Description
Book Synopsis Recent years have witnessed a significant growth of interest in the consequences of political violence and displacement for the young. However, when speaking of “children” commentators have often taken the situation of those in early and middle childhood as representative of all young people under eighteen years of age. As a consequence, the specific situation of adolescents negotiating the processes of transition towards social adulthood amidst conditions of violence and displacement is commonly overlooked. Years of Conflict provides a much-needed corrective. Drawing upon perspectives from anthropology, psychology, and media studies as well as the insights of those involved in programmatic interventions, it describes and analyses the experiences of older children facing the challenges of daily life in settings of conflict, post-conflict and refuge. Several authors also reflect upon methodological issues in pursuing research with young people in such settings. The accounts span the globe, taking in Liberia, Afghanistan, South Africa, Peru, Jordan, UK/Western Europe, Eastern Africa, Iran, USA, and Colombia.
This book will be invaluable to those seeking a fuller understanding of conflict and displacement and its effects upon adolescents. It will also be welcomed by practitioners concerned to develop more effective ways of providing support to this group.
Trade Review “[This book] is a very ambitious project seeking to furnish the reader with a more holistic and yet culturally sensitive understanding of the problem…The authors’ passionate engagement with the issues of children affected by war makes the book an interesting read and a significant contribution into the lives of the young in conflict and displacement settings.” · Journal of International Migration and Integration
Table of Contents Acknowledgements
Preface
Jo Boyden
Introduction
Jason Hart
PART I: ADOLESCENCE IN CONTEXT
Chapter 1. Reconstructing Adolescence after Displacement: Experience from Eastern Africa
Hirut Tefferi
Chapter 2. Doing Nothing and Being Good: Social Relationships and Networks of Support among Adolescent Congolese Refugees in Dar es Salaam
Gillian Mann
Chapter 3. Growing Up in Exile: Psychosocial Challenges Facing Refugee Youth in the United States
Kenneth E. Miller, Hallie Kushner, Jill McCall, Zoë Martell and Madhur Kulkarni
PART II: ADOLESCENTS ENGAGING IN POLITICAL VIOLENCE
Chapter 4. Political Transition and Youth Violence in Post-apartheid South Africa: In Search of Understanding
Andrew Dawes
Chapter 5. Abject Heroes: Marginalised Youth, Modernity and Violent Pathways of the Liberian Civil War
Mats Utas
Chapter 6. UNHCR and the Military Recruitment of Adolescents
Hanne Beirens
PART III: GENDERED ADOLESCENCE IN EXILE
Chapter 7. The Long Road Home: Adolescent Afghan Refugees in Iran Contemplate ‘Return’
Homa Hoodfar
Chapter 8. Dislocated Masculinity: Adolescence and the Palestinian Nation-in-exile
Jason Hart
PART IV: RESPONDING TO ADOLESCENTS
Chapter 9. The Challenges of Programming with Youth in Afghanistan
Joanna de Berry
Chapter 10. Adolescence and Armed Conflict in Colombia: ‘Resilience’ as a Construction Emerging within Psychosocial Work
Diana Isabel Alvis Palma
PART V: RESEARCHING WITH ADOLESCENTS
Chapter 11. Participatory Research with War-affected Adolescents and Youth: Lessons Learnt from Fieldwork with Youth Gangs in Ayacucho, Peru
Cordula Strocka
Chapter 12. The Place to Be? Making Media with Young Refugees
Liesbeth de Block
Notes on Contributors
Bibliography
Index
