From Weapons to Trust: Social Capital and Community Acceptance in the Reintegration of Former Child Soldiers in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC)
Open Access
Abstract
Despite sustained investment in Disarmament, Demobilization, and Reintegration (DDR) programs, former child soldiers in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) continue to encounter major barriers to lasting reintegration. This article argues that the central obstacle is not only economic precarity but the erosion of social capital: the intimate, communal, and institutional relationships through which returnees are recognized as family members, neighbors, and citizens. Drawing on qualitative interviews with former child soldiers, caregivers, community leaders, and NGO practitioners in the Uvira region of South Kivu, the article examines three interrelated dimensions of reintegration: bonding social capital within households and peer networks, bridging social capital through community rituals and everyday participation, and linking social capital through schools, local authorities, and DDR-related institutions.
The findings show that vocational support alone rarely secures reintegration when returnees continue to face stigma, mistrust, and bureaucratic invisibility. Reintegration becomes more durable when families provide unconditional care, communities publicly reclassify returnees through rituals and shared activities, and institutions furnish documentation, access to services, and legal recognition. The article further shows that these processes are gendered, with girls and young women facing compounded stigma linked to sexual violence, motherhood, and moral judgment. By centering social capital as both a mechanism and an outcome of reintegration, the article offers a relational framework for DDR policy in the DRC and comparable post-conflict settings.Journal eISSN: 2332-0419
Language: English
Published by: Pi Gamma Mu
In partnership with: Paradigm Publishing Services
Keywords:
© 2026 Romuald Lenou Tassigne, published by Pi Gamma Mu
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons License.