Transformative spaces in the social reintegration of former child soldier young mothers in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Northern Uganda
Loading...
Files
Date
2017-02
Authors
Veale, Angela
Worthen, Miranda
McKay, Susan
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
American Psychological Association
Published Version
Abstract
A significant but insufficiently considered category of female former child soldiers is those that become mothers as a result of rape or through relationships with “bush husbands”. This article reflects on learning from a participatory action research (PAR) study which aimed to facilitate the social reintegration of formerly associated young mothers and other war-affected vulnerable young mothers in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and northern Uganda. We argue that it is useful to delineate 3 nodes of individual-community relations which we identify as possible transformative spaces in psychosocial programming for social reintegration: the intersection between individual emotional experience and the emotional climate, between individual agency and public engagement, and between individual and community resilience. The PAR study involved 658 young war-affected mothers across 20 communities in the 3 countries. The results demonstrate how the PAR mobilized positive emotions and aligned the activities of the young mothers’ groups with individuals with power to facilitate change (community leaders) and contributed to limited transformative change. Further research is needed on engaging men and on tackling structural factors in interventions with war-affected young mothers.
Description
Keywords
Child soldiers , Females , Community resilience , Social reintegration
Citation
Veale, A., Worthen, M. and McKay, S. (2017) ‘Transformative spaces in the social reintegration of former child soldier young mothers in Sierra Leone, Liberia, and Northern Uganda’, Peace and Conflict: Journal of Peace Psychology, 23(1), pp.58-66. doi:10.1037/pac0000212
Link to publisher’s version
Copyright
© 2017, American Psychological Association. This is the author's accepted manuscript. It may not exactly replicate the final version published in the APA journal, as it is not the copy of record.