Protection from violence, and access to formal education, are fundamental human rights for girls in conflict-affected societies. And yet, war exposes girls to an increased risk of exposure to violence, and serves as a well-known barrier to their involvement in school. While these risks are widely recognized within the fields of international education and humanitarian affairs, significant gaps exist within the peer-reviewed literature. Existing studies tend to focus generally on violence against girls in conflict-affected societies without accounting for issues of education. Or, studies focus exclusively on violence in and around school settings, although only investigate violence against students who are currently in school. As a result, the differential experiences with violence among girls based on varying levels of involvement (or lack thereof) in formal education are not well known. In light of these issues, this dissertation examines the relationship between girls’ level of participation in formal education, and exposure to violence in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), while accounting for Ecological factors (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) in girls’ lives, families, and communities. A quantitative survey was conducted with girls (ages 10-14) and caregivers across 14 sites in South Kivu. Findings suggest that higher levels of participation in formal education were associated with lower rates of violence among girls. Child marriage— itself considered a form of violence according to human rights norms— was seen to disrupt the protective relationship between education and violence, and expose married girls to higher rates of violence overall. Further, equitable gender norms on the part of girls and their caregivers emerged as significant factors contributing to girls’ involvement in higher levels of formal education. Taken cumulatively, findings from this research suggest a need to engage in Ecological interventions with girls, families, and communities in order to prevent the occurrence of violence and ensure that girls have access to formal education that is protective, of good quality, and promotes their overall development and well-being. In addition to filling vital gaps in the literature, these findings hold the potential to inform program and policy development not only in the DRC, but in conflict-affected societies more broadly.

Thesis (M.F.A.)--University of North Texas, Aug., 2007. / Title from title page display. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A. (Human Rights))--Mahidol University, 2008.

Thesis of (Ph.D.)--University of Alberta, 2009. / Title from pdf file main screen (viewed on September 8th, 2009). "Fall, 2009." At head of title: University of Alberta. A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduates Studies and Research in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta. Includes bibliographical references.

"At present, the Coalition to Stop the Use of Child Soldiers reports that approximately 300,000 children in over 40 countries worldwide are engaged in armed conflict. Of the estimated 300,000 child soldiers in the world, 120,000 can be found in Africa alone. Apart from making them direct combatants, both governments and armed groups use children as messengers, lookouts, porters, spies able to entre small spaces, and even use them as suicide bombers and human mine detectors. In the due course of such use and abuse, children are forced to kill or are themselves killed, sexually assaulted, raped, forced to become wives of the commanders, exposed to drugs and forced labour, showing the cross cutting nature and magnitude of the problem of child soldiers. There are a variety of international legal standards which, at first glance, seem to give some direction and guidance in the protection of child soldiers. In spite of these legal instruments for the protection of child soldiers in Africa, however, much remains to be done as the problem is continuing at a larger scale every day and new challenges keep cropping up. This study will look into ways of addressing these problems in the context of Africa. Therefore, in order to address the issue to the best possible level, the normative framework in place may need to be strengthened. Moreover, in an attempt to be comprehensive in addressing the problem, ways of dealing with child soldiers who have allegedly committed atrocities during armed conflict should be included. This piece explores how these issues could possibly be addressed to provide for protection to the child soldier in Africa. ... The study consists of five chapters. Chapter one will set out the content in which the study is set. It highlights the basis and structure of the study. The second chapter will look into the magniture of child soldiers both at the international and the regional level. The third chapter, which will use the second one as a background, will critically reflect on the gaps and opportunities created by the normative framework protecting child soldiers in Africa. A comprehensive approach in addressing the problem of child soldiers calls for setting out possible mechanisms in treating child soldiers both as victims and 'perpetrators'. Speaking of child soldiers as perpetrators, the fourth chapter will set out the ways and means to be adopted in calling child soldiers to account for atrocities committed during armed conflict. Under the final chapter, which is chapter five, a conclusion is drawn and the way forward is indicated through recommendations." -- Introduction. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa)) -- University of Pretoria, 2005. / Prepared under the supervision of Prof. Julia Sloth-Nielsen at the Faculty of Law, the University of the Western Cape, South Africa / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/academic_pro/llm1/dissertations.html / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

[Truncated abstract] This thesis examines the potential for children to contribute to peacebuilding processes in societies experiencing protracted social conflict. Since the shifting nature of contemporary armed conflict has increased the involvement of civilians, the potential for purely government-brokered peacemaking initiatives to bring about a sustained end to conflict has weakened. As a consequence, effective and permanent cessation to conflict has a better chance of success if a policy of grass-roots peacebuilding is constructed in and around top-level peace agreements. Implementation of track two diplomatic initiatives, particularly using the process of conflict transformation through dialogue encounter, has the potential to encourage a fundamental shift in the perceptions held by opposing groups in conflict, and the eventual total transformation of the conflict itself. … Parallel cultural analyses of Palestinian and Israeli society reveal the role of culture and nationbuilding in protracted social conflict; the effect of these dynamics on the political socialisation of children from both sides; and the extent to which these dynamics produce children who are suitable for participation in peacebuilding initiatives. The dissertation then explores the programs of several key child-orientated peacebuilding organisations currently operating in the sphere of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. Through analysis of procedures, outcomes, effectiveness and external societal dynamics, the thesis discusses the various social, economic, cultural and political factors that contribute to the success and limitations of such ventures in Israel/Palestine.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Arts, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment for the degree of M. A. (Clinical Psychology). / The Impact of political violence on the psychological well-being of civilian populations has received much attention. both locally and internationally. In South Africa, the effects on black children of having witnessed or experienced violence has been extensively researched; however. the impact on white children, albeit that the majority of them are removed from the immediacy of the violence, has not been investigated.(Abbreviation abstract) / Andrew Chakane 2018

Thesis (Ed. D.)--Harvard Graduate School of Education, 2003. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (p. 512-543). Also available on the Internet.

In ca. 75% der weltweiten Kriege und bewaffneten Konflikte sind Kindersoldaten involviert; diese Fakten lassen die Kindersoldatenproblematik zu einem weltumspannenden Problem werden. Weltweit sind ca. 300.000 Kindersoldaten unter achtzehn Jahren in kriegerische Konflikte eingebunden und als Soldaten, Träger, Boten, Minensucher oder in anderweitigen Diensten tätig. Das Schicksal der Kindersoldaten lässt sich vor allem in Asien und Afrika feststellen. Auf beiden Kontinenten werden sogar 7- bis 12-Jährige in kriegerische Auseinandersetzungen verwickelt. Nach dem United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) ist die größte Anzahl an Kindersoldaten in Afrika zu finden, was auch mit der Tatsache in Zusammenhang steht, dass die meisten Konflikte heutzutage auf dem Afrikanischen Kontinent ausgetragen werden. Von großer erziehungswissenschaftlicher Bedeutung ist das Thema, da Kinder und Jugendliche, die mit kriegerischen Konfliktsituationen aufwachsen und unter diesen Bedingungen sozialisiert werden, selbst bereit sind, Gewalt auszuüben. Das gilt selbstverständlich bereits für Kinder und Jugendliche, die zwar nicht als Kombattanten in das Kriegsgeschehen verwickelt werden, aber von denen dennoch Gewalt als ein alltäglicher Zustand erfahren wird. Gesellschaftliche Werte, wie zum Beispiel Hilfsbereitschaft oder der friedliche Umgang miteinander, werden durch die generalisierte Gewalt auf eine harte Probe gestellt. Das Handeln der Erwachsenen ist durch den kriegerischen Kontext bestimmt und die gesellschaftlichen Werte werden dadurch insgesamt verändert. Kinder und Jugendliche, die in kriegerischen Situationen aufwachsen, haben zudem nur selten die Möglichkeit, eine Ausbildung zu absolvieren und sich somit eine Perspektive für die Zukunft abseits des Kampfes zu sichern. Sie fühlen sich häufig allein gelassen, machtlos und schutzlos. In diesen hoffnungslosen Lebensumständen ist ein Anschluss an eine gewaltbereite Gruppe für einige Kinder und Jugendliche ein Weg, Nahrung, Schutz und eine kurzfristige – am bloßen Überleben orientierte - Perspektive zu gewinnen. Werden die Kinder und Jugendlichen zu Mitgliedern gewaltbereiter Gruppen, so wachsen sie in einem System der Gewalt auf, in dem sie lernen, sich mit Gewalt ihren Lebensunterhalt und ihr Überleben zu sichern. Ein Teufelskreis entsteht, in dessen Kern die Frage steht, wie Kinder und Jungendliche, die keinen Frieden und auch keinen friedvollen Umgang mit sich selbst und anderen Personen kennen, als Zivilisten Frieden schaffen können. Die Problematik der Kindersoldaten stellt also nicht nur eine Bedrohung der Kindheit, sondern eine Bedrohung der zivilen Gesellschaftsstruktur dar, gefährdet die regionale Stabilität und somit die Chancen folgender Generationen, dem Schicksal des Kindersoldatentums zu entgehen. / Worldwide about 300,000 child soldiers under eighteen years of age are involved in armed conflicts as soldiers, porters, messengers or other services. The fate of child soldiers is particularly in Asia and Africa identified. On both continents are even 7 - up to 12-year-old implicated in armed conflicts. According to the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) the largest number of child soldiers is found in Africa, which is also related to the fact that most conflicts today are held on the African continent. Children and adolescents, who grow up during armed conflict and are socialiesed under these conditions are willing to use violence. They experience violence as a condition of everyday. Social values, such as peaceful dealings with each other, are affected by the generalized violence. Children and young people who grow up in war situations, have also rarely the possibility of training and school education. They often feel alone, helpless and defenceless without having a perspective for their future. In these desperate living conditions an active affiliation with a violent group is for some children and adolescents a way to gain food, protection and a short-term-perspective which is oriented on mere survival.

Thesis (M.A.) - Carleton University, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 146-151). Also available in electronic format on the Internet.