Source: (2009) Theoretical Criminology. 13(1):31-59.
Drawing upon criminological studies in the field of prisoner
rehabilitation, this essay explores the relevance of the
Demobilisation, Disarmament and Reintegration (DDR) framework
to the process of conflict transformation in Northern Ireland. In a
similar fashion to the critique of ‘passivity’ offered by, for
example, the ‘strengths based’ or ‘good lives’ approach to
prisoner resettlement and reintegration more generally, the
authors contend that the Northern Ireland peace process offers
conspicuous examples of former prisoners and combatants as
agents and indeed leaders in the process of conflict
transformation. They draw out three broad styles of leadership
which have emerged amongst ex-combatants over the course of
the Northern Ireland transition from conflict—political, military
and communal. They suggest that cumulatively such leadership
speaks to the potential of ex-prisoners and ex-combatants as
moral agents in conflict transformation around which
peacemaking can be constructed rather than as obstacles which
must be ‘managed’ out of existence. (author’s abstract)
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