After abduction: exploring access to reintegration programs and mental health status among young female abductees in Northern Uganda

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Muldoon, Katherine A
Muzaaya, Godfrey
Ajok, Mirriam
Akello, Monica
Petruf, Zaira
Nguyen, Paul
Baines, Erin K
Shannon, Kate
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https://doi.org/10.1186/1752-1505-8-5Metadata
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Muldoon, Katherine A, Godfrey Muzaaya, Theresa S Betancourt, Mirriam Ajok, Monica Akello, Zaira Petruf, Paul Nguyen, Erin K Baines, and Kate Shannon. 2014. “After abduction: exploring access to reintegration programs and mental health status among young female abductees in Northern Uganda.” Conflict and Health 8 (1): 5. doi:10.1186/1752-1505-8-5. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1752-1505-8-5.Abstract
Background: Reintegration programs are commonly offered to former combatants and abductees to acquire civilian status and support services to reintegrate into post-conflict society. Among a group of young female abductees in northern Uganda, this study examined access to post-abduction reintegration programming and tested for between group differences in mental health status among young women who had accessed reintegration programming compared to those who self-reintegrated. Methods: This cross-sectional study analysed interviews from 129 young women who had previously been abducted by the Lords Resistance Army (LRA). Data was collected between June 2011-January 2012. Interviews collected information on abduction-related experiences including age and year of abduction, manner of departure, and reintegration status. Participants were coded as ‘reintegrated’ if they reported ≥1 of the following reintegration programs: traditional cleansing ceremony, received an amnesty certificate, reinsertion package, or had gone to a reception centre. A t-test was used to measure mean differences in depression and anxiety measured by the Acholi Psychosocial Assessment Instrument (APAI) to determine if abductees who participated in a reintegration program had different mental status from those who self-reintegrated. Results: From 129 young abductees, 56 (43.4%) had participated in a reintegration program. Participants had been abducted between 1988–2010 for an average length of one year, the median age of abduction was 13 years (IQR:11–14) with escaping (76.6%), being released (15.6%), and rescued (7.0%) being the most common manner of departure from the LRA. Traditional cleansing ceremonies (67.8%) were the most commonly accessed support followed by receiving amnesty (37.5%), going to a reception centre (28.6%) or receiving a reinsertion package (12.5%). Between group comparisons indicated that the mental health status of abductees who accessed ≥1 reintegration program were not significantly different from those who self-reintegrated (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Over 40% of female abductees in this sample had accessed a reintegration program, however significant differences in mental health were not observed between those who accessed a reintegration program and those who self-reintegrated. The successful reintegration of combatants and abductees into their recipient community is a complex process and these results support the need for gender-specific services and ongoing evaluation of reintegration programming.Other Sources
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4030522/pdf/Terms of Use
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http://nrs.harvard.edu/urn-3:HUL.InstRepos:12406857
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