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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 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 African diasporic ethnographies.
Related links:

Biography

Doris Kakuru's 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