Michał

Kochanowski

LITERATURE REVIEW

Topic: Child soldiers and the psycho-social

effects of child-soldiering

In this literature review the author gathers written sources to define, how the scientific
world gives the meaning of child soldiers – along with their “resilience”. This would be a
legal aspect. The use of psychological and sociological indicators would be a great aid to
explain the impact of the use and recruitment of child soldiers to the armed groups. We
will try to explain the phenomenon of children incorporated to armed forces. We will
look upon the question “why does these children fight” and also external and internal
motivators, which push them to the battlefront.

Psychological question: “How much does it affect child soldiers psychologically?”

Sociological question: “How hard is the reconciliation for the former child soldier?”

Literature choice supporting all the important data considered in this review is
multidisciplinary. For the definition part author makes a use of the Optional Protocol to
the Convention on the Rights of a Child on the Involvement of Children in Armed
Conflict. The great part plays the scientific work of Elisabeth Schauer and Thomas Elbert
– The Psychological Impact of Child Soldiering. It was useful for all parts of this paper.
The author has gathered another psychological indicators from The Psychological
Consequences of becoming a Child Soldiers: Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Major
Depression, and Other Forms of Impairment by Federica D’Alessandra. There we can also
find out about methods of children’s conscription, which leads us to cause-effect
correlation and push factors of their involvement. There will be a use of a well-respected
UN report Children and Armed Conflict, which identifies (among five others) recruitment

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and use of children as a grave violation, which affects youngsters in times of conflict.
Another paper containing both psychological and sociological aspects is Enduring Scars:
Child Soldiers and Mental Health, with the pressure put on case studies and DRR1 rule.
Last, but not the least is Caitlin Thompson’s The Psychological Effects of War on Children.

HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE
From the dawn of our times the participation into war was mainly reserved for adult
males. In the history of the Civilisation there were some individual examples of children
who were taking part in the war expeditions. We know from the historical sources about
ancient Sparta. However, tasks taken by the children were limited to carry out the
wishes of adults, like to goad animals or to carry one’s shield. Worth mentioning is the
unsuccessful 13th century’s crusade to the Holy Land of unequipped boys and girls from
Northern France and Western Germany. The unwritten rule of not using children as
soldiers was still respected during French Revolution in 1789. However, in 1864 there
was an event of the involvement of the adolescents (15 to 17 y.o.) during the American
Civil War – the Battle of New Market.

First mass event, which contains the involvement of children, was during the Second
World War. After the Allies’ invasion on Drittes Reich Adolf Hitler has commanded to
enlist under-aged boys to Hitlerjugend. From the different perspective, Polish youth was
creating the resistance movement during Warsaw Uprising. The youngest group that
could attend commands was Zawisza, which accepted girls and boys from 12 to 14 years
old.

Nowadays, following R. Brett and M. McCallin, we are in the “era of child soldier”. This
period lasts from II World War until today.

CHILD AS AN ENTITY
Before we introduce the horrible phenomenon of the recruitment and use of child
soldiers, we should first focus on a children definition. By the time we reach the age of

1 Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration

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eighteen it does not mean we have just started being a 100% mature adults. The author
assumes rather smooth border. Panta rhei. The child is a person who cannot be solely
responsible for its own life, because of the age. The most universally approved definition
of a child is the United Nations Convention on the Rights of a Child from 1989. It says
that being a child means every human being under the age of eighteen – unless by the
national law a child has obtained the age of majority.

Unfortunately, for the purpose of standardisation of the definition one can have a
dilemma, when exactly comes to the moment of life that “child” period finishes and the
person is already an “adult”. It is rather a philosophical question. Hard transition due to
the age is a contractual issue.

CHILD SOLDIER DEFINITION

Child soldier from the literal point of view is an under aged human whose purpose is to
serve and execute orders on command. In one’s mind’s eye he must be a person with a
gun. This is also the stereotypical view and it does not fulfil the broad variety of
examples prepossessed in legal documents about the phenomenon. For sure, these
children are growing up too soon and by the traumatizing events are deprived of their
childhoods.

As it was established in the Paris Principles declaration (2007) “the term child soldiers
refers to any person below eighteen years of age who is or has been associated with an
armed force or armed group.” This defines that child soldier can be any kid inside the
military/combat structure; including children who were there as cookers, slaves,
porters or holding different positions.

The definition is outlined more specifically by the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child
Soldiers. The forces that recruit child soldiers can be: governmental, regular or irregular,
even political armed groups. Given duties are: laying mines and explosives, spying,
scouting, guarding, offering sexual activities or to entrap. Worth mentioning is that
almost 40% of child soldiers are young females.

The responsibility of the warlords or any party who enlist, recruit or use child soldiers
under the age of 15 are considered as war crimes (Convention on the Rights of a Child,
1989; Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court, 1998). The Additional Protocol

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to the Geneva Conventions is also the legal act that prohibits the recruitment and use of
children under the age of fifteen.

Because of the vulnerability of children as a group of entities, they often suffer from
devastating consequences, which persist for a very long time. That is why they should be
especially protected. All international and national organizations are responsible to
protect these children – under the United Nations endorsement in the so-called
“responsibility to protect” in 2005. Children often are not able to adequately protect
themselves; with the aim of international humanitarian law and international human
rights law children must feel safe.

When it comes to safety measures for children, we can see the legal practice of
underlining the age value. Eighteenth year of one’s life is the most common
apportionment, which also constitutes the easiest safety measure. The example is the
African Charter on the Rights and Welfare of the Child, established in 1990.

Except the hard to follow international measures, practice is shared on a national level.
Most countries in the World have enforced domestic legislations to prevent children
from transitioning to “child soldiers” (D’Alessandra, 2014).

CHILDREN’S MOTIVATION TO FIGHT

Too simple and banal would be to say that we divide child soldiers into two groups –
which voluntarily and non-voluntarily joined armed forces. In one of the few Polish-
language books about child soldiers, Jarosław Czyżewski in his “Dzieci żołnierze we
współczesnych konfliktach zbrojnych” writes that the voluntarism is made to be a
fiction. Of course, the recruitment is called “voluntary”. However, as we have already
mentioned in the paragraph relating to the legislative perspective on the subject of the
child as an entity, “child […] cannot be solely responsible for its own life, because of the
age”. Thus, the recruitment is not fully dependent on the child’s will. Indicators, such as:
social, cultural, political, and mostly economical determine it. The ‘culture of violence’
supports child soldiers as the usual repertoire for most wars.

Similarities are also seen based by gender preferences. Statistically speaking girl
soldiers are less than boy soldiers - 25% to 50% are estimated to be females
(D’Alessandra, 2014). Girls enrol into military movements for related purposes as boys.

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Nonetheless, some of them escape sexual abuse in the home, to feel the part of a group
or to raise their status (in the case of Colombia) – even if it actually means offering
sexual favours in exchange for privileges.

The similar view is shared in the work of Elisabeth Schauer and Thomas Elbert. They
notice that children usually have less developed analytical skills, which limit their ability
to correctly evaluate risks. Children are also mobilized to fight, because “they are less
costly for the respective group […], because they receive fever resources”. As we have
mentioned about economical indicators, having something to do – even if it is being a
child soldier – is more attractive, since children can stop facing dilemmas connected
with their poverty, starvation or unemployment (International Labor Organization,
2003). Crucially, children have a less evolved sense of critical thinking (Brett & Specht,
2004). This affects their abilities to question authorities, which – in fact – make them
easier to indoctrinate. From many results there can occur patterns of false promises or
statements given to children who join armed groups. These children may be told of
standing up against the enemy, which would kill them or hurt their families. It is
doubtful that for the same baits as for children, commanders would catch adults.

Except the financial purposes, future-to-be child soldiers may be motivated by traumas,
such as abuse and discrimination; even the revenge for violence against them could be a
trigger for children to get enlisted into militias or rebel groups. From the commanders’
point of view children are better fighters, because of their stamina, survival, stealth, the
feeling of fearlessness and the will to fight. Children also adapt quicker to changes.

In the opposition to the content of Czyżewski’s book, Federica D’Alessandra notes that
some of the children are joining forces of a conflict in a voluntary way. This could be the
feeling for revenge, martyrdom, or even a traumatic event of losing one or more parents.
Interconnection occurs as well in the chapter “The Psychological Impact of Child
Soldiering”. Children, facing the wall and feeling that they have no choice, enlist
themselves into guerrillas or other armed groups to protect themselves.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ASPECTS
The highest price paid by children for an active participation in armed conflicts is mental
injury. Reader should be conscious, what kind of psychological scars remain after the

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period of the recruitment and the use of child soldiers. It involves the disturbance of
nervous system, negative impact on brain development and whole biology of one’s
behaviour, which affects their whole life after the conflict. The specific aftermath of child
soldiering may be mental disorders, such as trauma, post traumatic stress disorder
(PTSD), major depressive illness and pathological anxiety disorders – higher in
consequences than for other war-affected children. If we compare abducted and non-
abducted children, these forced into combat have excessive levels of emotional and
behavioural issues (Global Health, 2012). Children, who have developed negative
psychological symptoms were sometimes exposed to witnessing their family members
being tortured or injured. In some cases they are forced to cause harm to their relatives.
The environments, where death and violence are orders of the day leave young humans
psychologically vulnerable and incapable to properly cope with life. These aspects will
be developed in further paragraphs below.

It is proven that chronic and traumatic stress significantly influences development of

mental and related physical ill-health (Schauer & Elbert, 2010). Cumulative effect may
be resulting from an exposure to combat, life-threatening events or an abuse (torture,
rape, violent death). The abuse of the human being in his early childhood and
adolescence is a risk factor correlated with poor intellectual (lower IQ) and academic
(lower reading abilities) success. Case study from the war-affected North-Eastern region
of Sri Lanka states that 28-65% of children reported impaired memory, 33-60%
concentration issues and 35-60% amotivational syndrome (Somasundaram, 2014).
Obviously, child soldiers are being hurt and child ex-combatants are mostly damaged in
their everyday activities.

What are behind the negative change are psycho-somatic reactions, which affect the
chemistry of a brain. Exposed to an extraordinary stress, brain develops and organizes
itself into pathways mainly supporting a response for a nervous tension. Prolonged
contact with traumatic experiences activates biological defence mechanisms located in
the central nervous system. Dependent on triggers activating fear network, traumatic
event may replay itself. These are: depersonalization, derealisation, numbing. In some
cases catatonia and ‘tonic immobility’ may occur (Schauer & Elbert, 2010).

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Another conclusion for former child soldiers is higher probability of aggressive
behaviour occurrence. Educated to resolve conflicts by force, these children repeat
hostile impulses. In addition to that, they have problems with controlling their emotions.

When we mentioned hostile picture of the world, traumatic experience and stress are
strong factors to develop hypersensitivity and adult depression for the former child
soldiers. It is because of the fact that the mind is in the constant search for danger,
remembering the past adversities. On a cognitive level there is a deformed image of
internal and external environment. The outside world for those affected by a trauma is
unsafe, frightening and evil. The affected child may develop in the future many issues:
about safety, trust or self-esteem, including feelings of guilt and shame (Schauer &
Elbert, 2010). Traumatic events are likely to cause PTSD, even though they are not
determinants.

PTSD, or post-traumatic stress disorder is widely spread among child soldiers. PTSD is a
condition of persistent mental and emotional stress occurring as a result of injury or
severe psychological shock, typically involving disturbance of sleep and constant vivid
recall of the experience, with dulled responses to others and to the outside world.
Symptoms range from a deep sense of fear, to confusion and anger. (D’Alessandra,
2014). The highest rate of the syndrome occurs when children were forced to hurt
another human beings (Schauer & Elbert, 2010).

PTSD influences psychobiological abnormalities, such as psychophysiological,

neurohormonal, neuroanatomical and immunological effects. Children-veterans report
higher rates of body illness. With such a complex, interconnected system like the human
body and mind, it is a completely understandable reaction. They perceive world in
extremes - black or white, good or bad. This is called the cognitive distortion, when one
accepts the simplistic model of relationships and is not able to see the full palette of grey
scale.

PTSD affects educational life as well. Concentrate and learn issues are main
consequences narrowing down the wade through the full educational path. Especially
younger children are more affected in connection with PTSD; these conscripted are
scoring higher rates of a post-traumatic syndrome than adult soldiers (D’Alessandra,
2014). In the case study of former child soldiers in Uganda and Congo the average PTSD
rate refers to one in three children. When the military service is extended for over a

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month and more, 48% of a research group has developed PTSD indicators (Thompson,
2014).

Gender of a child soldier is also a strong indicator for developing a post-traumatic stress
disorder. This manifests in higher level of depression, anxiety and hostility in immature
females. Girl soldiers are twice as strong associated with PTSD in comparison to boy
soldiers. (D’Alessandra, 2014). It may be the link between violence on a sexual ground
for girl soldiers (abuse and rapes), which are not so often experienced by boy soldiers
(Global Health, 2012).

SOCIOLOGICAL ASPECTS
Sociologically speaking, child soldiers are the most complexly traumatized population
among children and adolescents. They are torn from those important years of their lives
that they could dedicate to education. The use and involvement of child soldiers ignore
all the moral, ethical and international legal standards.

As the psychologist Michael Wessells says, child combatants perceive the hopelessness
of their situation, which can affect their motivation to build a better tomorrow
(Thompson, 2014). Child survivors are thus more distrustful to the goodwill of others.
Of course, they have a complete right to the fact that they often fall victim to
stigmatization when they return to local communities. The inability to express feelings
by demobilized children of their traumatic experiences makes it more problematic for
both sides. Communities’ thinking induces its members to perceive ex-child soldiers as
aliens, somebody from the armed group – with whom they do not want to have anything
to do. Re-entering the homeland is usually occupied with the stigmatization of the
returning child. The study exploring interrelations between former child soldiers
abusing civilians during the intra-state war and the community members of Sierra
Leone confirms the stigmatization process in 73% of individual cases. These are: calling
names (ex. “killer”), undermining the mental state (“evil rebel mind”, “disturbed mind”)
or violent actions, such as pushing former child soldiers away from the well while
collecting water (Schauer & Elbert, 2010). Unfriendly attitudes cause similar feedback
and often result in growing up without the support of families.

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Usually it is the family that is a kind of constructive buffer that facilitates the return of
children to their childhood and a moderately normal life. This form of support for
former child soldiers should be recommended, as it shows a high indicator for assistance
towards trauma (D’Alessandra, 2014).

In the case of child soldiers the return to an everyday life may vary based on gender. Girl
soldiers are not sufficiently targeted, thus not all of them enjoy benefits from programs
designed to restore their bonds with the motherland. In the case of Eastern Democratic
Republic of Congo girl soldiers accounted for just over 1% of the total 1741 children
demobilized by four iNGOs (D’Alessandra, 2014).

It was common to only provide the basic needs for child soldiers, such as food and
medicine. However, the lack of specialized programs to rehabilitate child combatants is
a fail to remember their mental scars, which must be treated throughout their lives. This
aspect is also underlined in the Article 39 of the United Tanins Convention on the Rights
of the Child. The article says: “particular attention should be paid to restoring the health,
self-respect and dignity of a child” (United Nations, 1987). The provision of
extraordinary psychological and even psychiatric treatment should be a key points,
which will be discussed in the next paragraph.

That is why our civilisation has developed the rules and guidelines in response in post-
conflict circumstances. These are Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration,
shortly called DDR. Some experts of a subject propose an extra ‘Rehabilitation’ step
before the final reintegration to the community (ReliefWeb, 2006). There is a huge
demand for such a treatment, because a painful and violent past of a child soldier make
him more difficult to reintegrate.

SUMMARY
As we have already noticed, the child soldier phenomenon is very broad. Its aspects are
multidimensional and are, for the purpose of this research, divided into legislative,
motivational, psychological and sociological chapters. In the history of humankind
people were usually fighting among adults and wider recruitment and use of child
soldiers are phenomenons of Twentieth and Twenty-first Century. Children are the
equal human beings and because of their smaller physicality, undeveloped brains and

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submission to tricks they can be vulnerable to recruitment to armed groups in the
countries, in which this phenomenon occurs. From the legal perspective children are
always recruited un-voluntarily. It is because there is a strict requirement by the
international law to achieve certain age to legally join the army. Children join armed
forces for social, cultural, political and mostly – economical – benefits. Children are
chosen to fight because they are smarter in tasks, in which their younger bodies mean
lower detection rate. Traumatic experiences save in the young brains of child soldiers
and they remain there for a long time. It can affect one’s live and the professional
psychological treatment is highly recommended. These affected children are often
hypersensitive and they fall victim of stigmatization. PTSD is likely to develop in child
soldiers. Boy soldiers are often more resilient to PTSD than girl soldiers. It is harder for
former child soldiers to get well with local communities after months or years of
separation. In addition to delivering food and medicine, special efforts should be placed
in DDR(R) programs. This is also a gap of this study, because each of every child soldier
is a unique human being, thus an individual treatment connected with community
support can decide on the success of the ‘real’ return.

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