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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

The Trouble With Truth-Telling: Preliminary Reflections On Truth And Justice In Post-War Liberia, Gabriel Twose Ph.D., Caitlin O. Mahoney Ph.D. Jan 2015

The Trouble With Truth-Telling: Preliminary Reflections On Truth And Justice In Post-War Liberia, Gabriel Twose Ph.D., Caitlin O. Mahoney Ph.D.

Peace and Conflict Studies

This study investigates perceptions of the Liberian Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC), particularly focusing on understandings of, and the links between, truth, justice, and reconciliation. Forty-five semi-structured interviews were conducted at three research sites in Liberia. Findings indicate that although most Liberians agreed with the TRC in principle, most of those who followed its proceedings saw major problems in its implementation, harming perceptions of reconciliation. Participants expressed concerns that the Commission had failed to discover the full truth of wartime abuses, that the truth that was discovered was not told in the right way, and that there had been problems …


Perpetrator And Victim Constructions Of Justice, Forgiveness And Trauma Healing: Results Of A Thematic Narrative Study Of Intra-Group Conflict In Colonial Central Kenya, 1952-1962, Daniel Njoroge Karanja Jan 2015

Perpetrator And Victim Constructions Of Justice, Forgiveness And Trauma Healing: Results Of A Thematic Narrative Study Of Intra-Group Conflict In Colonial Central Kenya, 1952-1962, Daniel Njoroge Karanja

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation investigated how the Gikuyu people of central Kenya understood justice, forgiveness and trauma healing or their absence during a decade of intra-group reciprocal violence. This qualitative research study employed the narrative research method utilizing the "Williams Model" (Riessman, 2008). Field interviews were guided by a primary research question: What do the narratives of perpetrators and victims in reciprocal violence reveal about their understanding of justice, forgiveness and trauma healing or their absence? Fourteen research participants aged 78 to 92 years shared their full narratives. Current conflict analysis literature overwhelmingly centers on the victims and less on perpetrators. The …


Between Warrior And Helplessness In The Valley Of Azawa - The Struggle Of The Kel Tamashek In The War Of The Sahel, Patrick James Christian Jan 2015

Between Warrior And Helplessness In The Valley Of Azawa - The Struggle Of The Kel Tamashek In The War Of The Sahel, Patrick James Christian

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an Investigation into the Tuareg involvement in violent conflict in the Sahara and the Sahel of North Africa from a sociological psychological perspective of unmet human needs. The research begins by establishing the structure and texture of the sociological, psychological, and emotional life patterns of their existence when not involved in violent conflict. This is followed by an examination of the pathology of Tuareg social structures that are engaged in intra and inter communal violence as perpetrators, victims, and bystanders. The first part of the research establishes normal conditions of the sociological life cycle and highlights natural …


Threads And Stitches Of Peace- Understanding What Makes Ghana An Oasis Of Peace?, Hippolyt Akow Saamwan Pul Jan 2015

Threads And Stitches Of Peace- Understanding What Makes Ghana An Oasis Of Peace?, Hippolyt Akow Saamwan Pul

Department of Conflict Resolution Studies Theses and Dissertations

Ghana is considered an oasis of peace despite having the same mix of ethno-political competitions for state power and resources; north-south horizontal inequalities; ethno-regional concentrations of Christians and Muslims; highly ethnicised elections; a natural resource dependent economy; and a politically polarized public sphere, among others, that have plunged other countries in Africa into violent and often protracted national conflicts. Use of the conflict paradigm to explain Africa's conflicts glosses over positive deviance cases such as Ghana. This study used the peace paradigm in a mixed method, grounded theory research to examine Ghana's apparent exceptionalism in staving off violent national conflicts. …