Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-r5fsc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-24T17:48:10.775Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The mental health consequences of being a child soldier — an international perspective

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Aoife R. Singh  and
Ashok N. Singh
Aoife R. Singh
Affiliation:
Leicester, UK, email [email protected]
Ashok N. Singh
Affiliation:
Psychiatrist, Pilgrim Hospital, Boston, UK
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Worldwide there are currently 300 000 child soldiers. Not only does the use of child soldiers lead to individual suffering but it also alters the dynamics of war and makes conflict and instability more likely. It is important both to prevent recruitment and to rehabilitate former child soldiers into their communities. For rehabilitation and reintegration programmes to be effective, it is necessary to understand the consequences of child soldiering. This paper reviews and summarises some of the key findings related to the mental health consequences of being a child soldier.

Type
Thematic Paper — Child Soldiers
Information
International Psychiatry , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , July 2010 , pp. 55 - 57
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BYCreative Common License - NCCreative Common License - ND
This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives licence (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits noncommercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is unaltered and is properly cited. The written permission of Cambridge University Press must be obtained for commercial re-use or in order to create a derivative work.
Copyright
Copyright © The Royal College of Psychiatrists 2010

References

Amone-P'Olak, K. (2006) Mental states of adolescents exposed to war in Uganda: finding appropriate methods of rehabilitation. Torture, 16, 93–107.Google ScholarPubMed
Blattman, C. (2006) The Consequences of Child Soldiering. Households in Conflict Network, Working Paper 22. Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. Available at http://www.hicn.org/papers/wp22.pdf (accessed May 2010).Google Scholar
Boothby, N., Crawford, J. & Halperin, J. (2006) Mozambique child soldier life outcome study: lessons learned in rehabilitation and reintegration efforts. Global Public Health, 1, 87–107.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Derluyn, I., Broekaert, E., Schuyten, G., et al (2004) Post-traumatic stress in former Ugandan child soldiers. Lancet, 363, 861–863.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
De Silva, H., Hobbs, C. & Hanks, H. (2001) Conscription of children in armed conflict – a form of child abuse. A study of 19 former child soldiers. Child Abuse Review, 10, 125–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gelder, M. G., Lopez-Ibor, J. J. & Andreasen, N. (2001) New Oxford Textbook of Psychiatry. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Gomez, J. D. (2003) Growing up in guerrilla camps: the long-term impact of being a child soldier in El Salvador's civil war. Ethos, 30, 327–356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
ILO (2003) Wounded Childhood – The Use of Children in Armed Conflict in Central Africa. Internaitonal Labour Organization. Available at http://www.ilo.org/employment/Whatwedo/Publications/lang–en/docName–WCMS_116566/index.htm (accessed May 2010).Google Scholar
Kangaratnam, P., Raundalen, M. & Asbjornsen, A. E. (2005) Ideological commitment and posttraumatic stress in former Tamil child soldiers. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 46, 511–520.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pearn, J. (2003) Children and war. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 39, 166–172.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
UNICEF (1996) The State of the World's Children. Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
UNICEF (1997) Cape Town Principles and best practice, adopted at the symposium on the prevention of recruitment of children into the armed forces and on demobilisation and social reintegration of child soldiers in Africa, Cape Town, South Africa. Available at http://www.unicef.org/emerg/files/Cape_Town_Principles(1).pdf (accessed May 2010).Google Scholar
Submit a response

eLetters

No eLetters have been published for this article.