Terrorism in Kenya and Uganda by Botha Anneli;

Author:Botha, Anneli; [Botha, Anneli]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Lexington Books/Fortress Academic
Published: 2016-08-15T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter 6 Summarized

The frame of reference from the earliest point in a person’s development is provided by his or her parents. The relationship between parent and child plays an extremely important role in developing a person’s self-esteem and identity. However, lacking in a strong bond between parent and child in early life could cause the person’s inability to carry over values and lessons to his or her later life. Overall, the influence of parents as political socialization agents was more prominent in the MRC and LRA than the ADF and al-Shabaab. This assessment, however, should be interpreted from the perspective of the historical origins of the respective organizations and not only the relationship between parent and child. As explained, political antagonisms, loyalties and viewpoints are being transferred from one generation to another. The following in a parent’s footsteps fighting for the rights of especially an ethnic or geographic group, also explains the more prominent role parents played when analyzing the LRA and MRC.

Taking over from parents, the school and peers are two of the most prominent political socialization agents. Although parents still play a role, depending on the person’s relationship with his or her parents, going to school introduces a completely new environment. Through interaction with other groups—most notably other religious and ethnic or tribal groups—the individual will develop new or enforce existing perceptions of the ‘other.’ Especially for this reason respondents were asked if they had contact with ‘others’ (particular attention was paid to whether ethnicity or religion was the core of the group the person joined), and whether they had friends from the ‘other’ while growing up. Both Kenya and Uganda are heterogeneous in the sense that the majority of respondents should have had contact with other ethnic and religious groups over the course of their lives. But having contact is, however, very different from closely associating and getting to know members of the out-group through establishing close friendships with individuals from other ethnic or religious groups. Furthermore, both countries have defined ethnic and religious areas, increasing the possibility of being ‘isolated’ from other groups or, alternatively, being in the minority or majority in a particular area. Perceptions of being discriminated against or treated differently overall or within a specific geographic area will counter the possible positive implications of being in contact with others growing up or while attending school. Additionally, socialization also implies that we prefer to identify with others similar to ‘us’—that will manifest in people preferring to exclusively interact with members of their in-group. Segregation consequently occurs naturally, further enhancing established lessons learned during early socialization.

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