The Development of the Entire Individual and the Establishment of Children - Essay Example

Introduction The most challenging part of addressing the issue of child soldiers is coping with its consequences. The specific task is how to counteract the aftermath of the phenomenon, and, thereby, bring back the normal lives of the affected children. The process is not a simple one. It requires ‘disarming’ and ‘demobilising’ these child soldiers, carrying out a gruelling rehabilitation procedure, and afterwards completing the ‘healing’ process through reintegration with their families and the society (Healy & Link, 2012). Bringing back the childhood of child soldiers is a great achievement that puts an end to terrible exploitations of children’s rights and prepares these children for reintegration and participation in education, employment, and civilian lives. The peaceful and successful disarming, demobilisation, and reintegration of child soldiers often arouses a mixture of emotions among loved ones, social workers, and humanitarian groups. This essay discusses the experience of child soldiers upon their return to their local communities. The paper focuses on the Sierra Leone case. Experience of Child Soldiers from Sierra Leone The insurrection of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in 1991 led to the war in Sierra Leone, giving rise to a violent and extended civil war. The conflict drew the attention of the international community due to the frequent violent mutilation of civilians, as well as the habitual recruitment of children as war combatants (Woods, 2010). Even though the phenomenon of child soldiers was widespread, especially in Africa, there was something about the use of child soldiers and the rampant forms of brutality that made the case of Sierra Leone extraordinary, requiring the formation of a specific type of international criminal court. A large number of child soldiers were deserted, caught in raids, or their families were murdered by the RUF (Denov, 2010). They were starving, and in dire need of shelter and care. Numerous children were originally tasked to carry food, equipment, and weapons. Eventually, however, these children were trained to use weapons and positioned on the front lines (Denov, 2010). These children joined the army for different reasons. Some wanted vengeance. They had witnessed the slaughter of their loved ones at the hands of their captors. Others just wanted protection or to feel safe; they wanted to belong and the rebel forces supplied their basic needs like clothing, shelter, and food. A child soldier from Sierra Leone, Ishmael Beah, narrated his experience (Woods, 2010, p. 20): I am from Sierra Leone, and the problem that is affecting us children is the wars that force us to run away from our homes, lose our families, and aimlessly roam the forests. As a result, we get involved in the conflict as soldiers, carriers of loads, and in many other difficult tasks. All this is because of starvation, the loss of our families, and the need to feel safe and be part of something when all else has broken down. I joined the army really because of the loss of my family and starvation. I wanted to avenge the death of my family. I also had to get some food to survive, and the only way to do that was to be part of the army. It was not easy being a soldier, but we just had to do it. To discourage children from running away, most were frequently scarred or tattooed. Those who try to run away are punished or, worse, killed by their captors. A 15-year-old child soldier shared his harrowing experience (Hartjen & Priyadarsini, 2012, p. 117): One boy tried to escape, but he was caught. His hands were tied, and then they made us, the other new captives, kill him with a stick. I felt sick. I knew this boy from before. We were from the same village. I refused to kill him and they told me they would shoot me. They pointed a gun at me, so I had to do it. The boy was asking me, “Why are you doing this?” I said I had no choice. After we killed him, they made us smear his blood on our arms. I felt dizzy. I felt so sick. They said we had to do this so we would not fear death and so we would not try to escape. Child soldiers often experience and are exposed to unthinkable brutality. Publicised experiences of children in war involve witnessing, or even, participating in brutal killings, maiming, and torturing; being coerced to take part in sexual acts; being severely mutilated or beaten; having to raid and raze down houses; and losing loved ones (Honwana, 2011). The personal experiences of child soldiers are determined by the nature of their participation in armed conflict. Most children are coerced to become soldiers, whilst others join with different objectives. For instance, child soldiers from Sierra Leone have admitted that they enjoy the stimulation of combat and experiencing the unique camaraderie and unity that emerge within the group. Others, who had even become leaders at a very young age, admitted that they get pleasure from leading, using skills in war, and being admired and revered by their comrades (Honwana, 2011). In Sierra Leone, countless youngsters sought membership in RUF because it offered education, instruction, and guidance that the government had failed to provide (Wessells, 2006). Current studies show that the roles of child soldiers differ in relation to circumstances and gender. In Sierra Leone, girls are usually recruited or forced to become the sex slaves of rebel forces. Failure or refusal to satisfy the needs for sex can result in inhumane punishment, and, at times, death. But in certain instances, some women have been given leadership positions (Gates & Reich, 2010). A resourceful young woman in Sierra Leone care for the younger ones, and when her skill in this task had become evident, she was allowed to focus more on this role than on fighting (Denov, 2010). Ideology, as well, shapes child soldiers’ experiences in Sierra Leone. For instance, a number of girls have been trained to become suicide bombers through socialisation that depicts the rebel cause as a noble fight for freedom and inculcates that martyrdom is the grandest sacrifice possible (Woods, 2010). More mundane intentions also determine the experiences of child soldiers. Analysis of Problems upon Return from Combat When armed conflict ends, combatants go back to being civilians. Demobilisation is generally loaded with problems, but the difficulties for child soldiers who are going back to being civilians are especially challenging. There have been passionate local and global attempts to demobilise child soldiers. The demobilisation process is generally called DDR, which means ‘disarmament, demobilisation, and reintegration’ (Gates & Reich, 2010, pp. 5-9). Disarmament is defined as the amassing, evaluation, regulation, and removal of weapons from soldiers. Demobilisation is pulling out soldiers from armed forces, and reintegration involves the returning of former soldiers to civilian life and acquiring stable employment (Gates & Reich, 2010, pp. 5-9). The United Nations views the reintegration of child soldiers as a difficult, complicated, continuous process that needs substantial amount of resources. The urgent task is finding the families of former child combatants in order to reintegrate them with their families and communities (Pham, 2005). Although this may seem easy, it is often loaded with difficulties. In numerous cases, the families and communities could have been severely wounded physically, emotionally, and psychologically by armed conflict, are in dismal economic conditions, and are incapable of providing for returning combatants. Even though it is at times argued that child soldiers should be capable of reclaiming their ‘stolen childhood,’ this assumption is actually an unattainable undertaking. Returning child soldiers are usually leaders in the armed forces and are reluctant or not able to return to civilian life (Ozerdem & Podder, 2011). Even though they may in principle are children, they could bring terror to their loved ones and communities. For girls, involvement in armed conflict may bear a harmful stigma that strongly prohibits their reintegration with their families, particularly if they were sexually violated. Moreover, families and/or communities may be inhospitable or unwilling to accept returning child soldiers (Pham, 2005). In certain cases, child soldiers are despised and loathed because of the privileges they get after the demobilisation process. Almost all humanitarian groups treat child combatants as victims of armed conflict even though they perpetrated war crimes. Hence child soldiers are usually provided with social, educational, and economic privileges for their reintegration that are not granted to civilian war victims (Daiute et al., 2006). Thus, it is quite expected that civilians at times believe that child soldiers were rewarded for their war crimes whilst civilians were made to endure the horrors of war. In Sierra Leone, countless child soldiers who seriously perpetrated war atrocities have been absolved from such crimes. The Special Court for Sierra Leone judged only the individuals most guilty of war atrocities after the civil war; hence even though several of the key commanders of the rival groups were tried and convicted, none of the people who in fact committed violent acts like rape and killings were tried. Almost all war criminals, including children, were freed (Woods, 2010). Several scholars have reported that numerous Sierra Leoneans are much more concerned about returning to their normal lives than strengthening judicial processes intended to identify and convict war criminals (Denov, 2010). However, it is also true that welcoming returning child soldiers into their families and communities implies putting them in a social environment fraught with conflicts, tensions, and anxieties. Children are usually aware of this reality when they go back home. Shepler (2005 as cited in Rosen, 2012, p. 71) recounts that ex-child combatants in Sierra Leone quickly become skilled at adapting to the difficulties of their condition. Many have exercised the doctrine of ‘abdicated responsibility’ where in they conduct themselves as innocent war victims (Rosen, 2012, p. 71). However, these children also boast about their achievements in war; they only project themselves as ‘victims’ when they are asking for assistance from humanitarian groups (Rosen, 2012). The major difficulty in reintegrating child soldiers is the scarcity of resources and opportunities in extremely poor, devastated societies. Without a doubt, poverty is one of the most difficult problems confronting all returning combatants. Most of the societies where child soldiers are used are in dire poverty (Martin, 2009). For instance, Sierra Leone and Liberia have gross domestic products (GDPs) that are ranked at the very bottom across the globe. Returning child soldiers confront dreadful difficulties in acquiring a sufficient and stable source of income, returning to school, or acquiring employment in a society where jobs are in short supply or absent. Although the rate of unemployment across the globe escalated from 2007 to 2009, the number of out-of-job youth in Sierra Leone has been extremely high (Rosen, 2012, pp. 71-72). The actual problems for most returning child soldiers are livelihood support, education, and employment. Robert Wessells studied ex-child combatants in Sierra Leone, Kosovo, Angola, Afghanistan, Uganda, and South Africa (Rosen, 2012, p. 72). He found out that almost all the child soldiers he interviewed are somewhat adaptable and that their actions and experiences as soldiers must not be the major determinant of their identities as individuals. Nevertheless, the challenges of helping child soldiers successfully return to civilian life can be somewhat overwhelming when families are ruined by war, employment opportunities are lacking, and communities are besieged by extreme poverty. At times reintegration with families is a part of the solution, but at times it is not, particularly in cases where in children have served adult functions for a long time and are no longer treated or seen as children by their families and communities (Sesay, 2003). For child soldiers, therefore, the DRR process may be filled with anxiety and uncertainty. As stated by a young man from Sierra Leone who had been a child soldier for so long (Wessells, 2006, p. 181): I know how to be a soldier and to fight. I can use weapons, train, and decide how to attack. I have thought of myself as a soldier for years... I haven’t been in my village since I was a little boy. My parents saw me last as a child. I have no job, and people look at me like maybe I am a troublemaker. His anxieties about returning home are associated with his identity as a combatant and his doubts about how he will be treated and accepted in his community. Doubts about their future, employment, and identity are among the severest life anxieties for most returning child soldiers (Singer, 2006). Nowadays, child soldiers in societies facing extreme poverty, like Sierrra Leone, go back to their ‘normal’ childhood, only to face very difficult post-conflict situations. Psychological and Social Issues of Redistributed Child Soldiers The psychological consequences of hostilities for child soldiers are post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), anxiety, and depression. Ex-child soldiers in Sierra Leone had chronic psychological disturbances like grief associated with their exposure to atrocities, repeated and disturbing thoughts, and nightmares (Christie, 2011). The number of child soldiers experiencing medically severe PTSD is significantly high. The form of exposure to violence can greatly influence the psychological condition of a child and subsequent reintegration into society. Involvement in severe forms of violence like sexual abuse, killing, or maiming were greater predictors of PTSD, aggression, anxiety, and depression than being a victim or a witness of atrocities (Healy & Link, 2012). Moreover, according to Christie (2011), more severe PTSD symptoms in ex-child combatants were related to higher resistance to reintegration and greater desire for vengeance. The National Institute of Mental Health defines PTSD as an “anxiety disorder that can develop after exposure to a terrifying event or ordeal in which grave physical harm occurred or was threatened” (Christie, 2011, p. 88). A child combatant from Sierra Leone, Ishmael Beah, describes his experience with PTSD: “I had a dream that... a gunman stood on top of me. He placed his gun on my forehead. I immediately woke up... and began shooting inside the tent, until the thirty rounds in the magazine were finished... I was sweating, and they... gave me a few more of the white capsules” (Christie, 2011, p. 88). Ishmael’s anxieties and fears reveal the continuous presence of the unseen injuries of armed conflict and the importance of healing. Another mental health disorder diagnosed in numerous child soldiers, particularly in Sierra Leone, is depression. Returning child soldiers diagnosed with depression have expressed feelings of unworthiness, meaninglessness, and regret. Several researchers said that depression, humiliation, and remorse may in fact be favourable indicators—a key psychological shift to civilian life (Healy & Link, 2012). The social life of child soldiers is detrimentally affected with the death of loved loves and dislocated social identities. Countless children were forced to raid houses or pilfer supplies from their communities. They may dread ostracism and persecution from the members of their communities because of the deeds they perpetrated or unpleasant views about child soldiers (Brett & Specht, 2004). Numerous child soldiers have problems acquiring means to support themselves, taking part in constructive activities, and obtaining educational opportunities. Gender is generally an integral component to take into account in identifying the social consequences for girls in war. The experiences of girls are significantly different from boys upon their return to their local communities. Girls have to cope with the stigma and outcomes of sexual abuse (Honwana, 2011). According to Martin (2009), the experiences of girl combatants during and after participation in war are mostly insufficiently reported because of cultural standards, stigma, and humiliation. A current study reported that ex-child combatants from Sierra Leone who resided in villages where in they were fully welcomed and appreciated had greater self-esteem and lesser depression, and children who received adequate education displayed more constructive and confident behaviours and outlooks (Pham, 2005). Nevertheless, these components failed to completely counteract the psychological trauma suffered by child soldiers. The researchers suggest that special attention be given to severely traumatised child soldiers with a build up of harmful factors and scarce supportive resources. Mental health and social services for children seriously distressed by armed conflict are very inadequate in Sierra Leone at present (Wessells, 2006). With the absence of focused assistance and support for returning child soldiers, the researchers emphasise, there could be greater and more serious effects for society as these children become adults. The reintegration of child combatants into their families and communities has basically been a mechanism of social and psychological change. Children recruited by the RUF to become soldiers had deeply internalised their roles and lost all hopes of returning home. Their successful return entails a change in their ruined identities. They should once more see themselves as ‘children’, as ‘normal’ members of their communities. Their loved ones and communities must also view and treat them positively in order to strengthen their process of transformation (Uwazie, 2003). Numerous components influenced these social and psychological changes. According to Denov (2010), viewed from the point of view that dominated during the war, it is amazing that most ex-child combatants in Sierra Leone have been successfully reintegrated into their families and communities. One of the key components that allowed child soldiers from Sierra Leone to finally go back home is community sensitisation. Other methods were counselling, sympathetic consideration, and personalised caring. Additional major components are guaranteeing access to educational opportunities, customary purification rites administered by communities, and discussion with families (Williamson, 2006, p. 190). The integrated outcomes of these components were transformations among the former child soldiers, their families, and communities. On the surface, reintegration seems to be a failure for several ex-child combatants from Sierra Leone, but what has been achieved can actually be understood through a deeper look at the experiences of former child soldiers themselves. Conclusions The wide array of issues faced by ex-child combatants-- are physical, economic, social, and psychological-- points towards the wide-ranging feature of the process of reintegration. The extent and depth of their issues warn against exclusive procedures that presuppose that returning child soldiers require only one type of assistance, like education or source of income. Understood more comprehensively, reintegration is not merely about reintroducing child soldiers to their families and communities, but also guiding these children to become productive citizens, helping them gain important and valued social identities. Reintegration focuses on the development of the entire individual and the establishment of the role and identity of children in the social sphere. Reintegration is a powerful social and psychological mechanism of winning recognition and building strong relationships within families, peers, and others. Appropriately exercising current social resources or creating further capabilities for social assistance are integral to the success of reintegration. References Brett, R. & Specht, I. (2004) Young Soldiers: Why They Choose to Fight. 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