A Critical Examination of Change in Interpersonal Relationships Among Youth from Different Ethnic Communities as a Result of Ethnic Conflict

This study examined interpersonal relationships among youth from different ethnic communities. The purpose of this study was to examine interpersonal relationships among youth from different ethnic communities in Kenya, especially the vulnerable population of individuals with disabilities, and the ways interpersonal relationships between youth from different ethnic communities change as a result of ethnic conflict. This study utilized survey methodology to gain a better understanding of interpersonal relationships between youth from different ethnic communities and individuals with disabilities. The sample of the survey comprised 42 participants between the ages of 18 and 35 who were in Kenya during the postelection conflict of 2007 and 2008. This study found that some participants experienced strain in their friendships with individuals from different ethnic communities, particularly those that were fighting against one another. Both participation in and harmful action against individuals with disabilities were also reported. However, the experience of youth with disabilities was not dissimilar to that of their nondisabled peers. This study has the capacity to lead to additional studies with a larger sample size within and outside of Kenya, and to break apart key findings into individual studies.

Author

• Kigera, Kathryn

Language

• en

Keyword

• Trauma
• Education interventions
• Social identity theory
• Social learning theory
• Ethnic conflict
• Interpersonal relationships

Date created

• 2017

Type of Work

• Dissertation

License

• All rights reserved

Rights statement

• In Copyright

GW Unit

• Special Education

Degree

• Ed.D.

Advisor

• Kochhar-Bryant, Carol

Committee Member(s)

• Swayze, Susan
• Williams, James H

Persistent URL

•  https://scholarspace.library.gwu.edu/etd/7h149p88r