderly, may ensure due attention to their specific needs at various stages of conflict and in post-conflict situations, yet it risks masking specific support needs at the individual level. Therefore, the allocation of support should always be based on needs assessment at the individual level rather than the categorical level. A complex constellation of factors at the individual as well as contextual level appears to play a part in determining the impact of traumatic events and the post-traumatic reactions. At the contextual level, support oriented towards addressing vulnerability and fostering resilience can help individuals to gain control over their life and life context and to deal with psychological challenges in a way that reduces their impact. This chapter concludes that a systemic, strengths-based, culturally-sensitive, relational framework should guide the design and implementation of future interventions for refugees. This would ensure that they are context-sensitive, based on the capacities and strengths of the target population, and designed to enhance support that a given context offers to its most affected and vulnerable members.