Child Soldiers in Context. Biographies, familial and collective trajectories in northern Uganda

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Dieter Neubert
• Subject Area: Empirical Social Research
• Term: from 2014 to 2017
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 248792364

The extension of the project is necessary in order to be able to conclude the work of recon-structing the reintegration processes of former child soldiers in the Lord's Resistance Army, and the interconnectedness of these processes with family biographies and local history in northern Uganda. The work will be focused on a more thorough analysis of our empirical findings in respect of relevant constellations in the everyday life of former child soldiers as these relate to their reintegration. We will continue analysing our data, including new data to be gathered during the field trip planned for the end of 2015 (in the current funding phase). The results of our research have by far exceeded our expectations. We found it was possible to create confidential relationships with the interviewees, which enabled us to obtain very dense material. Moreover, we discovered a much greater variety of reintegration trajectories than we expected. With this material we are in a position to make substantial contributions to the politically and normatively charged debate surrounding child soldiers on the basis of our empirical findings. In order to exploit this potential, we need to make additional analyses. The richness of the data collected in the course of many interviews, often lasting several hours, with "returnees" and their relatives, show that we need to concentrate on comprehensive case reconstructions and a contrastive comparison of very different reintegration processes.We will address in particular the following questions with the aim of achieving empirical saturation of the hypotheses we have been able to formulate so far:a) What social and psychodynamic costs are bound up with the return of former child soldiers to their original communities or families, as compared with beginning a new life away from the family (often in an urban setting)? What evidence is there to support the hypothesis that these communities and kin groups expect former child soldiers to deny that they have participated in or been witnesses of atrocities committed by the rebels, and that this is an obstacle to (individual and collective) attempts to come to terms with the past? b) In which interactions is it possible to detect signs that a we-feeling and a we-image is beginning to develop among former child soldiers? This question arises because we have observed that such a we-image is practically inexistent, which leads to feelings of helplessness and social isolation. c) What individual and collective images of the returnees, and what patterns of conduct towards them, can be observed among people in Acholiland whose close relatives were not recruited by force? To what extent does this correspond to the hegemonial discourse on amnesty and reconciliation? d) To what extent do the activities and discourses of non-abductees in respect of the abductees correspond to what abductees describe as experiences of discrimination and stigmatization following their "return"?

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• Cooperation Partner: Professorin Dr. Gabriele Rosenthal