Irrational Actors and the Process of Brutalisation: Understanding Atrocity in the Sierra Leonean Conflict (1991–2002)

Mitton, Kieran

doi:10.1080/13698249.2012.654691

Cited by 8 publications

(17 citation statements)

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“…A culture of violence defines the organization and serves as the basis of identity with the group. Similar processes have been evident in the LRA (Bevan, 2007; Mergelsberg, 2010; Titeka, 2010; Haer, Banholzer & Ertl, 2011), RUF (Mitton, 2012, 2015), and in various groups in the DRC (Weierstall et al, 2013; Haer et al, 2013).…”

Section: Solving the Puzzlesupporting

confidence: 57%

“…The estimated rate of forced recruitment in Renamo in Mozambique was also for a period late in the war as high as 90% (Weinstein, 2007). In Sierra Leone, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) is estimated to have abducted 87% of its recruits (Humphreys and Weinstein, 2008); others report an abduction rate of 72% (Mitton, 2012). The point, however, is not the precise percentage.…”

Section: Forced Recruitmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These socialization mechanisms need not lead to an internalization of new norms, but they do work to create a separate identity distinguishing the recruit as a member of the group. This sentiment of identity is epitomized in the words of a RUF combatant who during an attack screamed: ‘you bastard civilians; you don’t like us and we don’t like you’ (Mitton, 2012: 115).…”

Section: Solving the Puzzlementioning

confidence: 99%

“…‘The particularly brutal forms of violence exacted by child soldiers were shaped by their own agency and were by nature often beyond the control of a fragmented and inconsistent RUF leadership. The impression of those witness or victim to such violence that it was in some sense “wicked” or “mindless” accurately describes the manner in which, far from betraying a rational consideration of conflict aims or a particular grievance, young combatants acted according to their brutal education in violence which even led them to enjoy the cruelty of their atrocities’ (Mitton, 2012: 119). 10 The process is not so much top-down as bottom-up.…”

Section: Solving the Puzzlementioning

confidence: 99%

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Gates

2017

Journal of Peace Research

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Unable to attract enough voluntary recruits, many rebel groups rely on force to fill their ranks. Given that the group used force to compel individuals to join, a coerced conscript would be presumed unlikely to be loyal and would be expected to desert at the first opportunity. Yet, groups that have relied on coerced recruitment retain their members just as well as, if not better than, rebel armies that rely on voluntary methods of recruitment. This is a puzzle. How do rebel groups maintain allegiance and prevent desertion, especially if they rely on abduction to staff their ranks? A recruit can be forced to join a rebel group, but continuing to rely on coercion to enforce retention is too costly and not sustainable. These groups must find a way to reduce the costs of retention. The solution to this puzzle rests in the mechanisms of socialization that shape the allegiance of forcibly recruited soldiers. Socialization mechanisms are traced through three outcomes: compliance (or Type 0 socialization), role learning (Type I socialization), and norm internalization (Type II socialization). Integrating socialization theory and a rational choice analysis demonstrates that mechanisms that alter preferences through Type II socialization are effective in retaining recruits; the highest level of retention occurs when several mechanisms work in concert. Illustrative case studies of the Lord’s Resistance Army from Uganda, the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone, the Maoists in Nepal, and the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) show that a reliance on child soldiers, group assets (pecuniary and non-pecuniary), organizational structure, and the nature of military contestation shape when different mechanisms are effective or not.

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Section: Solving the Puzzlesupporting

confidence: 57%

Section: Forced Recruitmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Solving the Puzzlementioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Solving the Puzzlementioning

confidence: 99%

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Gates

2017

Journal of Peace Research

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“…Moreover, the lines between victims and perpetrators, civilians and combatants, government forces and insurgents were often indistinguishable (Hoffman, 2011, p. 36). Furthermore, the SL conflict is internationally renowned for its horrific brutality and atrocities, including rape, amputations and executions which for some commenters defy rational explanation (Mitton, 2012).…”

Section: The Sl Conflict and Its Legacymentioning

confidence: 99%

Culturally responsive peacebuilding pedagogy: a case study of Fambul Tok Peace Clubs in conflict-affected Sierre Leone

Higgins

2019

International Studies in Sociology of Education

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Recent research on the peace-promoting agency of teachers in conflict-affected contexts has critiqued the dominance of a menu of curriculum initiatives circulated within aid organizations which ignore or dismiss indigenous cultural resources available within local communities. On the other hand, the turn to local culture in peacebuilding interventions has also been critiqued for idealizing the local. This paper presents a case study of the work of Fambul Tok Peace Clubs in conflictaffected Sierra Leone which aim to support teachers in drawing on local practices, rituals and symbols. Using an interpretative approach, alert to the meanings teachers ascribe to their pedagogical practices, it finds that teachers respond to local culture in multiple, sometimes contradictory ways. These range from celebration of indigenous practices as resources for conflict resolution that resonate with their pupils and communities to critique of their oppressive gender norms and inability to address structural drivers of conflict. ARTICLE HISTORY

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ECOMOG, PMCs, the United Nations, and Britain in Sierra Leone

Singh

2024

Applied Afro-Communitarian Ethics and Foreign Armed Intervention

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Irrational Actors and the Process of Brutalisation: Understanding Atrocity in the Sierra Leonean Conflict (1991–2002)

Cited by 8 publications

References 1 publication

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Culturally responsive peacebuilding pedagogy: a case study of Fambul Tok Peace Clubs in conflict-affected Sierre Leone

ECOMOG, PMCs, the United Nations, and Britain in Sierra Leone

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