In the presence and aftermath of armed conflict and war, there has always been contact between
armed troops and civilians ranging from superficial to intimate; and from these contacts children
have been born. These children are so-called Children Born of War (CBOW), who are typically
fathered by foreign soldiers and born to local mothers. Their existence is a worldwide and timeless,
yet widely ignored reality – to the disservice of these children and their communities. German and
Austrian Occupation Children (GOC resp. AOC), whom I will investigate in this dissertation, are
subgroups of this worldwide population of CBOW and are fathered by a soldier of the allied forces
“occupying” Germany and Austria after World War II and born to a German resp. Austrian
mother.
74
Several studies have described the hardships these children faced when growing up in postwar
Germany and Austria, being born as a child of the enemy and out of wedlock into a defeated and
tarnished former National Socialist society, in which losing the war and the regime did not equal
losing the National Socialist mindset. Studies already showed that growing up as an occupation
child in postwar Germany likely included experiences of discrimination and stigmatization (e.g.
Aßmann et al., 2015), as well as heightened risks to be subjected to child maltreatment and to
suffer from depression, somatization, PTSD, and long-term attachment issues (Glaesmer et al.,
2017; Kaiser et al., 2016, 2015; Kaiser, Kuwert, & Glaesmer, 2015). There have been case-studies
and reports from the field of history and social sciences about occupation children voicing
problems with identity and identity formation, but systematic, empirical studies covering this topic
have been lacking thus far.
This dissertation intended to close this gap in literature by systematically investigating identity
issues and questions of identity that occupation children face. We applied a mixed-method approach
in an effort to gain different types of data and ultimately a better coverage and understanding of
these topics.:INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................. 4
Historical Background ...................................................................................................... 4
Theoretical Background ................................................................................................... 8
RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ................................................................................................ 14
METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................................. 15
Study Design & Samples .................................................................................................. 15
Instruments ...................................................................................................................... 17
CORE PUBLICATIONS OF THIS DISSERTATION ...................................................... 21
Publication I ..................................................................................................................... 22
Publication II ................................................................................................................... 34
Publication III .................................................................................................................. 47
DISCUSSION ..................................................................................................................... 61
Summary of Findings ....................................................................................................... 61
Strengths and Limitations ................................................................................................. 62
Outlook ........................................................................................................................... 63
REFERENCES ................................................................................................................... 65
APPENDICES .................................................................................................................... 72
1. Abbreviations ............................................................................................................. 72
2. Zusammenfassung der Arbeit ..................................................................................... 73
3. Erklärung über die eigenständige Abfassung der Arbeit .............................................. 77
4. Darstellung des eigenen Beitrags ................................................................................. 78
5. Curriculum Vitae ........................................................................................................ 79
6. Publikationsverzeichnis ............................................................................................... 80
7. Danksagung ................................................................................................................ 81
8. Teilnahmebestätigung „Gute wissenschaftliche Praxis“............................................... 83
9. GOC Questionnaire ................................................................................................... 84
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:DRESDEN/oai:qucosa:de:qucosa:93619 |
| Date | 06 September 2024 |
| Creators | Mitreuter, Saskia |
| Contributors | Universität Leipzig |
| Source Sets | Hochschulschriftenserver (HSSS) der SLUB Dresden |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion, doc-type:doctoralThesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/doctoralThesis, doc-type:Text |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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