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School of Child and Youth Care

Dr. Doris Kakuru

Doris Kakauru stands in front of an evergreen tree, smiling, arms crossed.

Professor, Graduate Advisor

School of Child & Youth Care

Accepting graduate students

Contact:
Office: HSD B130
Credentials:
PhD in Social Sciences (Wageningen University, NL); MPhil in Social Anthropology (University of Bergen, Norway); B. A Sociology (Makerere University, Uganda)
Area(s) of expertise:
Violence against children and youth, Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights, African girlhoods, the social context of education, Children in marginalized urban spaces, young refugees and newcomers, African diasporic ethnographies, and citizen social science.
Related links:

Biography

Doris' interdisciplinary scholarship is located at the intersection of Childhood Sociology and feminist thought. Her work takes on a social justice perspective and is centered on various issues affecting children and youth in families and communities. Over the recent years, her community-based youth-led participatory research has been underpinned by intersectionality and post-colonial theories.

Selected publications

Kakuru, D. M. (forthcoming). The Life History Method; Researching Black and People of African Descent. Little Black Book Series; Universal Write Publications. https://uwpbooks.com/product/the-life-history-method-studying-people-of-african-descent/ 

Kakuru, D., Kyomuhendo, G. B., Kamusiime, A., & Mucina, M. K. (2025). Suffering in Silence: Narratives of Sexual Violence among Adolescent Mothers in Uganda. Girlhood Studies, 18(2), 62–77. https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2025.180207 

Kakuru, D., & Kyomuhendo, G. B. (2025). Voices and Agency: Pregnant and Parenting Girls. Girlhood Studies, 18(2), vii–x. https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2025.180202 

Jones,S., Manion, K., Green, S., Kakuru, D., Mack, E., Asipkwe, J., Akello, L.D., Akello, G., Atim, I., Ahimbisibwe, D. (2025). Researching Children’s Rights Education in Uganda and Canada: Reflections on a Decolonizing, Participatory Action Research Design. Sage Research Methods: Data and Research Literacy. https://doi.org/10.4135/9781036215897

Atuhura, D., Kakuru, D., Manion, H. K., Smith-Carrier, T., Musoke Twebaze, J., Jones, S., Green, S., & Naluyinda, M. H. (2025). The Shadow Pandemic of Adultified Adolescent Mothers in Uganda. Girlhood Studies, 18(2), 1–15. https://doi.org/10.3167/ghs.2025.180203

Kakuru, D., Nabirye, J., Nassimbwa, J. (2024). Abortion as a muted reality in Uganda: Narratives of adolescent girls’ agentive experiences with pregnancy termination. Youth (4), 1481-1493. https://doi.org/10.3390/youth4040094 

Kakuru, D. M. (2024) Adultism in Uganda’s Child Protection Efforts; A case of Violence Against Children. In J.C. Garlen & N.J. Ramjawan (Eds) Refusing the limits of contemporary childhood: Beyond innocence. (pp 129-154). Lexington Books/Fortress Academic. 

Kakuru, D. M. (2023). Choice of non-disclosure as agency: A systematic review of sexual violence in girlhood in Africa. Women 3(2) 3220334 https://doi.org/10.3390/women3020024 

Lindner, K., & Kakuru, D. M. (2022). Deconstructing mainstream discourses of child and youth development as it connects to child sexualized violence. International Journal of Child Youth and Family Studies, 13(1), 169–189. https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs131202220669 

Kamusiime, A., Sandi, L., & Kakuru, D. M. (2022). Interconnected actions: Reflecting on networking dynamics to respond to violence against children in Tanzania. International Journal of Child Youth and Family Studies, 13(2-3)143-162. https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs132-3202221136 

Nassimbwa, J., Kakuru, D. M., & Kamusiime, A. (2022). Locating state actors in violence against children (VAC) networks in Kenya: A complexity leadership lens. International Journal of Child Youth and Family Studies, 13(2–3): 123-142. https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs132-3202221117.

Kakuru, D. M., Kamusiime, A., Kibukamusoke, M., Lindner, K., & Mugabo, C. (2022). Networking for violence against children: An analysis of the formal-informal network dichotomy in Uganda. International Journal of Child Youth and Family Studies, 13(2–3): 105-122. https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs132-3202221115.

Kakuru, D. M., Kamusiime, A., Lindner, K., & Asiimwe, J. (2022). Centering grassroot networking for child protection in East Africa. International Journal of Child Youth and Family Studies, 13(2–3):88-104. https://doi.org/10.18357/ijcyfs132-3202221114