Shadows into Light: A Generation of Former Child Soldiers Comes of Age
Theresa S. Betancourt
Jan 2025 · Harvard University Press
Ebook
272
Pages
reportRatings and reviews aren’t verified Learn More
About this ebook
A twenty-plus-year study of former child soldiers offers far-reaching insight into mental health and resilience after extreme trauma.
During the civil war that ravaged Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002, an estimated 20,000 children were forced to join the fighting. As villages were raided and youths rounded up, it was not uncommon for a child to be ordered to kill a friend, relative, or neighbor under threat of being killed themselves. The goal was to make it impossible for the captives to return home and be accepted back into their communities.
But when the conflict ended, many of the children did find their way home. Could they reintegrate after such extreme trauma? Theresa Betancourt and her collaborators in Sierra Leone launched a study of more than 500 boys and girls who had been pulled into the war, tracking them for over two decades. The results were surprising: despite everything they had suffered, this was not a lost generation. In fact, the most dominant trend over time was one of healing and increasing acceptance. The lives of the former child soldiers were shaped not just by their personal ordeals but also, crucially, by the responses of their families, peers, and broader communities. Filled with vivid personal stories, Shadows into Light describes heartbreak and despair but also remarkable triumphs made possible by layers of social support and encouragement.
Betancourt’s study provides unparalleled insight into the long-term psychological and developmental effects of family separation, war, and exposure to violence. The lessons go far beyond Sierra Leone’s tragedy, suggesting that we should, in general, think of children’s risk and resilience more as products of the post-trauma environment than as individual traits.
During the civil war that ravaged Sierra Leone from 1991 to 2002, an estimated 20,000 children were forced to join the fighting. As villages were raided and youths rounded up, it was not uncommon for a child to be ordered to kill a friend, relative, or neighbor under threat of being killed themselves. The goal was to make it impossible for the captives to return home and be accepted back into their communities.
But when the conflict ended, many of the children did find their way home. Could they reintegrate after such extreme trauma? Theresa Betancourt and her collaborators in Sierra Leone launched a study of more than 500 boys and girls who had been pulled into the war, tracking them for over two decades. The results were surprising: despite everything they had suffered, this was not a lost generation. In fact, the most dominant trend over time was one of healing and increasing acceptance. The lives of the former child soldiers were shaped not just by their personal ordeals but also, crucially, by the responses of their families, peers, and broader communities. Filled with vivid personal stories, Shadows into Light describes heartbreak and despair but also remarkable triumphs made possible by layers of social support and encouragement.
Betancourt’s study provides unparalleled insight into the long-term psychological and developmental effects of family separation, war, and exposure to violence. The lessons go far beyond Sierra Leone’s tragedy, suggesting that we should, in general, think of children’s risk and resilience more as products of the post-trauma environment than as individual traits.
Rate this ebook
Tell us what you think.
Reading information
Smartphones and tablets
Install the Google Play Books app for Android and iPad/iPhone. It syncs automatically with your account and allows you to read online or offline wherever you are.
Laptops and computers
You can listen to audiobooks purchased on Google Play using your computer's web browser.
eReaders and other devices
To read on e-ink devices like Kobo eReaders, you'll need to download a file and transfer it to your device. Follow the detailed Help Center instructions to transfer the files to supported eReaders.
