Browsing by Subject "reintegration"

Human trafficking is a fast growing crime and a fundamental offense against human rights. Human trafficking is linked, inter alia, to social, economic and cultural factors; and the impact on individuals, societies and nations is destructive. Trafficking has been studied increasingly in the recent years. Though only few primary research has been conducted of human trafficking in Kenya, where trafficking is a widely spread problem. Furthermore, vulnerability towards human trafficking and reintegration of its victims has been studied more extensively on international level, but the research done on Kenyan context is very limited and the main focus stays on economical factors. Only a few studies have focused on experiences of vulnerability and reintegration of trafficking victims. Therefore, the objective of this research is to provide more information and study the complexity of victims’ experiences by the following research question: What factors former victims of trafficking have experienced as causes to their vulnerability towards trafficking and what difficulties former victims of traf- ficking have faced during their reintegration process after trafficking in Kenya? The aim of this research is to provide information that can be utilized in the development of contra human trafficking programmes in Kenya. This study is a qualitative research. The research material, 12 semi-structured interviews with former victims of human trafficking, was collected during a six-month period in 2015- 2016 in Kenya. The method used for analysing the data was qualitative content analysis. In- tersectionality was also used as an analytical tool. The experiences of vulnerability towards trafficking were mainly in relation to social problems within families, financial difficulties and obligations towards family members. The experiences of reintegration were also hampered by financial difficulties, obligations towards family members and social problems; stigmatization, blame and discrimination. This study suggests dynamics within families and communities, when allied with other factors, may become significant intersectional factors, for individuals, of vulnerability and reintegration. The findings were consistent with previous research, even though the findings cannot be generalized to larger populations. However, this research provides important pieces of information that can be utilized in relating research and in the development of contra trafficking programmes in Kenya.

Tiivistelmä – Referat – Abstract Human trafficking is a complex issue that has close connections to other large societal and global issues such as contemporary slavery, inequalities and migration. Trafficking can be seen as a part of a larger scale exploitation of labor and migrants. The risk of being re-trafficked after a trafficking experience is higher and well executed reintegration can reduce this risk. However, the research into the reintegration and rehabilitation of trafficked persons is underrepresented in the current academic literature. This thesis takes a closer look at the assisted return programs and reintegration and rehabilitation of trafficked persons in Indonesia to determine how well the programs respond to the needs of trafficked persons when they return home. The work provides insights into the experiences of integration and rehabilitation after trafficking and brings forth some of the experiences of trafficked persons. The causalities behind trafficking are explored through the concept of vulnerabilities to highlight how different systems produce vulnerabilities and increase the risks of being trafficked. These same vulnerabilities are faced upon return as well with additional vulnerabilities (f.e. health and psychological issues) imposed on trafficked persons by their experience. Vulnerabilities of a person are constructed in multiple dimensions. In this thesis the vulnerabilities are framed firstly through the concepts of labor migration, globalization and capitalism and secondly through concepts of oppression, exploitation and dehumanization to highlight the complexities surrounding vulnerabilities and consequently trafficking and reintegration. Through reviewing existing literature on reintegration of trafficked persons, an online interview with the employees of Indonesian Migrant Workers Union (SBMI) and a questionnaire to previously trafficked persons on their needs, a framework for desirable reintegration was established. The framework was then used to analyze IOM Indonesia’s Handbook on Service Mechanisms for Witnesses and/or Victims of Trafficking in Persons in Indonesia to establish how well the programs in Indonesia answer the needs of trafficked persons. The results of the thesis highlight that the needs of trafficked persons upon return are multiple. People need to be presented with an opportunity to become self-sufficient economically and socially and their health needs (both physical and psychological) need to be met. Most common issues faced by the informants of this thesis were economic and psychological in nature, but other difficulties were common as well. The analysis of IOM Indonesia’s handbook provided a positive view of the reintegration and rehabilitation in Indonesia. The Handbook was comprehensive and all-encompassing. Furthermore, it encouraged to take each individual’s needs into consideration and adjust the programs to fit each person. All dimensions of reintegration are taken into account. The results of the questionnaire however indicated that the state response in prosecuting the perpetrators is not sufficient and many informants were left without a proper restitution and with a feeling of injustice. The programs provide great tools to combat different difficulties faced by trafficked persons and help to mitigate the risks and reduce vulnerabilities. However, there are larger societal and developmental complexities behind trafficking and vulnerabilities people face. Issues of poverty, oppression and inequality cannot be improved by the rehabilitation and reintegration programs. This would require larger shift in policy and the way we organize and think about our global world.

This thesis studies the issue of children affiliated with ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria), referring to children who can be linked to the radical Sunni Muslim organization by living under its rule or based upon their parent’s association with it. The organization occupied a considerable territory in Iraq and Syria in 2014 using extremely violent practices. Tens of thousands of people from all over the world travelled to join the organization, which has been known to train boys as young as nine to fight, whereas girls of same age have been perceived as fit for marriage. Finnish people also travelled to the area and once the last territories that ISIS had controlled were conquered back in the year of 2019, Finnish women and children were taken to al-Hol camp in Syria. This sparked an intense public discussion concerning their possible return to Finland, followed by the Finnish government stating in late 2019 that it aims to repatriate the children as soon as possible. In October 2020, some children and families have returned to Finland, and less than ten Finnish adults and about twenty children are still at the camp. This thesis studies the subject of children affiliated with ISIS, because it is not merely a political issue but also a social work issue. In Finland, for example child welfare social workers can encounter the returning children, as they can be assumed to need support upon arrival. The aim of this thesis is to form a comprehensive picture of children affiliated with ISIS, providing social workers with useful knowledge of an underresearched subject. A mixed method approach of using scoping study as the research method is used to map and present relevant literature on the topic. The following five step methodological framework for scoping studies is used: 1) identifying the research question, 2) identifying relevant studies, 3) study selection, 4) charting the data, and 5) collating, summarizing and reporting the results. The fifth step of the framework includes a twofold analysis with both quantitative and qualitative analysis methods. Firstly, numerical information is analyzed to describe the characteristics of the data. Secondly, a thematic analysis is conducted, and social ecology theory is used as a tool in applying meaning to the findings of it. Literature on child soldier reintegration also informs the process of reflecting upon the results and fully answering the following research questions: “In the existing literature, what has been researched about the children affiliated with ISIS?” and “In the identified literature, how are these children framed and which factors are linked to their experiences?”. The dataset is composed of 16 texts that have been published in 2016–2019, including peer-reviewed articles, reports, research papers and policy briefs. The results of studying the characteristics of the data show that literature on children affiliated with ISIS is diverse in its nature and includes gaps. Only two texts in the data use empirical data and only four of the texts have clear links to Iraq or Syria in the form of author, publisher or data collection. Thus, a need for more local research and analysis on the issue, as well as a need to use more firsthand empirical data, is apparent. As a result of the thematic analysis, two main themes with two subthemes each are identified: “The time in ISIS” with the subthemes “Children as an unprecedented problem” and “A life immersed in violence”, as well as the theme “Challenges in reintegration” with the subthemes “An urgent and complex matter” and “Recommendations”. The themes paint a picture of ISIS’ comprehensive and all-encompassing influence on the lives of children living in its territory. Using social ecology theory, factors that shape their lives are identified on each level of the children’s social ecology systems. The interconnected nature of these factors and the complexity of the issue at hand is clear. Social work with children affiliated with ISIS must take this into account and address the following matters: the children can hold dual identities as both victims and perpetrators of violence, and it is possible that they have been desensitized to violence and exposed to a comprehensive cycle of propaganda and systemic radicalization. Reintegration practices need to address the children’s complex and multifaceted needs in a tight time frame as the issue is urgent and has its risks. Individual assessments should be the basis for addressing the diverse needs, while support should also engage the existing social ties and make use of the community’s resources. Future social work research on the issue should address the gaps identified in the data and provide more detailed recommendations for suitable practices to be used in social work.

This thesis looks at the post-war reintegration of and war trauma in the former Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel force abductees in the Acholi subregion of northern Uganda. The work’s focus is on how the former LRA abductees make meaning of their subjective experience of trauma according to the Acholi world view and how these experiences guide their search for healing. These questions are examined in the context of three healing practices from which the formerly abducted research participants have sought help for their war-related psychological symptoms: public healthcare and non-governmental psychosocial trauma counselling, local ajwaka spirit mediums, and Pentecostal and Charismatic Christian churches. The research for this thesis is based on three-month-long ethnographic fieldwork consisting of participant observation, semi-structured interviews, group discussions, and other informal interactions in the Acholi districts of Gulu and Nwoya between October and December 2017. The core research participants are 20 formerly abducted LRA combatants (ten males and ten females aged between 24–55 years) who have returned back to civilian life before the northern Uganda conflict ended in 2006. Furthermore, medical professionals, trauma counsellors, ajwaka spirit mediums, Charismatic Christian pastor, and relatives of the core research participants were interviewed for this study. This thesis is built around medical anthropological theories of trauma and anthropological theories of subjectivity, where the former LRA abductees’ symptoms are approached through a three-dimensional theoretical framework of inner subjectivity, structural subjugation, and intersubjective relations. This thesis proposes that the war-related symptoms find their meaning through inner and bodily experiences, personal convictions, and subjective world views of their sufferers, which steer the former LRA abductees towards their preferred healing practices. However, these experiences are shaped by external constraints related to economic and sociopolitical subjugation under state rule, hierarchical social structure as well as intimate intersubjective power relations and cultural norms that can either enable or challenge the former abductees’ access to healing. The findings of this thesis suggest that even though the three healing practices approach war-related symptoms from ontologically different angles, they all offer meaningful tools to repair broken social relationships and retether the former abductees back to their social worlds in ways that can reduce trauma symptoms and foster healing. However, for various reasons the administered treatments sometimes fail, which forces symptom-sufferers to move beyond their preferred healing practices to find relief from their war-related symptoms. This thesis argues that the search for healing is full of uncertainty about the cosmological origin of symptoms, social tensions, and opaque motives of helpers. Thus, the healing process is dependent on intersubjective entanglements with kin, treatment providers, illness agents, and healing powers alike, which suggests that different forms of relationality lie at the centre of healing from war trauma. In conclusion, this thesis proposes that the gap between the former LRA abductees and the wider Acholi community has narrowed over the years since the conflict ended, but for some research participants the ongoing experiencing of war-related psychological symptoms still prevent them from fully participating in the Acholi society, which continues to hinder their reintegration. Until recently, the study of trauma in northern Uganda has revolved around the study of local spirits and Acholi rituals. The present study contributes to the broadening of the scope of the study of trauma among the Acholi towards other healing practices and provides a critical and multifaceted review of how the formerly abducted Lord’s Resistance Army combatants conceptualise their experience of war-related psychological symptoms from their socio-cultural perspective in post-war northern Uganda.