Years of Conflict

by Hart, Jason

• ISBN13: 9781845455286
• ISBN10: 1845455282
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-09-30
• Publisher: Berghahn Books

Summary

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.

Author Biography

Jason Hart is a Senior Research Officer at the Refugee Studies Centre, University of Oxford.

Table of Contents

Preface
Introduction	p. 1
Adolescence in Context
Reconstructing Adolescence after Displacement: Experience from Eastern Africa	p. 23
Doing Nothing and Being Good: Social Relationships and Networks of Support among Adolescent Congolese Refugees in Dar es Salaam	p. 38
Growing Up in Exile: Psychosocial Challenges Facing Refugee Youth in the United States	p. 58
Adolescents Engaging in Political Violence
Political Transition and Youth Violence in Post-apartheid South Africa: In Search of Understanding	p. 89
Abject Heroes: Marginalised Youth, Modernity and Violent Pathways of the Liberian Civil War	p. 111
UNHCR and the Military Recruitment of Adolescents	p. 139
Gendered Adolescence in Exile
The Long Road Home: Adolescent Afghan Refugees in Iran Contemplate 'Return'	p. 165
Dislocated Masculinity: Adolescence and the Palestinian Nation-in-exile	p. 188
Responding to Adolescents
The Challenges of Programming with Youth in Afghanistan	p. 209
Adolescence and Armed Conflict in Colombia: 'Resilience' as a Construction Emerging within Psychosocial Work	p. 230
Researching With Adolescents
Participatory Research with War-affected Adolescents and Youth: Lessons Learnt from Fieldwork with Youth Gangs in Ayacucho, Peru	p. 255
The Place to Be? Making Media with Young Refugees	p. 277
Notes on Contributors	p. 298
Index	p. 303
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