The Logic of Child Victimisation: A Comparative Case Study on Child Victimisation in the Case of Russia and Myanmar
(2026) FKVK02 20261Department of Political Science
- Abstract
- Despite increased scholarly attention on civilian victimisation in recent years, this research often categorises all civilians into one homogeneous group, thus obscuring the differentiation within, particularly that of children. This study addresses this gap by examining the underlying logic of targeting children in war. The study examines the case of Russian deportations of Ukrainian children and the recruitment of child soldiers in Myanmar through the use of a four-part theoretical framework. By combining Alexander B. Downes’ theory on civilian victimisation with Stathis Kalyvas’ theory on the logic of violence in civil war, and Peter W. Singer’s framework on children at war, the study presents four logics for targeting children: (1) The... (More)
- Despite increased scholarly attention on civilian victimisation in recent years, this research often categorises all civilians into one homogeneous group, thus obscuring the differentiation within, particularly that of children. This study addresses this gap by examining the underlying logic of targeting children in war. The study examines the case of Russian deportations of Ukrainian children and the recruitment of child soldiers in Myanmar through the use of a four-part theoretical framework. By combining Alexander B. Downes’ theory on civilian victimisation with Stathis Kalyvas’ theory on the logic of violence in civil war, and Peter W. Singer’s framework on children at war, the study presents four logics for targeting children: (1) The Logic of Winning the War, (2) The Logic of Control, (3) The Logic of Protection vs. Threat, (4) The Logic of Low Cost. The analysis based on these four logics shows that child victimisation is not merely a byproduct of war, but a deliberate and strategic use of children as a means in these two cases. Through their malleability, low cost and accessibility, children make valuable targets in both cases. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9228903
- author
- Hallberg, Jonatan LU and Friberg, Fanny LU
- supervisor
- organization
- course
- FKVK02 20261
- year
- 2026
- type
- M2 - Bachelor Degree
- subject
- keywords
- Child Victimisation, Civilian Victimisation, Logics of Violence, Russo-Ukrainian War, Myanmar Civil War
- language
- English
- id
- 9228903
- date added to LUP
- 2026-06-16 15:14:21
- date last changed
- 2026-06-16 15:14:21
@misc{9228903,
abstract = {{Despite increased scholarly attention on civilian victimisation in recent years, this research often categorises all civilians into one homogeneous group, thus obscuring the differentiation within, particularly that of children. This study addresses this gap by examining the underlying logic of targeting children in war. The study examines the case of Russian deportations of Ukrainian children and the recruitment of child soldiers in Myanmar through the use of a four-part theoretical framework. By combining Alexander B. Downes’ theory on civilian victimisation with Stathis Kalyvas’ theory on the logic of violence in civil war, and Peter W. Singer’s framework on children at war, the study presents four logics for targeting children: (1) The Logic of Winning the War, (2) The Logic of Control, (3) The Logic of Protection vs. Threat, (4) The Logic of Low Cost. The analysis based on these four logics shows that child victimisation is not merely a byproduct of war, but a deliberate and strategic use of children as a means in these two cases. Through their malleability, low cost and accessibility, children make valuable targets in both cases.}},
author = {{Hallberg, Jonatan and Friberg, Fanny}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{The Logic of Child Victimisation: A Comparative Case Study on Child Victimisation in the Case of Russia and Myanmar}},
year = {{2026}},
}