Resilience in the Face of Adversity: a Focused Ethnography of Former Girl Child Soldiers Living in Ghana
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Resilience in the Face of Adversity: a Focused Ethnography of Former Girl Child Soldiers Living in Ghana Olive O. Okraku 1
& Sophie
Yohani 1
# Springer Nature B.V. 2020
Abstract Former child soldiers wrestle with mental health, social adjustment, and reconciliation challenges as reported by Denov (International Social Work 53(6):791–806, 2010). While research has focused on the impacts of child soldering, little attention has been paid to their lives and experiences beyond disarmament and reintegration activities, with even less focus on girl child soldiers. Focused ethnography was utilized to explore resilience, including challenges and coping resources of 8 Liberian former girl child soldiers living in Ghana. In-depth interviews, participant observations, and group discussions were conducted in a refugee camp and analyzed thematically. Adversity during conflict in Liberia included forced recruitment, sexual abuse in rebel groups, and witnessing multiple deaths. Reintegration challenges in Ghana included lack of basic needs, language barriers, and psychosocial and adjustment difficulties. Resilience-building resources used by participants in conflict and post-conflict settings included social supports, spiritual practices and beliefs, and individual agency. Implications for policies, programs, and interventions for former girl child soldiers are discussed. Keywords Resilience . Girl child soldiers . Coping strategies . Liberia child soldiers .
Focused ethnography
* Olive O. Okraku [email protected] Sophie Yohani [email protected]
1
Department of Educational Psychology, University of Alberta, 11210-87 Avenue, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2GS, Canada
Okraku O.O., Yohani S.
Introduction Despite international efforts to curb children’s involvement in armed conflict, the practice of using child soldiers continues. Although there are no exact figures, and numbers continually change, tens of thousands of children under the age of 18 years continue to operate in armed groups. In 2012, it was estimated that 300,000 child soldiers were involved in armed conflicts across the globe (Child Soldiers International 2012). The use of child soldiers is a global practice with recent concerns focused on nations such as Afghanistan, Iraq, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Central African Republic (CAR), Colombia, Syria, Somalia, and South Sudan (United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund [UNICEF] 2016). The impact of children’s participation in conflict is well documented (see Denov 2010; Denov and Maclure 2006; Somasundaram 2002; Klasen et al. 2010) and ranges from relationship and socioeconomic difficulties to physical health and psychological problems. Yet little research has examined the lives and experiences of child soldiers beyond disarmament and reintegration activities, and even less studies have focused on girl child soldiers. Furthermore, former girl child soldiers are a group that tends to be easily marginalized, despite, at a point in 2002, they made up approximately one-third of the population of chil
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