How child soldiers heal after the trauma of war

Trending 1 month ago
The screen of nan "Shadows into Light" book, showing nan shadows of 4 figures against a orangish and blue-ish sky.

Shadows into Light
Theresa S. Betancourt
Harvard Univ., $35

For much than 2 decades, Theresa S. Betancourt has followed nan lives of children (now adults) who returned location aft being forced to conflict successful nan civilian warfare that ravaged Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002.

Thousands of children unwillingly participated successful nan convulsive conflict arsenic soldiers, spies and laborers. Many took portion successful attacks connected their ain neighbors and relatives, galore faced intersexual violence, galore witnessed unspeakable atrocities. In her caller book, Betancourt, head of Boston College’s Research Program connected Children and Adversity, shares what she has learned astir nan factors that person helped immoderate of these group retrieve and moreover thrive.

Shadows into Light is some heart-wrenching and heartening. It tells nan stories of nan trauma these children faced, their reunion pinch family, their reintegration into their communities, and their ongoing struggles and healing.

Sahr, for example, who was kidnapped arsenic a toddler and spent 4 years pinch rebel fighters, returned to rejection and isolation. He was teased and criticized by organization members, and his inclination to suffer his temper reinforced people’s suspicions that he was vulnerable and possibly permanently damaged by his experience.

Then location is Isatu, property 12 erstwhile rebels attacked her village, capturing her and her sister. Isatu’s acquisition upon her return was overmuch different. Initial support from her family and community, mixed pinch her ain motivation, led to much thief from an extended network. “Isatu’s perseverance generated further ripples of support, soon to go a self-fulfilling virtuous cycle,” Betancourt writes. Isatu is now a doctor.

With awesome care, Betancourt weaves together portraits of nan group and nan state pinch her ain backstory and investigation effort. One investigation uncovering is nan value of family, community, and societal and taste influences connected a person’s trajectory — what scientist Urie Bronfenbrenner described arsenic “social ecology.”

Betancourt and her squad were amazed that girls tended to look much stigma and person poorer intelligence wellness instantly aft nan conflict than boys, but nan girls did amended successful nan long-term. Some whitethorn person benefited complete clip from “the ties that hindrance women and girls to 1 another.”

Betancourt puts her ain learnings successful discourse pinch nan existing lit connected puerility improvement and trauma. Readers study astir investigation connected intergenerational trauma successful Holocaust survivors, studies of children leaving Romanian orphanages and nan treatment powerfulness of communicative storytelling among nan Lost Boys of Sudan. She besides addresses caput connected nan contention astir the conception of post-traumatic growth, fundamentally nan thought that suffering tin beget success.

Betancourt has a clear passion for nan taxable and people. Yet nan book avoids sentimentality. There are horrors, but nan purpose is ne'er to horrify. There are triumphs, but they don’t fresh nan superhero trope aliases immoderate different simplification. If anything, Betancourt’s penning is measured and pragmatic. “Everything we person learned astir resilience successful nan look of utmost risk,” she writes, “has helped america to create and trial group intelligence wellness interventions for youth, arsenic good arsenic family-based preventive interventions to break cycles of unit crossed generations.”


Buy Shadows into Light from Bookshop.org. Science News is a Bookshop.org connection and will gain a committee connected purchases made from links successful this article.

Source sciencenews
sciencenews