Afectaciones y daño psicológico en excombatientes del conflicto armado

Abstract

The objective of this investigation was to determine, from the perspective of critical legal psychology, to determine the types of psychological damage and afflictions suffered by former combatants of the armed conflict within the framework of International Humanitarian Law, both from illegal groups and from the State's public forces. To this end, four former combatants of the FARC-EP and six former combatants of the public forces who were disabled due to war wounds, mainly from the National Police, participated in the study. By means of a qualitative phenomenological research, ten semi-structured in-depth interviews were carried out, which were codified and analyzed based on five main categories: life story, damage experienced in the bonding, permanence and detachment, reintegration-rehabilitation process, relationship with the State and society, and life project. It was found that the psychological damage of the participants cuts across all categories, especially life story, relationship with the State and the reintegration-rehabilitation process. The concept of victim-ex-combatant was constructed for all those participants in the armed conflict who suffer physical and psychological harm as a result of the conflict. It is proposed that victim-combatants be seen as victims of the conflict and be involved in reparation programmes, preferably on the basis of rehabilitation measures, satisfaction and guarantees of non-repetition. Key words: conflict, war, psychological trauma, victims, child soldier, reintegration, recruitment, excombatants.