“WE’RE ORDINARY PEOPLE CAUGHT UP IN AN EXTRAORDINARY SITUATION” A LIFE HISTORY ANALYSIS OF DISENGAGED NORTHERN IRISH PARAMILITARIES By Amy Rodgers Submitted to Central European University Nationalism Studies Program In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts Supervisor; Professor András Kovács CEU eTD Collection Budapest, Hungary 2012 ABSTRACT This thesis focuses on the processes that lead people to join, stay in and leave paramilitary organizations like the Irish Republican Army. Seeing as though there has been an upsurge in the amount of paramilitary activity by violent Irish Republican splinter groups since 2009, it is important to know what influenced the previous generation of paramilitaries the most. To this end, six disengaged paramilitaries were interviewed. The data shows that the combination of youthfulness and personal victimization with a social context that creates a platform for active protest will most likely lead to radicalization. Youthfulness is also an important factor in explaining willingness to join paramilitary organizations. Similarly, personal relations have a significant impact on entry decisions: most of the interviewees joined with their friends. With regards to the length of involvement the data shows that those that were coached when they first joined, stayed in the organization the longest. All the interviewees spent time in prison in the course of their involvement. While in prison, relative freedom to organize themselves played a significant role in furthering paramilitaries' engagement. Additionally, solitary confinement in combination with violent prison conditions lead to more emotional detachment and a higher dependency on glorifying violent behaviour. If individuals no longer believe in the ideology, this is a more important factor in their decision-making process than the possible personal costs of leaving. Also, after a long spell in prison it is likely that individuals will disengage, at least temporarily, to experience normality. If CEU eTD Collection someone’s time in prison was not a cause for disengagement, then the chances are higher that deradicalization and disengagement happen simultaneously. Lastly, those that are the most educated, are less likely to stay engaged very long. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I would like to thank CEU and the Nationalism Studies program for giving me the opportunity to do field research by giving me a travel grant. I would also like to thank professor András Kovács for his calm guidance while I was working on this project. I learned a lot from him. I could not have written this thesis without the help of my uncle, Seamus McKinney, and aunt, Suzanne Rodgers. They have given me the opportunity of a lifetime by helping me get access to the former paramilitaries that I interviewed. Moreover, they took me into their home and treated me like a daughter. Their support, and the fun I had with Joseph and Conall, have made my research trip to Derry unforgettable. In Budapest, Leela Koenig and Vujo Ilić stood by me throughout the whole year. Their love, patience and banter have been a saving grace on the many nights that we had to stay up to finish our work. Maggie Rodgers, Clare den Ouden and Daun Hwang have supported me throughout my whole university career but had to have incredible patience during this MA. I could not have done without my mother’s unfailing support, Clare’s humour and selflessness, and Daun’s believing in me at the times that I didn’t. CEU eTD Collection iii TABLE OF CONTENTS Abstract ......................................................................................................................................................... ii Acknowledgements ...................................................................................................................................... iii Chapter 1 – Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 6 1.1 The Northern Ireland conflict ............................................................................................................. 6 1.2 Key players .......................................................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Definitions of terms ............................................................................................................................ 9 Chapter 2 - Analyzing pathways of radicalization, paramilitary activity and disengagement ................... 11 2.1 Conceptual framework for analyzing membership of paramilitary organizations ........................... 13 2.2 Process variables influencing the rate of progression on the action pathway ................................. 14 Chapter 3 - Radicalization and paramilitary activity .................................................................................. 18 3.1 Introduction ...................................................................................................................................... 18 3.2 Push and pull factors in joining the IRA ............................................................................................ 19 3.2.1 Triggering events ........................................................................................................................ 19 3.2.2 Social status ............................................................................................................................... 21 3.2.3 Predisposing factors ................................................................................................................... 22 3.3 The psychology of group identification ............................................................................................ 23 3.3.1 Social identity theory ................................................................................................................. 25 3.3.2 Group extremity shift ................................................................................................................. 27 3.4 The impact of imprisonment on identity and radicalization ............................................................ 28 3.4.1 The psychological impact of imprisonment ............................................................................... 28 3.4.2 Prison and the action pathway to paramilitary activity ............................................................. 31 Chapter 4 - Deradicalization and disengagement....................................................................................... 33 4.1 Normative components .................................................................................................................... 34 4.2 Affective components ....................................................................................................................... 35 4.3 Continuance components ................................................................................................................. 36 CEU eTD Collection Chapter 5 - Methodology ............................................................................................................................ 39 Chapter 6 – Analysis of the Life Histories .................................................................................................... 43 6.1 Setting events ................................................................................................................................... 43 6.2 Radicalization and engagement ........................................................................................................ 45 6.2.1 Radicalization ............................................................................................................................. 45 iv 6.2.2 Engagement ............................................................................................................................... 50 6.2.3 Summary of the findings on engagement .................................................................................. 59 6.3 Deradicalization and disengagement ................................................................................................ 62 Chapter 7 - Conclusion ................................................................................................................................ 67 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................................ 69 Appendix 1 – Interview Topic Guide ............................................................................................................ 72 Appendix 2 – Life Histories .......................................................................................................................... 74 1 Patrick .................................................................................................................................................. 74 2 Aidan .................................................................................................................................................... 80 3 Terry ..................................................................................................................................................... 86 4 Niall ...................................................................................................................................................... 95 5 Conan ................................................................................................................................................