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  4. Towards an understanding of combatants' motivations: the implications of the links between gender bias and political violence
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Towards an understanding of combatants' motivations: the implications of the links between gender bias and political violence

Full metadata

Description

A growing body of literature has sought to explain the nature and effects of conflict-related sexualized violence. However, a critical problem that persists concerns why wartime rape varies both within and across conflicts. Political science literature mainly addresses these questions of variation in sexualized violence through group-level or structural explanations. Yet, clear patterns of combatant non-participation in conflict-related sexualized violence is apparent, even in cases where sexual violence is severe and pervasive. What allows one combatant to refrain, while another combatant, even within the same combat unit, perpetrates sexualized violence? In this dissertation, I argue that critical differences concerning attitudes, beliefs, and motivations exist between individual combatants. In light of these differences, I reintroduce the individual combatant onto the theoretical map as a critical unit of analysis and I explore the implications of gender inequality as an important and relevant factor related to sexualized violence in political conflict. Drawing on findings from social psychology, political psychology, sociology, and political science, the theory developed argues that combatants differentially internalize important norms related to gender that become particularly activated based on primarily externalized contextual influences. To test the theory, I conduct a mixed-method, sub-national comparative analysis of combatants and attitudes and beliefs associated with gender inequality during the Bosnian War (1992 – 1995). I rely on qualitative data generated from semi-structured, comprehensive interviews with psychologists, victim’s advocates, and legal experts managing sexual violence war crimes cases, and combat veterans directly associated with the Bosnian War (1992 – 1995) to assess differences at the individual-level of analysis. To additionally determine the broader effects of gender inequality, I employ an ordered probit regression analysis to ascertain the relationship between gender inequality related to institutional health and education factors and the severity of wartime rape. The combined results of these analyses demonstrate that individual differences between combatants better predicts the likelihood of a combatant to commit sexualized violence compared to structural or institutional accounts alone.

Date Created
2019
Contributors
  • Williamson, Holly, Ph.D (Author)
  • Kittilson, Miki (Thesis advisor)
  • Lake, Milli (Committee member)
  • Wood, Reed (Committee member)
  • Arizona State University (Publisher)
Topical Subject
  • Political Science
  • Sociology
  • Social Psychology
  • Civil war
  • Conflict-related sexual violence
  • Conflict Studies
  • Gender violence
  • Political behavior
  • Political Violence
  • Rape as a weapon of war
  • War Crimes
  • Sex crimes
  • Women--Violence against--Political aspects.
  • Women
Resource Type
Text
Genre
Doctoral Dissertation
Academic theses
Extent
xii, 245 pages : color illustrations, maps
Language
eng
Copyright Statement
In Copyright
Primary Member of
ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
Peer-reviewed
No
Open Access
No
Handle
https://hdl.handle.net/2286/R.I.55653
Statement of Responsibility
by Holly Williamson
Description Source
Viewed on October 22, 2020
Level of coding
full
Note
Partial requirement for: Ph.D., Arizona State University, 2019
Note type
thesis
Includes bibliographical references
Note type
bibliography
Field of study: Political science
System Created
  • 2020-01-14 09:19:35
System Modified
  • 2021-08-26 09:47:01
  •     
  • 1 year 7 months ago
Additional Formats
  • OAI Dublin Core
  • MODS XML

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