Simone Datzberger
Biographic Data
| ID | 3557676 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Simone Datzberger |
| GIVEN NAMES | Simone |
| FAMILY NAME | Datzberger |
| SIGNATURE | DATZBERGER S |
| AFFILIATIONS | University College London |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-1215-1274 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 19 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 50 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 19 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2015 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Changing perspectives on corporal punishment in schools
This paper contributes to decolonising ways in which corporal punishment has been understood and represented in Africa, through engaging with the complex views of young Ugandans about corporal punishment in schools. Conceptualising time as non-linear, and violence as a web of power, our analysis of longitudinal, mixed method data traces how physical punishment functioned to maintain the generational order, and as a regulatory practice in schools.…
Associations between violence in childhood, depression and suicide attempts in adolescence
Findings highlight the importance of efforts to prevent violence and improve access to response and support services for violence and mental health for young people. Findings also underscore the important role friends and peer networks can play in mitigating the effects of violence as young people grow up
Unintended pregnancies in the lives of young people in Luwero, Uganda
Using a feminist narrative approach, this article explores how unintended pregnancy can rupture young lives, and how young people respond to and navigate these ruptures. We analyse qualitative data from a longitudinal cohort study in Luwero, Uganda, focusing on narratives of a girl and a boy about their recent experiences of unintended and unwanted pregnancy during COVID-19 school closures. We argue that laws, policies and norms relating to educa…
Young people’s experiences of informal kinship care in Luwero, Uganda
There is strong evidence that outside parental care, informal kinship care is the most practiced, sustainable and affordable form of childcare in SSA (sub-Saharan Africa). As a longstanding cultural tradition, informal kinship care embraces childcare as the responsibility of all extended family members, and often the wider community. However, over the past decades, informal kinship care has become gradually strained by political, economic and soc…
Intensified inequities
Uganda had the longest period of school closures worldwide as a response measure during the Covid‐19 pandemic. Drawing on longitudinal qualitative data from the Contexts of Violence in Adolescence Cohort Study (CoVAC) (2018–2023), we examine how this has affected the lives of adolescents in Uganda. Our analysis showcases how intersecting inequities based on socioeconomic circumstances, gender and location have intensified, with detrimental effect…
Remote methods for research on violence against women and children
Collecting data to understand violence against women and children during and after the COVID-19 pandemic is essential to inform violence prevention and response efforts. Although researchers across fields have pivoted to remote rather than in-person data collection, remote research on violence against women, children and young people poses particular challenges. As a group of violence researchers, we reflect on our experiences across eight studie…
Lost in transition? Modernization, formal education and violence in Karamoja
There is a shift from pastoralism towards agro-pastoralism and systematized agricultural production in Karamoja, a sub-region of Uganda. At the same time, aid agencies and the government want to formally educate the Karamojong, in line with global education norms and policies. This creates a lot of ambiguities and in-betweens for the Karamojong as formal education impels sedentarization and socio-economic division. The Karamojong have a long hist…
Addressing silences in research on girls’ experiences of teacher sexual violence
Growing evidence from multiple countries in Africa documents sexual violence in schools. However, when that violence is committed by teachers it is shrouded in secrecy. This article identifies disconnects between quantitative and qualitative research, policy and practice, which have contributed to these silences. We address some of these silences through a dialogical analysis of mixed methods data from the Contexts of Violence in Adolescence Coho…
The peacebuilding potential of technical and vocational education and training programmes in post-conflict Sierra Leone
In peacebuilding contexts unemployed youth are frequently perceived as a high risk for the stability of a country while employed youth are seen as carrying an enormous potential for economic growth. This paper applies a social justice framework (4Rs) in analysing a Business Development (BD) programme that was implemented as part of Sierra Leone’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) strategy to promote entrepreneurship developme…
Workplace Violence Against Adolescents, Uganda, 2014–2019
Objectives. To describe the prevalence of and risk factors for workplace violence among Ugandan adolescents. Methods. The analysis focused on adolescents recruited at primary schools who participated in the endline survey of a trial in 2014 (at ages 11–14 years) and were followed up in 2018–2019 (at ages 17–19 years). The analysis was restricted to those engaged in past-year paid work (n = 1406). We estimated the prevalence of past-year workplace…
Context of Violence in Adolescence Cohort (CoVAC) study
This study is a long-term follow up of participants in the Good Schools Study (NCT01678846, clinicaltrials.gov). This protocol is for cohort follow-up only; we have a separate protocol paper describing an evaluation of the long-term effects of the Good School Toolkit (In preparation)
Schools as change agents? Education and individual political agency in Uganda
Global Education Policies versus local realities. Insights from Uganda and Mexico
National education policies often emerge from the global arena. These global policy norms hold the promise that reforms will produce similar education and development outcomes in different contexts. However, research on how and why global education reforms are practised ‘on the ground’ and with what effects is still scant. In this paper, we investigate how two global education agendas, namely Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Competency-Based…
Silencing the past in Ugandan schools. The role of education in reconciliation processes
This article assesses how reconciliation in post-conflict Uganda is currently approached in the country’s education sector. It highlights that education is in the main equated with economic development thereby side-lining the legacies of past conflicts and social injustices. In the view of Uganda’s highly politicised reconciliation process, this may not come as a surprise. Interviewees pointed to a general fear, that addressing past conflicts in …
Deconstructing Civil Society Actors and Functions
Over the past three decades, there has been a steady increase of funds by the international community to support civil society organizations (CSOs) in fragile states. Surprisingly, this growing attention has not strengthened local civil society landscapes in a way that it would lead to processes of social transformation. On the contrary, civic freedom and space is shrinking around the globe. In analyzing prominent international aid-effectiveness …
Why education is not helping the poor. Findings from Uganda
Just add women and stir
Peacebuilding through non-formal education programmes
Experts increasingly refer to the crucial role of education in cultivating processes of sustainable peacebuilding in conflict-affected environments. While peacebuilding interventions have slowly started to place emphasis on aspects of equality or service delivery in formal education systems, the potential of non-formal education (NFE) programmes to foster social transformation in conflict-affected environments often remains unexploited. There is …
Peace building and the depoliticisation of civil society
Over the past two decades, there has been a rapid increase in funds made available by the international donor community to support local civil society actors in fragile states. Current peacebuilding and development efforts support and strive to recreate an active, vibrant and ―liberal‖ civil society. In the case of Sierra Leone, paradoxically, the growing support has not strengthened civil society actors based on that liberal idea(l). Instead of …
Why education is not helping the poor. Findings from Uganda
Peace building and the depoliticisation of civil society
Over the past two decades, there has been a rapid increase in funds made available by the international donor community to support local civil society actors in fragile states. Current peacebuilding and development efforts support and strive to recreate an active, vibrant and ―liberal‖ civil society. In the case of Sierra Leone, paradoxically, the growing support has not strengthened civil society actors based on that liberal idea(l). Instead of …
Global Education Policies versus local realities. Insights from Uganda and Mexico
National education policies often emerge from the global arena. These global policy norms hold the promise that reforms will produce similar education and development outcomes in different contexts. However, research on how and why global education reforms are practised ‘on the ground’ and with what effects is still scant. In this paper, we investigate how two global education agendas, namely Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Competency-Based…
Just add women and stir
Peacebuilding through non-formal education programmes
Experts increasingly refer to the crucial role of education in cultivating processes of sustainable peacebuilding in conflict-affected environments. While peacebuilding interventions have slowly started to place emphasis on aspects of equality or service delivery in formal education systems, the potential of non-formal education (NFE) programmes to foster social transformation in conflict-affected environments often remains unexploited. There is …
Addressing silences in research on girls’ experiences of teacher sexual violence
Growing evidence from multiple countries in Africa documents sexual violence in schools. However, when that violence is committed by teachers it is shrouded in secrecy. This article identifies disconnects between quantitative and qualitative research, policy and practice, which have contributed to these silences. We address some of these silences through a dialogical analysis of mixed methods data from the Contexts of Violence in Adolescence Coho…
Peace building and the depoliticisation of civil society
Over the past two decades, there has been a rapid increase in funds made available by the international donor community to support local civil society actors in fragile states. Current peacebuilding and development efforts support and strive to recreate an active, vibrant and ―liberal‖ civil society. In the case of Sierra Leone, paradoxically, the growing support has not strengthened civil society actors based on that liberal idea(l). Instead of …
Peacebuilding through non-formal education programmes
Experts increasingly refer to the crucial role of education in cultivating processes of sustainable peacebuilding in conflict-affected environments. While peacebuilding interventions have slowly started to place emphasis on aspects of equality or service delivery in formal education systems, the potential of non-formal education (NFE) programmes to foster social transformation in conflict-affected environments often remains unexploited. There is …
Just add women and stir
Silencing the past in Ugandan schools. The role of education in reconciliation processes
This article assesses how reconciliation in post-conflict Uganda is currently approached in the country’s education sector. It highlights that education is in the main equated with economic development thereby side-lining the legacies of past conflicts and social injustices. In the view of Uganda’s highly politicised reconciliation process, this may not come as a surprise. Interviewees pointed to a general fear, that addressing past conflicts in …
Deconstructing Civil Society Actors and Functions
Over the past three decades, there has been a steady increase of funds by the international community to support civil society organizations (CSOs) in fragile states. Surprisingly, this growing attention has not strengthened local civil society landscapes in a way that it would lead to processes of social transformation. On the contrary, civic freedom and space is shrinking around the globe. In analyzing prominent international aid-effectiveness …
Why education is not helping the poor. Findings from Uganda
Schools as change agents? Education and individual political agency in Uganda
Global Education Policies versus local realities. Insights from Uganda and Mexico
National education policies often emerge from the global arena. These global policy norms hold the promise that reforms will produce similar education and development outcomes in different contexts. However, research on how and why global education reforms are practised ‘on the ground’ and with what effects is still scant. In this paper, we investigate how two global education agendas, namely Universal Primary Education (UPE) and Competency-Based…
Context of Violence in Adolescence Cohort (CoVAC) study
This study is a long-term follow up of participants in the Good Schools Study (NCT01678846, clinicaltrials.gov). This protocol is for cohort follow-up only; we have a separate protocol paper describing an evaluation of the long-term effects of the Good School Toolkit (In preparation)
Remote methods for research on violence against women and children
Collecting data to understand violence against women and children during and after the COVID-19 pandemic is essential to inform violence prevention and response efforts. Although researchers across fields have pivoted to remote rather than in-person data collection, remote research on violence against women, children and young people poses particular challenges. As a group of violence researchers, we reflect on our experiences across eight studie…
Lost in transition? Modernization, formal education and violence in Karamoja
There is a shift from pastoralism towards agro-pastoralism and systematized agricultural production in Karamoja, a sub-region of Uganda. At the same time, aid agencies and the government want to formally educate the Karamojong, in line with global education norms and policies. This creates a lot of ambiguities and in-betweens for the Karamojong as formal education impels sedentarization and socio-economic division. The Karamojong have a long hist…
Addressing silences in research on girls’ experiences of teacher sexual violence
Growing evidence from multiple countries in Africa documents sexual violence in schools. However, when that violence is committed by teachers it is shrouded in secrecy. This article identifies disconnects between quantitative and qualitative research, policy and practice, which have contributed to these silences. We address some of these silences through a dialogical analysis of mixed methods data from the Contexts of Violence in Adolescence Coho…
The peacebuilding potential of technical and vocational education and training programmes in post-conflict Sierra Leone
In peacebuilding contexts unemployed youth are frequently perceived as a high risk for the stability of a country while employed youth are seen as carrying an enormous potential for economic growth. This paper applies a social justice framework (4Rs) in analysing a Business Development (BD) programme that was implemented as part of Sierra Leone’s Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) strategy to promote entrepreneurship developme…
Workplace Violence Against Adolescents, Uganda, 2014–2019
Objectives. To describe the prevalence of and risk factors for workplace violence among Ugandan adolescents. Methods. The analysis focused on adolescents recruited at primary schools who participated in the endline survey of a trial in 2014 (at ages 11–14 years) and were followed up in 2018–2019 (at ages 17–19 years). The analysis was restricted to those engaged in past-year paid work (n = 1406). We estimated the prevalence of past-year workplace…
Intensified inequities
Uganda had the longest period of school closures worldwide as a response measure during the Covid‐19 pandemic. Drawing on longitudinal qualitative data from the Contexts of Violence in Adolescence Cohort Study (CoVAC) (2018–2023), we examine how this has affected the lives of adolescents in Uganda. Our analysis showcases how intersecting inequities based on socioeconomic circumstances, gender and location have intensified, with detrimental effect…
Associations between violence in childhood, depression and suicide attempts in adolescence
Findings highlight the importance of efforts to prevent violence and improve access to response and support services for violence and mental health for young people. Findings also underscore the important role friends and peer networks can play in mitigating the effects of violence as young people grow up
Unintended pregnancies in the lives of young people in Luwero, Uganda
Using a feminist narrative approach, this article explores how unintended pregnancy can rupture young lives, and how young people respond to and navigate these ruptures. We analyse qualitative data from a longitudinal cohort study in Luwero, Uganda, focusing on narratives of a girl and a boy about their recent experiences of unintended and unwanted pregnancy during COVID-19 school closures. We argue that laws, policies and norms relating to educa…
Young people’s experiences of informal kinship care in Luwero, Uganda
There is strong evidence that outside parental care, informal kinship care is the most practiced, sustainable and affordable form of childcare in SSA (sub-Saharan Africa). As a longstanding cultural tradition, informal kinship care embraces childcare as the responsibility of all extended family members, and often the wider community. However, over the past decades, informal kinship care has become gradually strained by political, economic and soc…
Changing perspectives on corporal punishment in schools
This paper contributes to decolonising ways in which corporal punishment has been understood and represented in Africa, through engaging with the complex views of young Ugandans about corporal punishment in schools. Conceptualising time as non-linear, and violence as a web of power, our analysis of longitudinal, mixed method data traces how physical punishment functioned to maintain the generational order, and as a regulatory practice in schools.…
Sociology (15 works) · Political science (14 works) · Economic growth (10 works) · Law (9 works) · Economics (8 works) · Law (8 works) · Social science (8 works) · Peace and Human Rights Education (7 works) · Politics (7 works) · Public Administration (7 works)