Children Affected by Armed Conflict ─ Theory, Method, and Practice

Societal turbulence, state collapse, religious and ethnic conflict, poverty, hunger, and social exclusion all underlie children's involvement in armed conflict. Drawing from empirical studies in eleven conflict-ridden countries, including Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Colombia, Uganda, Palestine, Somalia, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan, and South Sudan, Children Affected by Armed Conflict crosses cultures and contexts to capture a range of perspectives on the realities of armed conflict and its aftermath for children.

Children Affected by Armed Conflict upends traditional views by emphasizing the experience of girls as well as boys, the unique social and contextual background of war-affected children, and the resilience and agency such children often display. Including children who are victims of, participants in, and witnesses to armed conflict, the contributors to this volume highlight innovative methodologies that directly involve war-affected children in the research process. This validates the perspectives of children and ensures more effective outcomes in postwar reintegration and recovery. Deficits-based models do not account for the realities many war-affected children face. The alternative approaches presented in this volume—which acknowledge the realities of both trauma and resilience—aim to generate more effective policies and intervention strategies in the face of a growing global public health crisis.

Myriam Denov is a full professor and holds the Canada Research Chair in Youth, Gender, and Armed Conflict at McGill University. Her research centers on international child protection, the effects of war and migration on children and families, as well as participatory and arts-based research approaches. She is the author or coauthor of five books, including Child Soldiers: Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front (2010) and Children's Rights and International Development: Lessons and Challenges from the Field (2011).

Bree Akesson is an assistant professor in the Faculty of Social Work at Wilfrid Laurier University in Canada. Her research focuses on international child protection, psychosocial effects of war and disaster on children and families, and global social work practice.