Psychological Reconstruction of Afghan Child Soldiers: Trauma, and Rehabilitation
Trauma, and Rehabilitation
Keywords:
Afghan Child Soldiers, Political Trauma, Resilience, Rehabilitation and Stages of Psychological DevelopmentAbstract
The enduring victimization of Afghan children due to political trauma has persisted since the Cold War Era Soviet Invasion. The mind of the Afghan children has become immune to the graphic instances of the war that they need to go through a process of psychological reconstruction (a transition in the child’s cognition). Moreover, the psychological subjugation of these children illustrated such events where children themselves become the weapons i.e. becoming child soldiers. Unfortunately, there has been a rise in the recruitment of the child soldiers ever since the Taliban took over in 2021. However, this research establishes its theoretical foundation through the application of Eric Erikson’s Stages of Psychological Development in a child, by investigating the facets of political trauma faced by these Afghan child soldiers. Along with that their resilience to political trauma, and to look into the efforts regarding rehabilitation to understand the psychological reconstruction of these children is also the foundation of this research. Methodologically, this research incorporates qualitative method, notably content analysis, characterized by a descriptive and analytical orientation. The study adopted an interdisciplinary perspective, delving in the nuanced political contours that characterizes the experiences of child soldiers in Afghanistan.
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Copyright (c) 2023 Najam Sehar, Dr. Sadia Rafique, Dr. Azhar Javed Siddiqui (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
