Prelims

Half Title Page

CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN ARMED CONFLICT

Series Page

SOCIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH

Series Editor: David A. Kinney (from 1999)

Series Editors: David A. Kinney and Katherine Brown Rosier (2004–2010)

Series Editors: David A. Kinney and Loretta E. Bass (from 2011)

Outgoing Series Editor: Loretta E. Bass (from 2012)

Incoming Series Editor: Ingrid E. Castro (from 2024)

Previous Volumes:

Editorial Board

• Lars Alberth

  Leuphana University Lüneburg, Germany

• Sampson Lee Blair

  The State University of New York, USA

• Ingrid E. Castro

  Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, USA

• Patricia Neff Claster

  Edinboro University, USA

• Tobia (Toby) Fattore

  Macquarie University, Australia

• Sam Frankel

  King’s University College at Western University, Canada

• David Kinney

  Central Michigan University, USA

• Valeria Llobet

  Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina

• Sandi Nenga

  Southwestern University, USA

• Doris Bühler-Niederberger

  Universität Wuppertal, Germany

• Kate Tilleczek

  York University, Canada

• Yvonne M. Vissing

  Salem State University, USA

• Nicole Warehime

  University of Central Oklahoma, USA

• Katie Wright

  La Trobe University, Australia

Title Page

SOCIOLOGICAL STUDIES OF CHILDREN AND YOUTH – VOLUME 35

CHILDREN AND YOUTH IN ARMED CONFLICT: RESPONSES, RESISTANCE, AND PORTRAYAL IN MEDIA

EDITED BY

TAMANNA M. SHAH

Ohio University, USA

OUTGOING SERIES EDITOR

LORETTA E. BASS

The University of Oklahoma, USA

INCOMING SERIES EDITOR

INGRID E. CASTRO

Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts, USA

United Kingdom – North America – Japan – India – Malaysia – China

Copyright Page

Emerald Publishing Limited

Emerald Publishing, Floor 5, Northspring, 21–23 Wellington Street, Leeds LS1 4DL.

First edition 2025

Editorial matter and selection © 2025 Tamanna M. Shah.

Individual chapters © 2025 The authors.

Published under exclusive licence by Emerald Publishing Limited.

Chapter 2, “Children of the Balkan Wars”: Responses and Resistance to War-Related Media Content in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Montenegro, and Serbia, copyright © 2025 Eva Tamara Asboth and Michaela Griesbeck, is Open Access with copyright assigned to respective chapter authors. Published by Emerald Publishing Limited. This work is published under the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY 4.0) licence. Anyone may reproduce, distribute, translate and create derivative works of this work (for both commercial and non-commercial purposes), subject to full attribution to the original publication and authors. The full terms of this licence may be seen at http://creativecommons.org/licences/by/4.0/legalcode

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No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise without either the prior written permission of the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying issued in the UK by The Copyright Licensing Agency and in the USA by The Copyright Clearance Center. Any opinions expressed in the chapters are those of the authors. Whilst Emerald makes every effort to ensure the quality and accuracy of its content, Emerald makes no representation implied or otherwise, as to the chapters’ suitability and application and disclaims any warranties, express or implied, to their use.

British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data

A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library

ISBN: 978-1-83549-703-6 (Print)

ISBN: 978-1-83549-702-9 (Online)

ISBN: 978-1-83549-704-3 (Epub)

ISSN: 1537-4661 (Series)

Dedication Page

To my son, Qais

and

To the children who are our future

Contents

List of Figures, Tables, and Appendices

About The Editor

Tamanna M. Shah is an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at Ohio University, USA. She serves as an Experiential Learning Community-of-Practice Fellow at Ohio University and is the Book Reviews Editor for Sociological Research Online (SRO) and earned her PhD in Sociology from the University of Utah and holds a Master’s degree in Sociology from Kansas State University and a Bachelor’s degree in Economics. She has conducted field research in Kashmir, India, and East Timor. Her interests include comparative political sociology, gender and race, social change, and inequality. She has authored several publications, including “Adjustment to Divorce (Spouses)” for the Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Family Studies and “Chaos and Fear: Creativity and Hope in an Uncertain World” in International Sociology. She is currently editing a book on Gendered Identities in the Media for Vernon Press. She has collaborated with the Asian Development Bank on water and sanitation policy papers (ORCID: 0000-0001-9609-0191).

About The Contributors

Omama Al-Lawati, formerly an academic specializing in mass communication, has previously held roles as a Quality Assurance and Academic Accreditation Officer at Sultan Qaboos University in Oman. Holding a PhD in Communication and Media Studies from the Université de La Manouba, Tunisia (2021), and a Master’s degree in Communication and Public Relations from the University of Westminster, London (2001), she possesses diverse interests, including writing and photography, with a particular focus on children’s literature. She has authored around 15 storybooks with Arab publishers and contributed to short stories and articles. Her research primarily centers on children’s literature and cultural issues, with numerous scholarly contributions. In 2016, she received the Omani Cultural Association Award in Children’s Literature. Her children’s book “A Man from China” made the long list for the Sheikh Zayed Book Award in 2019. Additionally, “Sandrani” was shortlisted for the Etisalat Award in 2022, and it was also a finalist for the Arab Forum Prize for Children’s Books in 2023.

Eva Tamara Asboth is a Historian and a Communication Scientist. She works as a Postdoc Researcher at the Institute for Comparative Media and Communication Studies at the Austrian Academy of Sciences in Vienna. She is a Lecturer in the Department of Media and Communications at the University of Klagenfurt and teaches Historical Anthropology at Sigmund Freud University Vienna. Her research areas are historical communication and memory studies as well as transnational and oral history.

Mary-Magdalene N. Chumbow is a dedicated Communicator committed to tackling social disparities through storytelling. With extensive academic credentials and over a decade in communications, she focuses on global issues like health, gender-based violence, and community engagement. Her PhD in Media Arts and Studies from Ohio University, specializing in Health Communication and Communication for Social Change, anchors her work. Her dissertation, “Breaking the Silence,” sheds light on survivors of female genital cutting in Kenya, reflecting her commitment to marginalized communities. She holds a Master’s in Communication and Development, supplemented by a Graduate Certificate in Women’s, Gender, and Sexuality Studies, all from Ohio University, shaping her expertise in Communication for Social Change and Development. Beyond academia, she actively advocates for underrepresented communities, evident in her roles with organizations like the Association of Cameroonians in Colorado. Her leadership in student unions underscores her dedication to inclusive communities. Her blend of academic rigor and practical experience positions her as a catalyst for positive change, amplifying marginalized voices and striving for lasting societal impact.

Aya Diab is a Doctoral Student studying political communication. She received her BA and MA from USF. While she is interested in political communication broadly, she is most interested in political communication as it intersects with Middle Eastern contexts. Her current research utilizes orientalist frameworks to investigate how elite structures portray and discuss the Middle East.

Michaela Griesbeck is a Semiotician and a Communication Scientist. She is currently employed as a Postdoc Researcher at the JKU in Linz, Austria, in the Department of Sociology, with a focus on Innovation and Digitalization. Her research deals with the topics of young people (adolescents and young adults), mediatization, and digitalization. Between 2016 and 2020, she worked on intercultural research projects with young adults in Southeast Europe.

Kazım Tolga Gürel was born in Istanbul in 1978. His first doctoral thesis, “Magazineisation in Turkey during the Economic Crisis,” was not accepted by some universities in Turkey for political reasons. His second doctoral thesis, “LGBT+ Representation in Turkish Mainstream Newspapers,” was accepted at a freer university, where he received his PhD. He has written 10 books, 1 of which he edited, which can be included in politics, communication, culture, and other studies. He produced around 40 articles. His subjects of interest are gender, communication, migration, and political issues. He writes in Turkey and lectures and conferences at universities, political parties, and associations.

Iuliia Hoban is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Emergency, Disaster and Global Security Studies, College of Arts & Sciences at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University-Worldwide holds PhD in Global Affairs from Rutgers University. Her research centers on the politics of childhood and youth in conflict and peacebuilding, gendered responses to conflict, and the interplay between law and war. Her research has been published in such journals as Cooperation and Conflict, the International Journal of Human Rights, and the Nordic Journal of Human Rights. She has also contributed her scholarly expertise to book chapters and edited volumes. Prior to her role at Embry-Riddle, she held academic positions at Radford University and the College of New Jersey. She also applied her research skills in NGOs and think tanks such as Watchlist for Children and Armed Conflict (New York, NY), the Institute of World Policy (Kyiv, Ukraine), and the Laboratory to Combat Human Trafficking (Denver, CO) where her major responsibilities focused on analysis and research of multidimensional factors and aspects of human rights.

Sonali Jha is a PhD Student in the School of Media Arts and Studies at Ohio University. She holds a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in English Literature. She has two years of experience in the marketing industry working as a Content Writer. She focuses on unraveling media and social media usage inequalities, examining how it could help in creating an impact in society such as Human Trafficking. She explores the subjective nature of people’s tech relationships, along with the significance of comedy in raising awareness. She is passionate about interpersonal communication, media’s impact on daily life, digital inequalities, and international media.

Danielle L. Johnson (M.A. Coastal Carolina University) is a Doctoral Student at the University of South Florida researching interpersonal communication, computational communication science, fandom studies, and health. Broadly, she is interested in examining how computer-mediated communication is entwined with fandom. Specifically, she explores computer-mediated interpersonal communication among fans, and between fans and the person(s)/organization they are interested in. Her interest in health centers around how computer-mediated communication influences fans’ understandings of and reactions to illness and end-of-life topics. Currently, her research focuses on how Korean popular music (K-pop) fans and artists curate parasocial intimacy during fan calls and to what degree of intimacy these calls reach. Her previous research looks at online reactions to the overturning of Roe v. Wade, COVID-19 disclosures by K-pop management companies, and social exchange theory in the Disney fandom during merchandise releases.

Sophia Koleno, Ohio University, United States, is a Muslim Doctoral Student within the Communication Studies program, specializing in rhetoric and cultural studies. She utilizes Islamic concepts, terms, and ideas to interpret both contemporary and classical rhetorical artifacts.

Denise R. Muro has over 10 years of experience working, advocating, and conducting research with immigrant and refugee communities in Colorado, Wyoming, Germany, and Massachusetts. Her research focuses on immigrant and refugee experiences, narratives, and community-building, centering their agency and voices. She also has a background in nonprofit and higher education settings, working on gender and racial justice, equity, and restorative justice. She has worked in various roles, supporting and creating opportunities for immigrant and refugee communities, women of color, first-generation students, and other historically marginalized and underrepresented groups. She is a first-generation student and holds a PhD from the Department of Conflict Resolution, Human Security, and Global Governance at the University of Massachusetts Boston’s McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies.

Damilare Ogunmekan holds a Master’s degree in Theatre Arts from the Department of the Creative Arts, University of Lagos, Lagos State Nigeria, and a BA (Hons) degree in Performing Arts from the University of Ilorin, Ilorin, Nigeria. Apart from being a Filmmaker, his areas of research include theater directing, playwriting, dramatic criticism, and eco-theater.

Stephen Ogheneruro Okpadah is a Chancellor International PhD Scholar at the University of Warwick, Coventry, UK. He is currently researching participatory theater and climate justice in the context of the Niger Delta region of Nigeria. His project draws on theater for development in creating community-based performances that advocate for climate justice. He won the 2021 Janusz Korczak/UNESCO Prize for Global South in emerging scholar category, and he is also Director of research at the Theatre Emissary International, Nigeria. He is a Non-resident Research Associate at the Centre for Socially Engaged Theatre, University of Regina, Canada.

Julija Ovsec graduated with her Master’s thesis on children’s war literature from the University of Ljubljana. She is continuing her education as a PhD Candidate at Charles University in Prague, where she is writing a PhD thesis on female writers of the Second World War. She is working as a Literary Researcher at the Laboratory for Literature and Sociology at the Institute for Czech Literature at the Czech Academy of Sciences. Her research focuses mainly on two main groups – literature written by women and literature for children and youth. One of her most visible works in the ex-yu region is monitoring literary criticism. A group of feminist literary scholars called Pobunjene čitateljke, based in Belgrade, has been monitoring literary criticism in five countries (Slovenia, Serbia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Macedonia). They also organized workshops and podcasts on literary criticism.

Erin L. Ryan is Professor and Head of the Department of Communication at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. Her research focuses on children, adolescents, and the electronic media: the content and quality of children’s media, how they use or are impacted by media, why they use media, advertising directed at the child/adolescent market, parental involvement and mediation, the regulation of children’s media, and media literacy. Much of her current research revolves around preschool-aged children and how they use electronic media technology to learn new skills. She holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Georgia, a BS in Communication from Kennesaw State University, an MA in Mass Communication from Georgia State University, and a PhD in Mass Communication from the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.

Javed M. Shah, University of Illinois, Chicago, USA, has over 20 years of experience in building software products for startups. He is currently pursuing a Master of Science in Computer Science from the University of Illinois, Chicago. He holds a BS in Computer Engineering from the University of Pune and an MBA from the University of California, Berkeley. He is passionate about research in permissionless systems, incentive design, computational science, and machine learning. His work on the multifaceted role of agency in shaping political landscapes has been published in the International Political Science Abstracts. He is a versatile technologist and researcher with deep empathy for building socially responsible innovation.

Rose Williamson holds a Master’s degree in experimental psychology from Ohio University and is currently finishing her Doctorate in the same field. Her work primarily focuses on emotional responses to making decisions, as well as how socioeconomic status influences self-perception, particularly regarding goal attainment. She also has many years of experience creating, as well as academic knowledge of, both poetry and art.

Raghu Yadav is a Doctoral Student of Experimental Psychology at Ohio University. His general research interest is human cognition with a core focus on attention, emotion, concept formation, and categorization. At present, he is working on a project on relational similarity assessment. He also has an engineering background and passionately engages in poetry, art, and philosophy.

Haoyue Zhang is a film producer and scholar who specializes in the production and research of children’s films, or the films about children and for children. Haoyue finished her master degree on Children’s Literature in China, and pursued her doctoral degree of Film Studies in Southern Illinois University in the United States. Her dissertation was the first thorough theorization of the representations of childhood in the Fifth Generation filmmakers in China’s New Wave in the 1980s. Her experiences interwove between theoretical exploration of childhood and children’s film in China, and diverse industrial expertise spanning from film production to distribution. Her latest production was a co-produced children’s film between China and Holland, the first achievement since the two countries signed the co-production treaty in 2015. (IMDB link: https://www.imdb.com/name/nm7491644/?ref_=fn_al_nm_2.).

Acknowledgments

This volume is curated to serve as a resource for scholars and practitioners dedicated to advancing policies for the rights of children and youth. I want to applaud the authors and the reviewers for their unwavering commitment to bringing the narratives and experiences of children to the forefront. A heartfelt thank you goes to the contributors who painstakingly documented and analyzed the stories of children and youth embroiled in conflict. While it brings us joy to share this volume with the world, it was no small feat. As we wrote the chapters, we lived through the adversities faced by these young individuals. I am also grateful for the support and encouragement from the Editorial Staff at Emerald Publishing, particularly Katy Mathers and Lauren Kammerdiener, whose guidance was invaluable throughout this project. A special note of thanks to Professor Loretta Bass from the University of Oklahoma, the Series Editor of Sociological Studies of Children and Youth (SSCY).

As the editor, I am inspired by a collective sense of hope and dedication to advocating for children’s experiences.

Lastly, I want to acknowledge all those who helped me assemble this volume which gives voice to the struggles of millions of children worldwide. I extend my sincere appreciation to our reviewers, whose thorough and timely feedback significantly enhanced the quality of our chapters.

Dr. Holly Ningard, Ohio University (Special thanks for your support and encouragement)

Sonali Jha, Ohio University

Dr. S. A. Welch, Professor Emerita University of Wisconsin-Whitewater

Dr. Jodie Jones, Salt Lake Community College

Nikhil Reddy, Ohio University

Cameron Graham, University of Tennessee-Knoxville