The role of education in the reintegration of ex-combatants in Colombia

• In Event: Dissertation workshop session
  In Special Session: Youth

Proposal

University: Florida State University
Dissertation faculty advisor: Dr. Stephanie Zuilkowski

Purpose and Goals: Technical and vocational education and training (TVET) is considered a key means to prepare ex-combatants to develop skills, participate in the labor market, assume new social roles, and gain community acceptance (United Nations, 2006). Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration (DDR) processes around the globe include TVET to promote development and prevent recidivism (UNESCO-UNIVOC, 2007). Previous studies have focused on understanding the limitations of TVET in providing livelihoods to ex-combatants, and have found challenges with program designs, implementation and post-conflict environmental constraints (Colletta et al., 1996; McMullin, 2013). However, in these studies the experiences and perspectives of the target group—ex-combatants—have remained unexplored (Annan, Brier, Aryemo, 2009; Nussio, 2012), making it unclear whether ex-combatants find access to TVET useful, and how to improve these programs.
Through an in-depth qualitative interview study (Creswell, 2013) my dissertation seeks to address this gap. Interviews with ex-combatants in Colombia at various stages of engagement with TVET—including those in training and graduated —will illuminate how “meaning” of education influences ex-combatants’ decision-making and behaviors. Also, this study will analyze what “roles” ex-combatants believe TVET plays in their social reintegration.

Research Questions: The following questions guide this study: (1) What meaning does access to technical/vocational education have for ex-combatants who are participating or graduated from a technical and vocational institution in Colombia as part of their reintegration process? (2) As part of this reintegration process, ex-combatants are expected to sever ties with the people they lived and worked within the armed groups—friends, colleagues, and even family members. What role, if any, does access to and participation in TVET as an institution play in developing new social supports, and networks to facilitate their reintegration?

Thesis Statement: Reintegration is the most difficult phase of DDR, but also the most important to achieve sustainable peace (Humphrey & Weinstein, 2004). This dissertation argues that to improve education for reintegration, we need information about individual-level factors that influence ex-combatants’ decisions to engage in TVET and if for them, education contributes to enhancing their social inclusion. This dissertation expects readers to understand how ex-combatants’ educational choices align with their interests, goals, and values; how ex-combatants perceive TVET programs, and whether ex-combatants find that participating in TVET contributes to their reintegration into civilian life through the development of new social networks.

Theoretical Framework and Literature: Recently, scholars and practitioners have started to realize that current research about reintegration policies and evaluations about program implementation and outcomes do not provide sufficient information to create relevant reintegration processes. For them, now is the time to focus on ex-combatants themselves, understand their perspectives (Annan et al., 2009; Nussio, 2012), and include their insights in programs’ designs and implementations (McMullin, 2013). Following this call, this study builds on Torjesen (2013) theory of ex-combatant reintegration. For Torjesen (2013), reintegration is a process to transform combatants’ identities and behaviors into civilian identities and peaceful behaviors aligned with community rules. This framework moves beyond the United Nations (UN) definition of reintegration built around institutional support. For the UN, reintegration consists of providing assistance to help ex-combatants “acquire civilian status and gain sustainable employment and income” (UN 2006). From Torjesen (2013), to understand reintegration, research should focus on ex-combatants experiences, and their socio-political and economic processes, rather than on the programs offered by international agencies and governments.

Modes of inquiry, Methods, and Techniques: A qualitative in-depth interview design guides my research. I will conduct in-depth interviews with ex-combatants in Medellin, Colombia. Medellin is a city where innovative and structured reincorporation processes co-exist with re-armament of illegal groups, presenting an appropriate context to understand the opportunities and challenges of social reintegration (Rozema, 2008). The sample will include 20 ex-combatants. Ten will be currently enrolled in TVET programs, while 10 will be recent (within one year) graduates of TVET programs. The sample will be drawn from across three levels of post-secondary programs, including technical, technological, and short courses. The sample also includes both male and female who belonged to different armed groups. Data will be analyzed in a three-stage process that included data examination, development of codes using two-cycle coding to establish patterns (Miles, Huberman, & Saldana, 2014), and using categories to answer the questions (Miles et al., 2014).

Dissertation Process: I will collect data from 10/2018-3/2019. At the time of the workshop, I will have finished the first cycle coding that will be concurrent with data collection.

Author

• Maria Paulina Arango, Florida State University