Group Cohesion and Coercive Recruitment: Young Combatants and the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone

Abstract

Armed factions need recruits to wage their struggle, and when voluntary conscription does not provide sufficient manpower, armies, militias and rebel movements can resort to forced conscription of adult and underage recruits. But where recruits do not join out of conviction or free will, armed groups need to find ways to initiate feelings of loyalty to the movement to minimize the risk of desertion. Moreover, they need to increase the group coherence because, after all, fighting is a social activity. Threats, punishments and rewards are the most straightforward ways to prevent desertion and nurture feelings of loyalty. Socialization and indoctrination can further contribute towards this and intend to make conscripts perceive the rebel’s struggle as their struggle and the faction’s ideology or agenda as their agenda. It is generally assumed that children are more receptive to these loyalty and group binding processes. For instance, Michael Wessells (2006, p. 53) points out that: