Abstracts Social Work

Child soldiers and child conscription into armed conflicts in Africa by Christine Grace Atukoit-Malinga.

by Christine Grace. Atukoit-Malinga

Research studies that have already been conducted on the problem of child soldiers and child conscription have focused mostly on psychological trauma. Less attention has been paid to social, economic, and political processes in Africa. The goal of this thesis is to explore perceptions of professionals from various disciplines working in different organizations and government institutions (N = 207) concerning the causes, effects, and solutions to child conscription in Africa. These professionals perceived that poverty, lack of educational resources, lack of community resources, economic hardships, dictates of international funders, corrupt governments, and unemployment were the major causes of child conscription into armed conflicts. With respect to the effects, the respondents perceived that physical and psychological issues, witnessing atrocities, and exposure to violence were the most important effects of participating in the armed conflicts. In order to prevent or stop further recruitment of children into armed conflicts, the professionals working in the field thought that more educational programs should be initiated, community resources should be mobilized, prevention programs should be established, employment and training opportunities programs should also be provided, strong international laws drafted, advocacy and empowerment promoted, support for families provided, and awareness campaigns facilitated. A striking result of this study is that professionals perceived counselling as a relatively unimportant solution to the problem of child conscription. Results are discussed in terms of the contrast between past research in the field, which has focused on individual-level effects and counselling solutions, and the societal-level effects, and solutions that professionals perceive are central to the problem.