Research Questions What gives men  such a strong propensity to violence and how is this related to the formation of their identities through their religion? The first part of this question has been considerably researched but the innovative elements in this proposal consist in exploring conceptually the links between gender identities, violence, and religion and, through action research, identifying ways in which the findings can contribute to the reduction of violence within communities and families. This should enhance our understanding of how religion can be exploited and made into a tool both for fomenting and reducing violent conflicts.
Research methodology We applied participatory action research and ethnographic methods to research linkages between gender identities, religion and violence and work with young people on mitigating future violence. Harris carried out the ethnographic research, using life histories and participant observation with a small number of Muslims and Christians of both sexes.
Activities Our project aimed to support the development of cognitive tools that would help our participants reason through future calls to violence of any kind and also to support their peers in doing the same so as to allow them to consider the ramifications of any such call, the advantages and disadvantages to themselves and their communities. The activities were carried out by three participant groups. For all these groups, weekly educational sessions were carried out on the basis of curricula drawn up by the participants themselves with the support of their facilitators. These sessions aimed at advancing the critical thinking and overall life skills of the participants. Among the topics addressed were multiple health problems (for instance, malaria, hygiene, HIV and AIDS) as well as social issues. Violence was of major concern, with the women concentrating more on its domestic expression and the men on its community level manifestation. Our main aim was to work on issues around masculinities and in particular to support the young men to understand the dangers of succumbing to appeals to participate in violence couched in terms of pressures around their manhood. In this respect, the hope was that our approach would allow the young men to rethink notions of their own masculinity such that they would accept that resisting calls to violence was far braver than fighting. Since we were working with about 40 youths we hoped eventually to find a way of incorporating larger numbers from the communities involved so as to increase the possibility of producing meaningful resistance to any future attempts to draw them into violence. The way chosen to do this was through public performance of dramas. To this end over a period of several months in mid 2009 the youth groups performed dramas in their own communities of Kabala West and Ungwaru Mu’azu. These were developed by the youngsters themselves and dealt with some of the most crucial social issues identified by them as affecting their communities.

Project achievements

Since this project is about producing social change through learning new ways of reflecting about the world, it will inevitably take time to produce its full impact. However, some results are already visible:
 

1. The young people are now engaged in the task of improving their own lives and have also decided to help fellow community members unable to participate directly in the project.

2. This work has expanded beyond the youth groups with whom we worked to reach into their  communities in several ways. 

- Through the dramas discussed above, which represented types of violence occurring in the communities and other major social issues that often lead to violence. 

- By embedding the dramas in a process of community development using techniques associated with Theatre for development work. This approach, elaborated by the late Augusto Boal in his work the Theatre of the Oppressed, was based on the well-known teaching principles of his friend and colleague, Paulo Freire, as laid out in his Pedagogy of the Oppressed. Boal’s work has formed the basis of theatre for development ever since. It provides a number of techniques that can be used to incorporate audiences into theatrical experiences so that community discussions based on dramas they have watched can help develop new insights into how to tackle the issues presented in their own lives.  

3. With the support of the project and the Theatre for Development Centre (TFDC), the young people have formed their own officially registered civic organisations through which they intend to continue with development activities for themselves and into which they will incorporate other young people from their communities.

4. The education sessions have now brought together young men, who hitherto considered themselves enemies, from neighbouring Christian and Muslim communities, and helped them establish camaraderie, if not actual friendship. The elders of their communities are supportive of these initiatives and TFDC will continue their contact with them after the project ends.