With an increasing number of veterans returning to civilian life after deployment in combat, it is important to analyze what challenges they face during reintegration, what resources assist them with coping with these challenges, and which of these resources they perceive as the most helpful. The literature indicates that the most common challenges faced by returning veterans are employment difficulties, family readjustment problems and mental health issues which are shown to be positively affected by the presence of social support networks (Burnell, Coleman, & Hunt, 2009). There exists a gap, however in the research regarding the extent to which each particular social support network affects veterans' reintegration. This qualitative study explored veterans' perceptions of the challenges faced during reintegration, and the social supports which assisted the most during the reintegration process in order to try to bridge the gap in the research. The findings indicate that veterans struggle the most with reconnecting emotionally with family and friends, managing strong emotions (such as anxiety and alienation), missing the military after discharge, and dealing with the negative effects of deployment on daily life (such as difficulty sleeping, anxiety, and difficulty finding employment). Unit support was overwhelmingly expressed as the most helpful social support, while family and friends were seen more as a challenge than a help. Many veterans went on to surround themselves with fellow veterans and/or join the reserves after their active duty was up.

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<p>Since 2004, there has been a 12% relative increase in stroke prevalence in the working-aged (18–65 years) population of Ontario. Studies have shown that successful community reintegration is an important indicator of perceived quality of life post-stroke.</p> <p>The purpose of this interpretive phenomenological study was to explore the lived experience of community reintegration for working-aged persons post-stroke in order to inform the development of appropriate and effective strategies to support their community reintegration and continued stroke recovery.</p> <p>The essence of the phenomenon of community reintegration for working-aged persons post-stroke emerged as: “Life Goes On: The journey of surviving a stroke in the prime of your life”. Six themes emerged to support this journey of community reintegration after stroke: 1) processing the shock, 2) starting the road to recovery, 3) living with stroke, 4) who am I? 5) carrying-on and 6) transcending the stroke. While participants experienced their personal journey to community reintegration in a unique way, their journey led them to realize that in order to successfully reintegrate back into their community, they needed to adjust, adapt and reach some level of acceptance in order to move on and essentially transcend their stroke</p> <p>There needs to be a call to action for the delivery of client-centered stroke care. A client centered approach to stroke care will ensure that the voices of working-aged persons post-stroke are heard and given priority in their rehabilitation and community reintegration planning.</p> / Master of Science Rehabilitation Science (MSc)

This briefing paper seeks to increase awareness of and review the linkages between disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) and small arms and light weapons (SALW) reduction in the context of post-conflict reconstruction (PCR). It is targeted at those working on poverty reduction at both the policy and programme level, particularly those with comparatively modest engagement in these areas. Its objective is to outline the types of activities that have been undertaken under these rubrics, the difficulties and constraints encountered at the level of implementation, and, in particular, to identify opportunities in linking SALW programmes and DDR. It also seeks to highlight the problems created by widespread arms availability and usage in PCR. This briefing paper is not intended as a comprehensive review of the state of DDR/SALW/PCR programming and policy, but rather an introduction to some of the core issues.

Since the beginning of the Global War on Terror, almost three million children, spouses, and adult dependents have been directly affected by the deployment experiences of more than two million service members. This study examined the applicability of the Contextual Model of Family Stress (Boss, 2002) to a reintegrating military family sample (N = 228) by assessing the effects of external, military-related contextual factors (i.e., rank, component, combat exposure, length of time home post-deployment, and cumulative length of deployments) and internal contextual factors of boundary ambiguity and family and deployment-related ambivalence on family functioning. Quantitative data were taken from a national survey of service members from multiple branches of the United States military. A hierarchical regression analysis revealed that, as a whole, the addition of the military-related contextual factors, boundary ambiguity, and the ambivalence variables made a significant contribution to the prediction of family functioning, controlling for all previously entered variables. Service members from lower ranks and those who had been home for longer periods of time reported poorer family functioning. Higher degrees of boundary ambiguity and family ambivalence were also associated with poorer family functioning. The results from this study extend existing theoretical applications of the Contextual Model (Boss, 2002) to military families through the incorporation of boundary ambiguity and ambivalence. Findings will also inform interventions aimed at promoting family resilience in the military population during the post-deployment period. / Ph. D.

This study examines the current socio-economic status of the ex-combatants 10 years after the conflict in Sierra Leone. It examines the job opportunities, political space, relationship with community members, challenges faced, social networks involved in, relationship with former colleagues, access to land and other issues that are significant in the reintegration process of ex-combatants. It further studies the national socio-economic environment and how ex-combatants are faring in the overall post-war recovery process in Sierra Leone. Special focus lies on the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of Ex-Combatants (DDR) programme which was part of the Lome Peace Agreement signed in 1999. The study also comes up with recommendations as to how the challenges currently faced by ex-combatants could be overcome.

Returning citizens face a host of barriers when attempting to reintegrate into society; thus, services for these concerns are imperative for successful reintegration. Unfortunately, services are often lacking, particularly in rural communities which tend to be overlooked in reentry research. In order to better determine service need for justice-involved populations in rural communities, the current study completed a gap analysis, both inspired and supplemented, by qualitative information collected from mental health providers (MHPs) in a rural Appalachian region of Tennessee. To complete the gap analysis, an estimation of need was collected via local crime statistics. Using this data, a two-sample t-test revealed that increased rurality was related to a significantly higher percentage of substance use related crimes, but not to crimes against persons or sexual crimes. Service availability data was then collected for local providers in the domains of general mental health, substance abuse, anger management (or anger management aligned), and sex offender treatment. It was found that nine of the ten counties in the identified region are considered mental health professional shortage areas (MHPSAs) for general mental health care. Using average caseload data from local MHPs, a calculation of provider shortfall was completed for specialty services for returning citizens. For the identified 10-county region, provider shortfalls were existent in all treatment domains. The largest gap identified was for anger management aligned services, while the smallest gap identified was for sex offender treatment services. An increase in rurality did not ensure an increased provider shortfall across domains. Overall, MPHs in the area identified similar needs in treatment services via two major qualitative themes and five subthemes. The findings from the current study provide a specific example of what services are missing for rural returning citizens. It is hoped that the results of this study help inform policy and programming efforts in rural communities as they attempt to close the service gap and successfully reintegrate rural returning citizens.

This study examines the current socio-economic status of the ex-combatants 10 years after the conflict in Sierra Leone. It examines the job opportunities, political space, relationship with community members, challenges faced, social networks involved in, relationship with former colleagues, access to land and other issues that are significant in the reintegration process of ex-combatants. It further studies the national socio-economic environment and how ex-combatants are faring in the overall post-war recovery process in Sierra Leone. Special focus lies on the Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of Ex-Combatants (DDR) programme which was part of the Lome Peace Agreement signed in 1999. The study also comes up with recommendations as to how the challenges currently faced by ex-combatants could be overcome.:1. Introduction … 8 2. Theoretical Framework … 11 3. Context … 25 3.1 Origins of the war in Sierra Leone … 25 3.2 Factions involved in the conflict … 31 3.3 Recruitment patterns … 37 3.4 Peace Agreements … 39 3.5 Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration of Ex-combatants … 46 4. Research Methodology … 58 4.1 Research Question … 58 4.2 Conceptual Scheme … 59 4.3 Operationalization of Major Concepts … 60 4.4 Methodology … 62 4.5 Location of the Research ... 63 4.6 Unit of Analysis … 64 5. Findings … 66 5.1.1 Current social status of former male combatants … 71 5.1.2 Current social status of former female combatants … 76 5.1.2 Conclusion … 83 5.2. Current economic status of former combatants … 85 5.2.1 Former Male Combatants … 85 5.2.2 Former Female Combatants … 94 5.2.3 Conclusion … 102 6. Conclusions and recommendations … 105 6.1 Final Conclusions … 105 6.2 Recommendations … 109 7. Bibliography … 116 8. Annex ... 123

Submitted in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Management Sciences: Public Management, specialising in Peacebuilding, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / Post-conflict countries have a range of needs of interventions in the reconstruction efforts. These efforts require immediate, medium and long term interventions. DDR process require the immediate restoration of security which requires demobilization in the both the regular army and armed groups. Demobilized combatants need to be economically and socially re-integrated in their local communities. Therefore governments through demobilization commissions or programmes ensure that ex-combatant is re-integrated as matter of governments’ responsibility. In the specific case of this research, former members of armed groups from DRC and former RDF soldiers all members of an Agricultural cooperative based in Jabana (Kigali City) have been participants to this research which is by nature an action research project aiming most importantly on participation outputs oriented to learning. Before this project, economic, political, social and psychological dimensions among the ex-combatants were frustrating. However, after this project, the following were discovered: Economically, the approaches that have been used allowed ex-combatants to learn basic and necessary skills of creative entrepreneurship while working in corporate setting. Socially, this research discovered that the nature of research requires working in group settings in addition to personal and collective participation toward the attainment of the project’s objectives. Working in group settings is the social cohesion that originates from sharing common goals, interests, successes and failures if any. In addition, group members became best friends among themselves and relied on each other in time of need. At psychological level, ex-combatants have gained self-confidence, self-trust, and removal of past negative clichés that they used to hold against each other. Finally, in the implementation of this research, aspects of peace-building, together with unity and reconciliation and peace-building in its broad term has been witnessed from its outset to the concluding phase of the research. Recommendations were devised; some are formulated towards ex-combatants at individual level and others for RDRP. / D

The Department of Correctional Services (Johannesburg Management Area) is established in the South of Johannesburg in Gauteng Province. It was founded in 1982. According to the Annual Report of the Department of Correctional Services 2009, the institution was initially developed to house 2630 offenders. Presently it accommodates 10130 offenders. These offenders are dependent on the number of facilities and officials for rehabilitation purpose. The discrepancy in the number of officials to that of offenders is a challenge within the Department of Correctional Services with regard to skills development. The study was based on the hypothesis that “effective implementation of skills development within Johannesburg Management Area may lead to a successful social reintegration of offenders”. The empirical research was conducted to support the hypothesis. Questionnaire was distributed and interviews were conducted to obtain responses. the findings reveal that offenders who are skilled are easy to be reintegrated and at the same time skilled officials are able to play a vital role in facilitating the social reintegration of offenders Study further reveals that skilled officials are able to network on behalf of offenders with ease and are able to increase job opportunities for offenders who are already on social reintegration programme. The study recommends that the Johannesburg Management area need to restructure its human resource development office, ensure that experienced and qualified facilitators are employed. Each correctional centre should have qualified facilitators who are experienced in adult education to skill offenders in various areas of development. The study leaves a scope for future research stating that Department of Correctional Services do further analysis on skills development and Social reintegration of offenders nationally to find a common and standard approach that will assist in the full reintegration of offenders / M, Development and Management, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2011