Youth has been the focus of many studies in the past decades, most of which explored youth in Western societies and mainly in relation to deviant behaviour and delinquency. The theories developed by these studies have rarely been applied to post-war societies. However, Errante proved that theories such as socialisation theory can help in understanding the dynamics of youth in relation to violent behaviour in countries like Mozambique and South Africa.
The concept of trauma and of PTSD used in psychology to explain the impact of war on children, even with its limitations when extracted from its milieu and applied to other cultures, can still help us understand how the experience of violence can also be transmitted also unconsciously from parents to their children, keeping the traumatic experience alive.
More and more scholars have identified the need for a more integrative approach to the study of youth, of the impact of war on them but also of the life of youth in the aftermath of war. In a similar way to the work of McEvoy-Levy on the space of interaction and socialisation of youth in the aftermath of war, the attempt made throughout this paper is to identify the spaces in which a culture of violence is perpetuated, transmitted and transformed through the use of an multi-lenses approach that integrates multiple methodologies in order to grasp the phenomenon in all its complexities and facets. Sociologists tell us that family and peers are the primary sources of influence upon youth and that they represent the two spaces in which meanings, beliefs, norms and values are learned and transmitted. These two spaces will be the focus of the current research, together with processes of social categorisation. In fact the organisation of society into social groups with which the individual identifies him/herself can support the perpetuation of violent practices and attitudes as if these constitute the group’s standards and requirement for membership. However environmental factors such as poverty should be taken into account as well. In fact in an environment of poverty, social disruption, and with limited or no access to education and health care, youth who are politically and economically marginalised can resort to violent behaviour for other reasons, mainly pushed by the need to provide for themselves and family members in the everyday struggle for survival.
During the preliminary research into the process of transmission of a ‘culture of violence’ the possible ‘spaces’ of transmission that have been identified are poverty, the family, peers and social groups. These ‘spaces’ form the framework through which I
analysed the case study during fieldwork. The analytical framework that results from the preliminary research allows an integrative approach to the process of transmission and it was used to describe and understand the phenomenon in all its aspects simultaneously and in all its complexity. However, during fieldwork an aspect of the process emerged that had not been considered during the phase of the project reported in the current chapter. In fact throughout the interviews all the participants mentioned the role of political factionalism as being vital to the transmission of a ‘culture of violence’. This demonstrated the validity and importance of the fieldwork in the study of such a dynamic and complex phenomenon.
Chapter 3: Methodology
In Chapter One and Chapter Two the focus was centred on the outline and identification of key concepts and theories which pertain to the issue explored in this research project. Chapter Three is now concerned with the explanation of the various aspects related to field research. The aim is to point out the rationale behind the field study, the strategies employed by the researcher and the way in which the project was conceived and implemented. It will also be necessary to discuss the researcher’s position about ontology and epistemology as the latter determined the angle and perspective adopted in approaching the topic as well as helping explain the aims and goals of the research effort. The point of view being exposed by the researcher is that of a post-positivist ontology, sharing the belief that “as fundamentally social beings, individuals or states cannot be separated from a context of normative meaning which shapes who they are and the possibilities available to them” (Fierke, 2007: 170). In terms of epistemology, the researcher maintains a point of view that is consistent with the ontological position previously mentioned and one that is indebted to the constructivist tradition. The idea of the existence of an objective world will be rejected; instead the researcher and the object of the research ‘talk’ to each other, influence each other and mutually construct each other. As Kratochwil pointed out: “what we recognise is always already organised and formed by certain categorical and theoretical elements” (2000: 91).
Once the position of the researcher on ontology and epistemology is established, the chapter will delve into the details of the various aspects of fieldwork. First, it will explain how the theories delineated and discussed in the previous chapter combine to compose the analytical framework which guided the researcher during the fieldwork experience. Second, the methods used to conduct the research are discussed. In the third part, the author will explain the choice of the case study and the rationale behind it, while
in the fourth section issues related to the context, to ethical matters and research biases will be addressed.