Child Soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo: Revisiting ‘Reintegration’ through a Psycho-Social Framework

Abstract

The paper assesses ‘reintegration’ mechanisms implemented for child soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in the overall Disarmament-Demobilisation-Reintegration (DDR) programme. It re-visits the ‘macro-level success’ claimed by DDR mechanisms in DRC internationally and focuses on evaluation strategies at the ‘micro-level’ implementation of the said objectives. The paper advances a psycho-social assessment of reintegration of child soldiers considering their complex identities as ‘victim-perpetrator-bystander’. Identifying the gaps between individual experiences of war trauma (psychological breakdown) and community reintegration (social reintegration, discrimination, and stigma), the paper conceptualises reintegration measures vis-à-vis children’s psycho-social needs and greater community involvement.