Background
It is estimated that about 250,000 children worldwide, both boys and girls, are involved in armed groups where they act in different roles, such as soldiers, spies, cooks, porters and sex slaves [
1‐
5]. Acknowledging this diversity, the most comprehensive and internationally endorsed definition of child soldiers can be found in the 2007 Paris Principles, drawing on the 1997 Cape Town Principles [
6], and refers to
“any person below 18 years of age who is or who has been recruited or used by an armed force or armed group in any capacity, including but not limited to children, boys, and girls used as fighters, cooks, porters, messengers, spies or for sexual purposes. It does not only refer to a child who is taking or has taken a direct part in hostilities” ([
7]:7). The recruitment of children into armed forces has been hitting the headlines in politics and the media for many years, despite the fact that this group constitutes only a small part of all children and adolescents who are affected, directly and indirectly, through armed conflict on a global scale [
8]. One possible explanation is that the notion of ‘child soldiers’ often defies emotional and moral senses, due to the conflicting sub notions of childhood and warfare, whereby the ‘child’ is perceived as particularly vulnerable, as opposed to the ‘soldier’ who is regarded as inherently damaging [
9,
10].
The uneasiness about child soldiering can be traced back to at least two sources. First of all, in the course of history, images of childhood and attitudes towards children have significantly evolved: first, a kind of ‘indifference’ towards childhood as a separate life-period has given way to childhood as a social, educational and cultural moratorium entitled to safe development, special care and protection; and secondly, the latter notion has been challenged by views of childhood as a life-period of evolving competence and agency, requiring equal human rights that allow autonomy and social participation, as well as supplementary rights for children accommodating their vulnerability [
11‐
15]. More generally, children have come to be viewed as rights-bearing subjects rather than objects, which engendered a range of children’s rights-based legal and policy developments that culminated in the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child [
11,
15‐
17]. This paradigmatic shift fostered a growing awareness and problematization of child soldiering, conceptualizing it in terms of grave children’s rights violations and placing it prominently on the humanitarian and human rights agenda. These developments incited a range of international conventions enshrining the rights of children in armed conflict and outlining measures conducive to the protection of such rights [
9,
13]. Moreover, humanitarian imperatives tend to emphasize the image that child soldiers are incapable victims of adults’ abusive compulsion, stripped from legal agency and without any accountability, which does not fully correspond with prevailing pedagogical and jurisprudential discourse, nor represent the broad range of child soldiers’ own perceptions of their role [
9,
10,
13,
18‐
20].
A second source of the uneasiness about child soldiering is related to the nature of contemporary warfare, which is often marked by fuzzy distinctions between perpetrators and victims. Not only are children forcibly recruited as child soldiers and thus actively participate in the armed conflict, also the frequently ethnic nature of these conflicts, amongst others, can turn every civilian into a potential victim or a perpetrator ready to defend his/her group’s interests [
21]. Such practices both increase the risk of psychological damage to all civilians [
22,
23], and pose particular challenges to the recovery, rehabilitation, reintegration and reconciliation processes of all affected youth, and (former) child soldiers in particular. This thin line between being a ‘victim’ and a ‘perpetrator’, which becomes utmost clear in the situation of child soldiers, has large implications for general processes of peacebuilding [
24] and transitional justice [
25], both in the short and the longer run.
As the complexity of these phenomena has dramatically increased in recent years, we argue that they can no longer be analysed from one single discipline or field of study, but require a truly interdisciplinary approach. Following Ost ([
26]:543), by inter-disciplinarity we mean the attempt to embark upon a ‘dialogue’ among disciplines leading to the (partial) reorganisation of theoretical frames and operational hypotheses. Unlike multi-disciplinarity and trans-disciplinarity, the essence of inter-disciplinarity lies in organising the ‘translation’ of one scientific language into the structure and the terminology of the other(s). In this contribution, we look at the victim-perpetrator dynamic in relation to child soldiers from three different disciplines or fields of study, i.e. children’s rights law, transitional justice, and psychosocial approaches. Our central research question is how to conceptualize the victim-perpetrator imaginary about child soldiers starting from these three disciplines. With this interdisciplinary perspective, we aim at opening up narrow disciplinary viewpoints, and contributing to more integrated approaches on the reintegration of former child soldiers into their communities and societies. Apart from its theoretical value in analytical terms, we also argue that an interdisciplinary perspective is indispensable from an operational point of view, as adequate policies, programmes and projects that tackle this difficult issue can only be developed by bringing together insights from different disciplines.
The insights and proposals described in this contribution are based on two types of sources: first, an extensive literature review in each of the three fields of study mentioned; and, secondly, a series of sustainable contacts with policy makers and practitioners in the fields mentioned built up throughout the years, by means of workshops, meetings and conferences.
1
Our contribution is structured in two major steps. We start by reviewing the issue of child soldiers from three different disciplinary perspectives, children’s rights law, transitional justice and psychosocial approaches, and list the cross-cutting themes, similarities and divergences of all three perspectives (section 2). In a second step, we offer ideas to move forward in this field of study, through interdisciplinary dialogue and mutual learning, and draw out some implications for policy-making and practice (section 3).
By focussing our paper on (former) child soldiers in particular, we do not wish to discard the fact that armed conflict affects all children and adolescents, far beyond this special target group [
8]. Nevertheless, the particular phenomenon of child soldering allows us to contemplate on ‘victimhood’ and ‘perpetrator-hood’, and its relation to rehabilitation, reintegration and reconciliation processes aiming at all children affected by armed conflicts, their families, communities and society. We recognize that this analysis could have benefited from the inclusion of additional perspectives, such as anthropology, political science, sociology and other disciplines, but their involvement goes beyond the scope of this contribution.
Towards an inter-disciplinary dialogue: Beyond the binary distinction between victim- and perpetrator-hood
We have demonstrated that the complexity of the phenomenon of child soldiers cannot be analysed from one single discipline. The previous section was devoted to an in-depth analysis of three (mono-)disciplinary viewpoints on victim- and perpetrator-hood of child soldiers, and showed the limitations of each disciplinary perspective on its own. In what follows, we offer some building blocks for an interdisciplinary dialogue by flagging three learning points, which highlight some of the strengths of each discipline. Key to this interdisciplinary dialogue is the growing awareness within all three disciplines, but admittedly only marginally within children’s rights law, that only by moving beyond the binary distinction between victimhood and perpetrator-hood, the complexity of childhood soldiering can be better grasped. In transitional justice, the concept of role reversal has been instructive: child soldiers may be both perpetrators and victims. In psychosocial studies, emphasis has been put on the ‘agency’ of (former) child soldiers, and it has become clear how child soldiers themselves often stress that joining the armed force or group was (partially) out of their own free will. Hence, child soldiers’ perpetrator-hood is not only part of the way child soldiers are perceived in the communities they return to, but equally of the way they see themselves. These findings plea for more contextualized approaches, which try to understand the nuanced and complex realities of young people’s entry into fighting forces, including underlying root causes, as well as local views on the motives to persist or to abandon practices of child soldiering [
10,
86]. Drawing on these central points, we hereafter discuss three points opening up future perspectives.
Children’s right to participation
Children’s rights, in particular also in their legal articulation in the CRC, have put and continue to keep children in their own right on the agenda. Whereas in an earlier period, it may have been important to simply make the point that children do have rights, nowadays we may have to develop more sophisticated arguments on which rights they have, and how these rights relate to each other and to the rights of others. In particular, it would be highly beneficial to clarify that children’s rights are a smart mix of so-called provision, protection and participation rights.
2 In addition to establishing the right mix between these three types of rights, the importance of participation rights deserves further recognition. Participation of children may well go beyond their involvement in concrete programming issues, to fundamental processes of rethinking the accountability and responsibility of children for the acts committed and the reconciliation processes that need to take place. An open-minded perspective, in which local conceptualisations and individual and contextual differences can play a role, is thereby a prerequisite.
Alternative ways of holding child soldiers accountable
Transitional justice is home to a variety of non-judicial and non-legal mechanisms that address the human rights violations and international crimes committed during periods of armed struggle. The key question is to conceptualise new ways of holding former child soldiers accountable for the crimes or violations they have committed or been involved in. At this stage of international law, and given the strict requirements as to the age of criminal responsibility, it is hard to imagine how international and even national criminal tribunals or courts could indict former child soldiers. For this reason, it seems more fruitful to think about other, non-judicial and non-criminal, institutions and procedures of transitional justice that allow more flexibility. Firstly, truth commissions can promote some forms of non-judicial accountability, although they are foremost focused on unearthing concrete facts and sketching the patterns of human rights violations and international crimes. This can be organised by naming names of alleged perpetrators in the final report (although seldom done in practice), or inviting individuals and organisations to come forward and explain their actions of the past (as was the case in South Africa). Also, in the case of the South African truth commission, the Amnesty Committee had the competence to award amnesties to applicants, under certain conditions. It is thinkable to use such formats for former child soldiers, the more so because truth commissions sometimes provide a space to children, thus far mostly as victims of crimes and violations (e.g., Sierra Leone). A second type of non-judicial forms of accountability relates to community dialogues, sometimes established in the context of a truth commission (e.g., East Timor) or as a free-standing mechanism (e.g., Uganda) to reflect on the past, the suffering of victims and the accountability of offenders [
87]. In both countries mentioned, the community meetings have taken the form of ‘traditional conflict resolution’ sessions, whereby all participants—victims and perpetrators—in the end engage in reconciliation, and use traditional rituals to be reintegrated in society. Such procedures not only allow community members to know who was responsible for (some of) the atrocities, but also enable offenders to assume active responsibility and become full-fledged members of society, and even create the conditions for reparations to victims. Such mechanisms also offer ample space to take the material, medical and psychological needs of children duly into account and provide the necessary support hereto. Finally, a third type of non-criminal accountability can be found outside the field of violent conflict and transitional justice, namely in a genuine juvenile justice approach for ordinary crimes, as existing in several countries worldwide. Such systems acknowledge that minors may be perpetrators of criminal offenses, but are also sensitive to seeing these youngsters as victims of their personal and social environments. That is why many juvenile justice systems also provide special safeguards (such as a specific justice system for children; specific attention for effective and child-sensitive participation; and in relation to sentencing, in particular in the case of deprivation of liberty) [
43] and allow for diversion measures. Moreover, the experiences of juvenile justice systems may also inspire and inform transitional justice mechanisms to introduce novel procedures and forms of sensitivity towards the needs of children.
Connecting individual and social healing
Children’s rights law and psychosocial studies tend to ignore the importance of reconciliation, the importance of which has been documented in transitional justice. Individual healing seems indispensably connected to social healing and to the re-establishment of broader social and community networks that are often disrupted or even destroyed by the impact of warfare (and the use of civilians in war strategies, including child soldiers). The families, communities and societies where former child soldiers return to often have changed considerably following prolonged armed conflict. The terminology used in this field is striking, with terms such as
‘re’-habilitation and
‘re’-integration, implying that life could be turned back to ‘normal’ as it was before conflict erupted [
88]. Individual rehabilitation and reintegration processes should therefore be connected thoroughly with efforts to rebuild social networks [
77]. Furthermore, interventions on an individual and social level may need to be connected to developments and initiatives on the wider national (state) level, such as peace processes, amnesty acts and transitional justice processes. Rebuilding communities and societies after protracted armed conflict therefore seems to require—as the transitional justice field clearly demonstrates—in-depth processes of reconciliation, also when children are involved as perpetrators (even when forcibly recruited).
Implications for policy and practice
In the previous sub-section, we have flagged how interdisciplinary encounters may assist in better grasping the complex victimhood and perpetrator-hood dynamics that characterizes child soldiers. Children’s rights can make sure that sufficient attention is paid to children on their own, in particular by drawing attention to the importance of participation. Psychosocial studies have revealed the complex victim-perpetrator dynamic in the self-perception of child soldiers and in the way their families and communities see them. Transitional justice has emphasized the reconciliation dimension (social and societal), and offers inspiration for dealing with the perpetrator side outside a criminal accountability logic. What do these research findings imply for policy and practice?
First of all, the global humanitarian agenda may have to move away from the excessive focus on recruitment of children, and pay more attention to issues of rehabilitation, reintegration and reconciliation, in an integrated and comprehensive way. It also seems untenable to continue to emphasize unilaterally the victimhood of child soldiers, as for example has been done in the work of the Special Representative of the Secretary-General of the UN and in the lobby work of many children’s rights organizations.
Secondly, a ‘categorical’ approach that targets ‘the most vulnerable’ groups, such as child soldiers, is questionable. More coherent and coordinated interventions seem needed, beyond a categorical approach, and attention is needed to build robust, mainstream systems of different types of care to support these interventions.
Thirdly, processes of rehabilitation, reintegration and reconciliation may have to extend their scope beyond the individual recovery of affected youth, in order to include also the recovery of communities and entire societies, with as ultimate goal a long-term peace building process with preventive capacities towards a new resurgence of the conflict. What may be needed here is an approach that simultaneously addresses individual, community and societal aspects of rehabilitation and reintegration. Hereby, one should carefully address the complex elements of children’s involvement with armed groups, including possible voluntary involvement, and the complex victim-perpetrator dynamics. Also, reconciliation may have to become an integral part of interventions aiming at the rehabilitation and reintegration of former child soldiers. Inevitably, this will require more attention being paid to root causes of conflict, as well as long-term commitments not only through humanitarian, but also development assistance.
Finally, the interdisciplinary dialogue strongly emphasizes the importance of making sure that children affected by armed conflict themselves are the starting and central point of reference, and that their participation in policy making and interventions may be crucial for success.
Competing interests
The authors declare that they have no competing interests.
Authors’ contributions
Authors contributed out of their own background to both the disciplinary sections (Wouter Vandenhole: children’s rights law; Stephan Parmentier: transitional justice; and Cindy Mels and Ilse Derluyn: psychosocial approaches). All authors contributed equally to the other sections, and several in-depth discussions with all authors present were held to discuss the manuscript in-depth. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.