Coping with the trauma of war

Former child soldiers in post-conflict Sierra Leone

Bibliographic Data

ID9972363
AuthorsMyriam Denov (0000-0001-7963-1136, McGill University, corresponding author)
Year2010
Volume53
Issue6
Pages791-806
Publication date2010-06-24
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Social Work (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0020-8728 • E-ISSN: 1461-7234
PublisherSAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0020872809358400
OpenAlexW2112065226
LanguageEN
Citations received32
References cited14

Children across the globe have been implicated in armed conflict as both victims and participants. During Sierra Leone’s decade-long civil war, thousands of children, both boys and girls, participated directly in armed conflict or were recruited for labour or sexual exploitation in armed groups. Drawing upon in-depth interviews with 80 children formerly associated with Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front, this paper explores children’s experiences of violence during the armed conflict, traces the realities that children faced in the aftermath of the war, and examines the ways in which participants attempted to cope with the war’s profound after-effects. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for social work

Armed conflict · Coping (psychology · Criminology · Globe · Medical emergency · Poison control · Political science · Psychiatry · Sexual violence · Sierra leone · Socioeconomics · Sociology · Spanish Civil War · Suicide prevention · Gender Studies · Gender, Security, and Conflict · Law · Medicine · Migration, Health and Trauma · Peacebuilding and International Security · Psychology