Children of the Lord’s Resistant Army; An exploration of social relations from the perspective of Ugandan former child combatants

Ever since 1987 the Lord’s Resistant Army (LRA), a theocratic rebel force, has been abducting children in Uganda to partake in the conflict against the Ugandan government and its forces. The children’s lives are drastically changed in a matter of minutes; they are suddenly forced to whiteness and take part in ruthless brutalities. Some of them live for months, others for years, under dictatorial rule and order. This research is set to explore the multiple challenges regarding social relations faced by child combatants both during and after life with the LRA. Fundamental notions such as, self-perception, perception of other, role taking and group formation are questioned. The research is based in Husserlian phenomenological theory, providing understanding of the children’s/adolescence’s conscious reflections on their daily experiences. Five different documents containing citations of former child combatants in Uganda are used for analysis in both Sphinx Lexica and Minerva, which is based in phenomenological theory of Meaning Constitution Analysis (MCA). The results show that the children/adolescents feel confused and uncertain about their roles and relations due to the drastic changes in their social networks. The argument follows that the impacts need to be considered as a significant part of their reintegration process