Citation

Tefferi H. Child. Soc. 2007; 21(4): 297-308.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, National Children's Bureau of the United Kingdom, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/j.1099-0860.2007.00101.x

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

In this article I am concerned to explore the ways in which war and forced migration have impacted on traditional ideas and practices surrounding adolescence and, as a consequence, influenced actual lives. A particular focus is given to the roles and responsibilities of adolescents, for whom a tension often exists between the pressures to achieve social adulthood and to gain assistance through presenting themselves as children. Their quest to achieve adulthood is often hampered by the abandonment of initiation practices due to the conditions of conflict and displacement. At the same time military mobilisation and the work of international humanitarian organisations provide new avenues for the possible enhancement of their social status. This article provides examples from across the region that illustrate the ways in which adolescence itself is being reconfigured as a result of these changes.