THE USE OF DISCOURSE IN THE MANAGEMENT OF BLAME IN CONFLICT SITUATIONS: THE CASE OF KENYA’S INTERNALLY DISPLACED PERSONS

The use of violence as means of addressing differences between groups and individuals is common. The world has witnessed wars and small-scale violence resulting from disagreements. Violence however leaves behind trails of destruction and pain in its wake. It also generally perceived as a sign of failure of the power of the intellect to address issues. It is therefore regarded as a primitive method which is employed as a last resort. Parties that have been involved in violence may therefore find need to explain the reasons for their involvement and often tend to lay blame for the violence elsewhere. This paper investigates the discursive resources employed in the management of blame in conflict situations taking the case of the Kenyan Internally Displaced Persons. The paper employs Discursive Psychology one of the approaches to discourse analysis to investigate the management of the blame arising from the violence that followed Kenya's 2007 elections. The paper draws from a research carried out by the author among 24 Internally Displaced Persons in Kenya's 2007/2008 post-election violence. The research sample comprised an equal number of male and female respondents who were from the different communities involved in the violence.The data was collected by means of in-depth interviews.