Youth

In War’s Wake: Contextualizing Trauma Experiences and Psychosocial Well-Being Among Eritrean Youth

Citation:

Farwell, Nancy. 2003. “In War’s Wake: Contextualizing Trauma Experiences and Psychosocial Well-Being Among Eritrean Youth.” International Journal of Mental Health 32 (4): 20–30.

Author: Nancy Farwell

Abstract:

This study examines war trauma experienced by Eritrean youth, their psychological symptoms and contextual actors related to their psychosocial well-being in the postwar environment in Eritrea. The youth offered retrospective accounts of trauma experiences in semi-structured interviews that included open- and closed-ended questions and the administration of the Harvard Trauma Questionnaire. Among the ninety-seven youth in this school-based sample from four regions of Eritrea, exposure to trauma and economic hardship were significant predictors of psychological distress. Refugee status did not predict lower symptom levels, a factor related to the stressors encountered in exile as well as to the earlier war events that forced the youth and their families to flee their country. For many youth, grief over the loss of parents and close relatives was not resolved. The youth were generally positive about the future, both personally and in the context of a free and independent Eritrea. This article suggests that the intrapsychic post-traumatic stress disorder framework may be too narrow for conceptualizing war trauma, which is essentially psychosocial in nature, and deeply contextualized in a community's socioeconomic and political realities of conflict and its aftermath. Expanding this knowledge base is important order to ensure that practitioners and policy makers can effectively assist youth and their families with the postconflict tasks of healing and reintegration, essential elements of building a lasting peace.

Topics: Age, Youth, Economies, Poverty, Gender, Girls, Boys, Health, Trauma, Humanitarian Assistance, Context-Appropriate Response to Trauma, Post-Conflict Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Eritrea

Year: 2003

Youth Transport, Mobility, and Security in Sub-Saharan Africa - The Gendered Journey to School

Citation:

Porter, Gina, Kate Hampshire, Albert Abane, Alister Munthali, Elsbeth Robson, Mac Mashiri, and Augustine Tanle. 2009. “Youth Transport, Mobility, and Security in Sub-Saharan Africa - The Gendered Journey to School.” In Women’s Issues in Transportation - Summary of the 4th International Conference. Vol. 2. Irvine, California: Transportation Research Board.

Authors: Gina Porter, Kate Hampshire, Albert Abane, Alister Munthali, Elsbeth Robson, Mac Mashiri, Augustine Tanle

Abstract:

This paper draws on empirical data from a three-country (Ghana, Malawi, and South Africa) study of young people’s mobility to explore the gendered nature of children’s journeys to school in sub-Saharan Africa. Gender differences in school enrollment and attendance in Africa are well established: education statistics in many countries indicate that girls’ participation in formal education is often substantially lower than boys’, especially at the secondary school level. Transport and mobility issues commonly form an important component of this story, though the precise patterning of the transportation and mobility constraints experienced by girls and the ways in which transport factors interact with other constraints vary from region to region. In some contexts, the journey to school represents a particularly hazardous enterprise for girls because they face a serious threat of rape. In other cases, girls’ journeys to school and school attendance are hampered by Africa’s transport gap and by cultural conventions that require females to be responsible for pedestrian head loading (transporting loads such as food crops or fuel on the head) and other work before leaving for, or instead of attending, school. evidence comes from a diverse range of sources, but the data used here are principally drawn from a survey questionnaire conducted with approximately 1,000 children ages 7 to 18 years across eight sites in each country. The aim of this study is to draw attention to the diversity of gendered travel experiences across geographical locations (paying attention to associated patterns of transport provision); to explore the implications of these findings for access to education; and to suggest areas in which policy intervention could be beneficial.

Topics: Age, Youth, Education, Gender, Women, Girls, Gender Roles, Infrastructure, Transportation Regions: Africa, Southern Africa, West Africa Countries: Ghana, Malawi, South Africa

Year: 2009

Contentious and Prefigurative Politics: Vigilante Groups' Struggle against Sexual Violence in Egypt (2011-2013)

Citation:

Tadros, Mariz. 2015. “Contentious and Prefigurative Politics: Vigilante Groups’ Struggle against Sexual Violence in Egypt (2011–2013).” Development and Change 46 (6): 1345–68. doi:10.1111/dech.12210.

Author: Mariz Tadros

Abstract:

This article analyses the drivers, mobilizational tactics and manoeuvrings of informal, youth-led initiatives that emerged in post-Mubarak Egypt to counter the growing threat of sexual violence against women in public spaces. The findings are based on empirical research into youth-led activism against gender-based violence during 2011‒2013. The approach adopted is a case study of three initiatives, Bassma (Imprint), Shoft Taharosh (Harassment Seen) and Opantish (Operation Anti Sexual Harassment). Informal youth-based initiatives in the context of the post-January 2011 uprising have generally been criticized for their lack of sustainability, organizationally and politically. However, the examination of activism against gender-based violence through the lens of prefigurative politics shows the inherent value of experimentation and its contribution to innovations in public outreach. The value of the initiatives studied in this article also lies in their mobilizational power which inadvertently produces ‘repertoires’ of knowledge, skills and resources to engage the citizenry and capture their imagination. In the long run, such repertoires may allow for the emergence of organized and sustained forms of political agency. The article suggests that a cross-fertilization of prefigurative and contentious politics offers a framework for understanding temporally- and spatially-bound forms of collective political agency.

Topics: Age, Youth, Armed Conflict, Gender, Women, Gender-Based Violence, Sexual Violence Regions: Africa, MENA, North Africa, Middle East Countries: Egypt

Year: 2015

The Pen and the Plough: Balanta Young Men in Guinea-Bissau

Citation:

Temudo, Marina, and Manuel Abrantes. 2015. “The Pen and the Plough: Balanta Young Men in Guinea-Bissau.” Development and Change 46 (3): 464–85. doi:10.1111/dech.12166.

Authors: Marina Temudo , Manuel Abrantes

Abstract:

Up until the late 1990s, the Balanta of Guinea-Bissau constituted what could be described as a ‘deep rural society’, whose central identity was linked with rice production and cattle accumulation. At the same time, it could be argued that even in the early days after Independence in 1974, the social aspirations of Balanta young men matched those of other Guinean youths in their shared desire to get away from the strictures of gerontocracy and of rural life. Surprisingly, however, this study documents the agency of many rural Balanta young men in changing oppressive social rules, and in using agriculture as a means to fund their education, to feed their families and as a route to prosperity. The authors conclude that the persistent political instability in the country (most acutely felt in the capital city) and the national and global economic crises, together with the Balanta agricultural ethos and the softening of gerontocratic power, are at the root of this revaluing of rural livelihoods. This article challenges current dominant narratives about the crisis of young men in contemporary Africa and highlights the need to study the aspirations and achievements of youth in their rural–urban nexus from a historical and holistic perspective.

Topics: Age, Youth, Gender, Masculinity/ies, Gender Roles, Post-Conflict, Political Participation Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Guinea-Bissau

Year: 2015

Outcomes and Moderators of a Preventive School-Based Mental Health Intervention for Children Affected by War in Sri Lanka: A Cluster Randomized Trial

Citation:

Tol, Wietse A., Ivan H. Komproe, Mark J.d. Jordans, Anavarathan Vallipuram, Heather Sipsma, Sambasivamoorthy Sivayokan, Robert D. Macy, and Joop T. De Jong. 2012. “Outcomes and Moderators of a Preventive School-Based Mental Health Intervention for Children Affected by War in Sri Lanka: A Cluster Randomized Trial.” World Psychiatry 11 (2): 114–22. doi:10.1016/j.wpsyc.2012.05.008.

Authors: Wietse A. Tol, Ivan H. Komproe, Mark J.d. Jordans, Anavarathan Vallipuram, Heather Sipsma, Sambasivamoorthy Sivayokan, Robert D. Macy, Joop T. De Jong

Abstract:

We aimed to examine outcomes, moderators and mediators of a preventive school-based mental health intervention implemented by paraprofessionals in a war-affected setting in northern Sri Lanka. A cluster randomized trial was employed. Subsequent to screening 1,370 children in randomly selected schools, 399 children were assigned to an intervention (n=199) or waitlist control condition (n=200). The intervention consisted of 15 manualized sessions over 5 weeks of cognitive behavioral techniques and creative expressive elements. As- sessments took place before, 1 week after, and 3 months after the intervention. Primary outcomes included post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), depressive, and anxiety symptoms. No main effects on primary outcomes were identified. A main effect in favor of intervention for conduct problems was observed. This effect was stronger for younger children. Furthermore, we found intervention benefits for spe- cific subgroups. Stronger effects were found for boys with regard to PTSD and anxiety symptoms, and for younger children on pro-social behavior. Moreover, we found stronger intervention effects on PTSD, anxiety, and function impairment for children experiencing lower levels of current war-related stressors. Girls in the intervention condition showed smaller reductions on PTSD symptoms than waitlisted girls. We conclude that preventive school-based psychosocial interventions in volatile areas characterized by ongoing war-related stress- ors may effectively improve indicators of psychological wellbeing and posttraumatic stress-related symptoms in some children. However, they may undermine natural recovery for others. Further research is necessary to examine how gender, age and current war-related expe- riences contribute to differential intervention effects.

Keywords: armed conflict, political violence, post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, depression, school-based intervention, prevention, Sri Lanka

Topics: Age, Youth, Armed Conflict, Gender, Girls, Boys, Health, Mental Health, PTSD, Violence Regions: Asia, South Asia Countries: Sri Lanka

Year: 2012

Impact of Sexual Violence on Children in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo

Citation:

Nelson, Brett D., Lisa Collins, Michael J. VanRooyen, Nina Joyce, Denis Mukwege, and Susan Bartels. 2011. “Impact of Sexual Violence on Children in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.” Medicine, Conflict and Survival 27 (4): 211–25. doi:10.1080/13623699.2011.645148.

Authors: Brett D. Nelson, Lisa Collins, Michael J. VanRooyen, Nina Joyce, Denis Mukwege, Susan Bartels

Abstract:

The conflict in the Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has been particularly devastating for children and has been typified by high levels of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV). In this study, we seek to characterize the patterns and impact of sexual violence on children in the Eastern DRC. Semi-structured questionnaires were administered among a convenience sample of women 518 years of age presenting for post-sexual-violence care at Panzi Hospital in South Kivu, DRC. Analysis included quantitative and qualitative methods to describe the characteristics of the violence, perpetrators, and survivors and to illuminate common themes within the narratives. A total of 389 survivors of SGBV under the age of 18 were interviewed between 2004 and 2008. These paediatric survivors were more likely than adult survivors to have experienced gang rape, been attacked by a civilian perpetrator, and been assaulted during the day. Survivor and perpetrator characteristics were further stratified by type of attack. Reports of violence perpetrated by civilians increased 39-fold while reports of violence perpetrated by armed combatants decreased by 70% between 2004 and 2008. Qualitative analysis of the narratives revealed common themes, such as physical signs and symptoms among SGBV survivors (23.9%), pregnancy resulting from rape (19.3%), perpetrators being brought to justice (18.3%), and neighbourhood men as perpetrators (17.7%). Children in the Eastern DRC continue to face significant threats of sexual violence. By understanding the patterns of this violence, local and international approaches could be more effectively implemented to protect these vulnerable children. 

 

Keywords: children, conflict, Democratic Republic of Congo, paediatric, rape, sexual violence, war

Topics: Age, Youth, Armed Conflict, Gender, Girls, Sexual Violence, Rape Regions: Africa, Central Africa Countries: Democratic Republic of the Congo

Year: 2011

Moderators of Treatment Effectiveness for War-Affected Youth With Depression in Northern Uganda

Citation:

Betancourt, Theresa S., Elizabeth A. Newnham, Robert T. Brennan, Helen Verdeli, Ivelina Borisova, Richard Neugebauer, Judith Bass, and Paul Bolton. 2012. “Moderators of Treatment Effectiveness for War-Affected Youth With Depression in Northern Uganda.” Journal of Adolescent Health 51 (6): 544–50. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.02.010.

Authors: Theresa S. Betancourt, Elizabeth A. Newnham, Robert T. Brennan, Helen Verdeli, Ivelina Borisova, Richard Neugebauer, Judith Bass, Paul Bolton

Abstract:

Purpose: As we build the evidence base of interventions for depression among war-affected youth, it is critical to understand factors moderating treatment outcomes. The current study investigated how gender and history of abduction by Lord’s Resistance Army rebels moderated treatment outcomes for war-affected youth.

Methods: The study—a three-armed, randomized, controlled trial—was conducted with internally displaced war-affected adolescents in northern Uganda. Participants with significant depression symptoms (N 304; 57% female; 14 –17 years of age) were randomly assigned to an interpersonal psychotherapy group (IPT-G), a creative play/recreation group, or a wait-list control condition. Secondary analyses were conducted on data from this randomized controlled trial.

Results: A history of abduction by Lord’s Resistance Army rebels was reported by 42% of the sample. Gender and abduction history interacted to moderate the effectiveness of IPT-G for the treatment of depression. In the IPT-G intervention arm, treatment effectiveness was greatest among female subjects without an abduction history, with effect size 1.06. IPT-G was effective for the treatment of depression for both male and female subjects with a history of abduction (effect size .92 and .50, respectively). Male subjects with no abduction history in IPT-G showed no significant improvement compared with those in the control conditions.

Conclusions: Abduction history and gender are potentially important moderators of treatment effects, suggesting that these factors need to be considered when providing interventions for war-affected youth. IPT-G may be an effective intervention for female subjects without an abduction history, as well as for both male and female former child soldiers, but less so for male subjects without an abduction history. 

 

Keywords: war, depression, Treatment moderators, Interpersonal therapy, child soldiers

Topics: Age, Youth, Armed Conflict, Combatants, Child Soldiers, Gender, Health, Mental Health Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Uganda

Year: 2012

Past Horrors, Present Struggles: The Role of Stigma in the Association between War Experiences and Psychosocial Adjustment among Former Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone

Citation:

Betancourt, Theresa S., Jessica Agnew-Blais, Stephen E. Gilman, David R. Williams, and B. Heidi Ellis. 2010. “Past Horrors, Present Struggles: The Role of Stigma in the Association between War Experiences and Psychosocial Adjustment among Former Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone.” Social Science & Medicine 70 (1): 17–26. doi:10.1016/j.socscimed.2009.09.038.

Authors: Theresa S. Betancourt, Jessica Agnew-Blais, Stephen E. Gilman, David R. Williams, B. Heidi Ellis

Abstract:

Upon returning to their communities, children formerly associated with armed forces and armed groups–commonly referred to as child soldiers–often confront significant community stigma. Much research on the reintegration and rehabilitation of child soldiers has focused on exposure to past war-related violence and mental health outcomes, yet no empirical work has yet examined the role that post-conflict stigma plays in shaping long-term psychosocial adjustment. Two waves of data are used in this paper from the first prospective study of male and female former child soldiers in Sierra Leone. We examined the role of stigma (manifest in discrimination as well as lower levels of community and family acceptance) in the relationship between war-related experiences and psychosocial adjustment (depression, anxiety, hostility and adaptive behaviors). Former child soldiers differ from one another with regard to their post-war experiences, and these differences profoundly shape their psychosocial adjustment over time. Consistent with social stress theory, we observed that post-conflict factors such as stigma can play an important role in shaping psychosocial adjustment in former child soldiers. We found that discrimination was inversely associated with family and community acceptance. Additionally, higher levels of family acceptance were associated with decreased hostility, while improvements in community acceptance were associated with adaptive attitudes and behaviors. We found that post-conflict experi- ences of discrimination largely explained the relationship between past involvement in wounding/killing others and subsequent increases in hostility. Stigma similarly mediated the relationship between surviving rape and depression. However, surviving rape continued to demonstrate independent effects on increases in anxiety, hostility and adaptive/prosocial behaviors after adjusting for other variables. These findings point to the complexity of psychosocial adjustment and community reintegration in these youth and have a number of programmatic and policy implications. 

 

Keywords: war, mental health, children, adolescents, child soldiers, trauma, Stigma, Sierra Leone

Topics: Age, Youth, Armed Conflict, Combatants, Child Soldiers, Health, Mental Health, Trauma, Post-Conflict Regions: Africa, West Africa Countries: Sierra Leone

Year: 2010

Identity Reconfigured: Karimojong Male Youth, Violence, and Livelihoods

Citation:

Stites, Elizabeth Howland. 2013. "Identity Reconfigured: Karimojong Male Youth, Violence, and Livelihoods." PhD diss., Tufts University. 

Author: Elizabeth Howland Stites

Abstract:

This dissertation examines internal violence among the once-unified Karimojong population of northeastern Uganda and argues that the intensification and increase of this violence over the past three decades is best understood through an analysis of both its gendered nature (i.e., male) and livelihood components. The dissertation uses primary data to review and discuss four hypotheses on the causes of violence associated with cattle raiding in pastoral areas: violence as linked to the acquisition of cattle for bridewealth, violence due to the collapse of traditional authority structures, violence as part of the competition over scarce natural resources, and violence as fueled by the commercialization of cattle raiding. This study finds that while elements of each of these hypotheses have some relevance for understanding violence among the Karimojong in the 1980s and 1990s, violence as experienced since 2000 is primarily a manifestation of the quest for respect, status and identity on the part of young men. Social, political and economic changes in Karamoja have gradually eroded the means through which males were able to establish and maintain a socially recognized masculinity; many of these changes were brought on by the very violence under examination. Faced with the erosion of traditional rites of passage marked by initiation and marriage, young men increasingly turned inward to their peer group in search of solidarity and worth. However, many of the means to establish and maintain status and reputation within the group themselves entail violence. Ultimately, this study finds that violence has become embedded within a cycle of maladaptive livelihoods and serves to perpetuate conflict, undermine the livelihoods base for the broader society, and upend the official and unofficial processes through which young men can achieve a normative masculine identity.

Topics: Age, Youth, Armed Conflict, Gender, Men, Masculinity/ies, Gendered Power Relations, Masculinism, Livelihoods, Post-Conflict, Violence Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Uganda

Year: 2013

The State of Female Youth in Northern Uganda: Findings From the Survey of War-Affected Youth (SWAY) Phase II

Citation: Annan, Jeannie, Christopher Blattman, Khristopher Carlson, and Dyan Mazurana. 2008. “The State of Female Youth in Northern Uganda: Findings from the Survey of War-Affected Youth (SWAY) Phase II.” II. Survey of War-Affected Youth. 

 

Authors: Jeannie Annan, Christopher Blattman, Khristopher Carlson, Dyan Mazurana

Annotation:

The Survey for War Affected Youth (SWAY) is a research program dedicated to evidence-based humanitarian aid and development. SWAY employs new data, tools, and analysis to improve the design and targeting of protection, assistance, and reintegration programs for youth in northern Uganda. Youth have been both the primary victims and the primary actors in the protracted war between the Government of Uganda (GoU) and the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). It is not clear, however, exactly who is suffering, how much, and in what ways. We also have little sense of the magnitude, incidence, and nature of the violence, trauma, and suffering of youth in northern Uganda. Our understanding of the effects of war on women and girls is especially lacking, whether they abducted or impacted in other ways. Government and NGO officials admit that they have little sense of the true scale of the problems facing young women and the proportion of females facing particular vulnerabilities. As a result, programming is based on immediate and observable needs and possibly erroneous assumptions about who requires assistance and what assistance they need. Likewise, with only rough measures of well-being available, targeting of services has been crude. The overarching purpose of SWAY is to work with service providers to generate better evidence-based programming. This report begins with a section describing methodology, before proceeding to theme-focused sections. As peace talks being brokered by the Government of Southern Sudan offer the prospect of an end to one of Africa’s longest conflicts, we conclude by offering specific recommendations to the GoU and international and local agencies operating in northern Uganda. (Executive Summary)

Topics: Age, Youth, Education, Gender, Women, Girls, Gendered Power Relations, Humanitarian Assistance, Livelihoods, Militarized Livelihoods, Sexual Livelihoods, Post-Conflict, Sexual Violence Regions: Africa, East Africa Countries: Uganda

Year: 2008

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