Challenging Prevailing Notions of Youth: A Review of Findings from a Recent Resilience Study of Former Child Soldiers in Sierra Leone

Date: 27 November 2012
Time: 10:00 AM - 12:00 PM

Location: Search for Common Ground
1601 Connecticut Ave, NW
Washington D.C. 20009
Dupont Metro

Map & Directions

Characterizations of former combatant youth as dangerous and damaged have done little to increase understanding of the individual and cultural strengths that allow some youth to emerge from situations of severe adversity psychologically intact and oriented toward building a positive future for themselves.  In this presentation, Dr. Julie Guyot-Diangone will share findings from a recent resilience study of former child soldiers in Sierra Leone.  The research was provides a counter-perspective to the discourse surrounding "brokeness." 

The presentation will include discussion of Western-driven psychological instruments and the cultural incongruence that often is evident with their use.  Strong youth-only communities that exist outside more recognized or traditional structures will be identified and a re-framing of narrataives of exclusion will be offered.  Additionally, the protective factors associated with being an elder brother will be listed and described.  This emerged as one of the chief cultural resources uncovered by the study, with measureable psychosocial benefits to the young men who carry this role.

To view the handouts and the presentation please click the links:

WNCAC handout DEFINING YOUTH
WNCAC handout RESILIENCE
Julie Guyot-Diangone presentation

Speaker: Julie Guyot-Diangone

Julie Guyot-Diangone, PhD, is a recent doctoral graduate of Howard University's School of Social Work.  A past Africanist Doctoral Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars and former Visiting Research Fellow at the Refugee Studies Center at the University of Oxford, Dr. Guyot-Diangone has employed a "strengths perspective" in her study of displaced populations.  Prior work with street children in Tbilisi, Georgia and with young people in protracted refugee situations has informed her knowledge of youth capacity for coping with the psychosocial strength of children and youth in situations of extreme adversity.