Why people Join An Insurgency - Essay Example

Why People Join An Insurgency Introduction The term insurgency is used to refer to the act of rebelling against a particular authority in an armed manner in order to support or promote a particular idea, belief or right. Several insurgencies have taken place throughout the world for several purposes. Insurgency can be of different types depending on the course of action that the insurgents adopted. Insurgencies have been regarded as terrorism due to the motive of fear associated with these insurgencies.

An insurgency cannot take place without ample amount of insurgents and there are different reasons due to which individuals choose to act as insurgents. Individuals join insurgencies in order to attain a better status, in order to seek revenge and because these individuals belong to weak socioeconomic backgrounds.Body One of the reasons due to which individuals join insurgencies is that they perceive that by joining insurgencies they can gain a better status within the society. Individuals belonging to a community may join the insurgency in order to prove that he/she is someone who should be respected as compared to other members of the community.

Due to this desire to prove them, various individuals join insurgencies. Canter has cited a research in a textbook that has identified various advantages of joining an insurgency. The research suggests that joining in a violent revolt may help an individual in gaining respect through the fear they may inflict in his/her society and this is why individuals become a part of insurgency (Canter 24). Revenge and or retribution have become a highly known motive due to which individuals may join an insurgency.

An individual may have never indulged in violent rebellions but he/she may be forced to do so due to his/her desire to seek revenge against those who he believes have done wrong to him. In recent years many individuals have joined the insurgent group Taliban and one of the reason that have motivated them to do so is because of the anti-US sentiments they have developed because of the drones attack in which people who had no connection with terrorists were killed (Greenfield 1). Socioeconomic background of insurgents is a major reason that pushes them into becoming a part of an insurgent group.

Individual belonging to weak socio economic backgrounds fail to attain proper education and they do not have well developed cognition to differentiate between pro-social and anti-social behavior. Due to this these individuals face a higher risk of being brainwashed into thinking that joining an insurgent group is a pro-social behavior and has several benefits to offer to them. A research was conducted by Onuoha and in this research the survey respondents who were mostly government officials and policy makers stated that in the region of Kano, the high rate of illiteracy was the reason due to which youth become insurgents (Onuoha 6).

Conclusion There are various reasons due to which individuals become a part of an armed rebellion or they become a member of an insurgent group such as Taliban and Boko Haram. Indiviudals join these groups because they believe that by doing so they will be able to attain a higher status in their community. They even join such groups in order to seek revenge against those who they assume have done wrong to them. They become members of insurgencies because they do not have the mental capacity to differentiate between anti-social and pro-social behavior.

Works CitedCanter, David V. The Faces Of Terrorism. Chichester, UK: Wiley-Blackwell, 2009. Print.Greenfield, Danya. The Case Against Drone Strikes On People Who Only Act Like Terrorists. The Atlantic. N.p., 2013. Web. 2 Dec. 2014. < http://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2013/08/the-case-against-drone-strikes-on-people-who-only-act-like-terrorists/278744/> Onuoha, Freedom. Why Do Youth Join Boko Haram?. USIP. N.p., 2014. Web. 2 Dec. 2014.< www.usip.org/sites/./SR348-Why_do_Youth_Join_Boko_Haram.pdf>