Doris Kakuru

Brief Biography

My interdisciplinary scholarship is located at the intersection of Childhood Sociology and feminist thought. My 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, my community-based youth-led participatory research has been underpinned by intersectionality and post-colonial theories.

Research Interests and supervision fields

My research interests include: Violence in childhood with a focus on sexual violence in schools; Girlhood and gendered children’s rights; Adolescent sexual and reproductive health and rights; Children and youth in urban poverty; Social context of education and child labour.

Sample Publications

• Kakuru, D. M. (2021). Navigating Student Motherhood in a Precarious Urban Context: Perspectives from Higher Education in Uganda. Education and Urban Society. https://doi.org/10.1177/00131245211027549
• Etowa, J., Nare, H., Kakuru, D. M., & Etowa, E. B. (2020). Psychosocial Experiences of HIV-Positive Women of African Descent in the Cultural Context of Infant Feeding: A Three-Country Comparative Analyses. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 17(19), 7150. https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/17/19/7150
• Kakuru, D. M. (2019) Reconstructing Child Caregiving: Perspectives on Child Headed Households in Uganda. In Ebrahim, H., Okwany, A., Oumar, B. (Eds). (2018). Early Childhood Care and Education on the Margins; African perspectives. London: Routledge: Pages 46-61.
• Kakuru, D. M. (2016) Evidence driven practice: perspectives from the ‘Righting the Future’ project research, 2013-2016. In A. Okwany & R. Wanzir (2016) Changing Social Norms to Universalize Girls Education in East Africa: Lessons From a Pilot Project, Antwerp: Garant Publishers, 93-112.
• Kamusiime, A. & Kakuru, D. M. (2017) Social Justice and the Moral Question: Foregrounding the paradox of teenage motherhood and education in Uganda In M. Gray (Ed.). (2017). Handbook of Social Work and Social Development Practice in Africa. London: Routledge. Pages 215-226.
• Kendrick, M. & Kakuru, D.M. (2012) Funds of Knowledge in Child-Headed Households: A Ugandan Case Study. Childhood; A journal of Global child Research, 19 (3), 397-413.
• Kakuru, D. M (2011) How to avoid gender bias in gender focused health research: Methodological reflections and policy suggestions. In Barbara Ann Barrett and Christian Groes-Green (2011) Studying intimate matters. Fountain publishers, Kampala, 40-54.