Reintegration of Child Soldiers: The Role of Social Identity in the Recruitment and Reintegration of Child Soldiers

Abstract

This chapter analyses how social identity influences children’s recruitment and reintegration. In ideologically laden conflicts and also ones in which entire families and communities become militarised, social identity plays a powerful role in children’s recruitment. Also, children who had been recruited by force or other means frequently undergo an identity transformation as armed groups resocialise them as soldiers and warriors. Following conflict, children’s identities, as soldiers or former soldiers, can impede their reintegration into civilian life. Using lessons about the reintegration of former child soldiers, the chapter suggests steps to address the identity challenges described above.