Beyond voice and advocacy: Youth participatory action research and the re-imagination of self among former child soldiers in Colombia

This study explores how a Youth Participatory Action Research (YPAR) inspired project supported the reintegration of former child soldiers in Colombia through collaborative creative writing. Twenty-two adolescents engaged in narrative re-imagination through self-reflection, mutual recognition, authorship, and dialogue. A participatory thematic analysis discerned four identity trajectories—stronger, altruistic, political, and harmonious—corresponding to empowerment, community, peace, and buen vivir or good living. These reflected dimensions of positive identity and challenged narratives shaped by violence and exclusion. The project interprets YPAR as a framework for participatory research to extend beyond a focus on voice and advocacy to support a psychosocial intervention that enabled participants to co-author transformative narratives and reimagine socially embedded and morally viable futures.