A four-year-old boy shown in a recent Islamic State execution video—who pushes a button that apparently sets off an explosion that kills four alleged spies sitting in a car—could still go on to have a normal life, if he has loving caregivers and opportunities in life.
“This is a child who has little decision making or ability to understand the implications of his actions,” said Theresa Betancourt, associate professor of health and human rights, in a February 11, 2016 BBC Radio 4 interview. “Should he be able to return to the care of loving attachment figures who are invested in his well-being, there probably is a tremendous amount of opportunity to work with him, both on helping to address past traumas but also to help support moral development and a healthy transition out of the indoctrination he’s experienced.”
Betancourt said that, in her studies of former child soldiers from West Africa and Sierra Leone, “we do see a tremendous amount of resilience in what is possible in the lives of young people.”
Hear a short excerpt from Theresa Betancourt’s interview on BBC Radio 4 here
Learn more
Can child soldiers recapture normal lives? (Harvard Chan School news)
Life after death: Helping child soldiers become whole again (Harvard Public Health Magazine)