Undergraduate Research at FIU (URFIU) Conference

How Former Colonization has affected the Educational System and Facilitated the Recruitment and Exploitation of Children in Transnational Criminal Organizations (TCO's)

Colonization has undoubtedly had long term effects on the countries that colonizers used as a source of natural and human resources. Although this practice of colonization has “ended” the consequences are seen in the disadvantages that these nations have been left to deal with. The most obvious of these being the economic drawbacks that impact living standards, international trade, etc. However, the aftermath that the education institution in former colonized nations is coping with is often forgotten about. This lack of incentive in the education sector brought on by the imminent need to work passed down through generations has left schooling to be seen as a privilege instead of a right. The participation, exploitation, and enlistment of children into TCO’s has affected the international system as a whole because the cycle of violence and engagement in crime continues and surpasses country boundaries. In this study, I theorize that the peripheral state in which formally colonized nations were left in has made enlistment of children into TCO’s easier. Through extensive research this analysis will present the case studies of Honduras and the Central African Republic as prime examples of this hypothesis. It will also allow for the correlation, and consequent effects, between colonization and child recruitment to be plainly seen.