The recruitment process of the shining path and MRTA guerrilla groups: a political psychological perspective
Document Type
Thesis
Degree
Master of Arts (MA)
Major/Program
International Studies
First Advisor's Name
Eduardo Gamarra
First Advisor's Committee Title
Committee Chair
Second Advisor's Name
Nicholas Onuf
Third Advisor's Name
N. David Cook
Date of Defense
11-21-1997
Abstract
This thesis is an analysis of the recruitment process of the Shining Path -SP- and Revolutionary Movement “Tupac Amaru” -MRTA- guerrilla groups. Although SP was considered more aggressive, it gained more followers than MRTA. This thesis tries to explain why. Social Revolution Theory and Social Movement Theory provide explanations based on issues of “poverty”, disregarding the specific characteristics of the guerrilla groups and their supporters, as well as the influence of specific persuasive processes between the leaders of the groups and their followers. Integrative complexity theory, on the contrary, provides a consistent method to analyze cognitive processes: because people tend to reject complex and sophisticated explanations that require mental efforts, simplicity was the key for success. To prove which guerrilla group provided a simpler worldview, a sample of official documents of SP and MRTA are compared. Finally, content analysis is applied through the Paragraph Completion Test (P.C.T.).
Identifier
FI15101433
Recommended Citation
Francis, Cesar A., "The recruitment process of the shining path and MRTA guerrilla groups: a political psychological perspective" (1997). FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 3332.
https://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/etd/3332
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