UNDERSTANDING THE WAR EXPERIENCE OF ADOLESCENTS: THE ROLE OF FORGIVENESS AND FUTURE PROSPECT. Nyarko Felix University of Tampere, School of Social Science and Humanities Tampere Peace Research Institute (TAPRI) Master’s in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research Specialization in Psychology Supervised by Prof. Raija Leena Punamäki University of Tampere School of Social Sciences and Humanities Tampere Peace Research Institute (TAPRI) NYARKO FELIX: Understanding the War Experience of Adolescents: the Role of Forgiveness and Future Prospect Master’s Programme in Peace, Mediation and Conflict Research Master’s Thesis, 145 pages, 0 appendixes MAY, 2015. ______________________________________________________________________________ ABSTRACT The fourteen year Liberian civil war left in its wake a disenchanted citizenry most of whom sought refuge in neighbouring countries and elsewhere. The purpose of this study was to understand the war experience of adolescents, the role of forgiveness and future prospects among Liberian young adults at the Buduburam Refugee Camp in Ghana. The study employed a qualitative approach where semi-structured interview were conducted among thirteen (13) Liberian war survivors. They lived in Ghana and were 25-35 years of age. A phenomenological approach was used in analysing the data. The findings revealed themes which demonstrate that civil war had a variety of impacts on them. Partly the experiences were painful, involving witnessing atrocities and abuses, loss of parents, reliving the memories of the war, and hardships. The results also indicated that in spite of their traumatic past some exhibited resilience and optimism about the future. The stories showed a great effort to reconstruct their shattered lives yet others finds no meaningful purpose in life. The participants analysed possibilities to forgive their offenders or persecutors in various ways. The basis were for example, religious belief, apology, justice, personal choice and influence by revered leaders. Keywords: Phenomenology, adolescent, refugees, war survivors, forgiveness 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT First of all praise be to the almighty God for the gift of life and wisdom that enables me take on the task of indulging into this thesis work. I am extremely grateful to my supervisor Professor Raija Leena Punamäki (at the Department of Psychology at Tampere University) for the insightful and valuable comments and suggestions that have been so supportive in producing this dissertation. Without her encouragement and steady guidance, I could not have finished this thesis. I wish to acknowledge the help of Dr Bruno Lefrot and my colleagues for the constructive criticism during the thesis seminar. My sincere thanks to the Ghana refugee board for granting me access to the Buduburam refugee camp, Madam Fatu for her instrumental role she play during my visit at the camp and all the respondents that participated in the study. I also thank Sister Regina Opoku, Michael Darko, Roger Teye and Prosper Kwei-Narh (4real) for their comments and inputs. Special thanks to Joy Mensah Dorledzie, Yaw Adu Aboagye and Jacob Agyei Kyei for their financial assistance and support. Finally I express my gratitude towards my mother, Madam Kate Adomaah and sisters, Regina, Sandra and Erica for their encouragement and support back from home which help me to complete this project. 3 LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS DFID - Department for International Development GRB - Ghana Refugee Board NGO - Non-Governmental Organization SENAC - Strengthening Emergency Needs Assessment Capacity (World Food Programme) TAPRI - Tampere Peace Research Institute (Finland) NKJV – New King James Version UNICEF - United nations International Children Emergency Fund UNHCHR - United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights UNESCO - United Nations Education Scientific and Cultural organizations 4 CONTENTS ABSTRACT .................................................................................................................................... 2 ACKNOWLEDGMENT................................................................................................................. 2 CHAPTER ONE ............................................................................................................................. 9 1.0. INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 9 1.1. The Current Study and its objectives. .................................................................................... 13 1.2. Structure of the study. ............................................................................................................ 14 CHAPTER TWO .......................................................................................................................... 15 2.0. LITERATURE REVIEW ...................................................................................................... 15 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................. 15 2.2.0. Adolescent Development .................................................................................................... 15 2.2.1. How adolescent view future? .......................................................................................... 16 2.3.0. War trauma and adolescence mental health ........................................................................ 19 2.3.1 Risk Factors ..................................................................................................................... 22 2.3.2 Protective Factors............................................................................................................. 24 2.4. The role of forgiveness in coming to terms with the past ...................................................... 27 2.4.1 Psychological Benefits of Forgiveness ............................................................................ 28 2.4.2. Physical Benefits of Forgiveness. ................................................................................... 29 2.4.3. Emotional and Affective Benefits of Forgiveness. ......................................................... 30 2.4.4. Behavioural Benefits. ...................................................................................................... 31 2.5.0. Traditional process of forgiveness in African context ........................................................ 32 2.5.1. Oral traditional belief ...................................................................................................... 34 2.5.2. Ashanti process of conflict resolution and forgiveness .................................................. 36 2.5.3. Kpelle process of conflict resolution and forgiveness. ................................................... 38 2.5.4. Acholi process of conflict resolution and forgiveness .................................................... 39 2.6. Ubuntu and South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission ...................................... 40 2.7. Christian Concept of Forgiveness .......................................................................................... 42 CHAPTER THREE ...................................................................................................................... 46 3.0. RESEARCH METHODOLOGY........................................................................................... 46 3.1. Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 46 5 3.2. Site for the study. ............................................................................................................... 46 3.3. Formulating a research question. ....................................................................................... 48 3.4. METHODOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS AND THE RESEARCH PROCESS ............ 48 3.4.1. Philosophical orientation of the research and research questions .............................. 48 3.4.2 . Qualitative research methodology, philosophical orientations and research procedure................................................................................................................................... 49 3.4.3 . Main approaches of this study. ................................................................................. 50 3.4.4. Phenomenology .......................................................................................................... 52 3.5. Data Collection Method ......................................................................................................... 53 3.5.1 The role of the gatekeeper .......................................................................................... 53 3.5.2 . Sampling ................................................................................................................... 55 3.5.3 . Semi structured interview ......................................................................................... 57 3.5.4 Observation as data collection method ....................................................................... 59 3.6. Data Analysis ................................................................................................................... 60 3.6.1 Approaches to data analysis .......................................................................................... 61 3.7. Ethical issues .....................................................................................................................