Abstract:
This thesis examined how recruits negotiate their identity in the Ghana Armed
Forces and the identities they assumed through the process. The study employed the
qualitative approach of enquiry. Purposive sampling technique was used to sample 4
participants for an in-depth interview. Drawing on the Identity Negotiation and
Organisational Behaviour theory, the study analysed how recruits negotiate their
identity and how the military service facilitates recruit’s identity negotiation by
administering a policy-based training programme meant for that purpose. The means
through which recruits negotiate their identity are through individual Identity
Negotiation and Institution induced Identity Negotiation. Additionally, recruit’s
identity negotiation is influenced by the form of interaction that takes place between
them and the instructors as well as their colleagues at training. Exchange Interaction
and Cooperation Interaction enhance this influence. These interactions are in the form
of assurances given to them on how life in the military is better than that outside it.
Two major identities were found to be assumed by recruits through the identity
negotiation process, which are Military Identity and Trade Identity. The study
recommends that training policies and programmes are well structured in order to
produce highly disciplined and purposeful soldiers who would contribute positively to
the protection of the territorial integrity of the State.
Description:
A Thesis in the Department of Communication and Media Studies, Faculty of
Foreign Languages Education and Communication, Submitted to the School of
Graduate Studies in Partial Fulfilment
of the Requirements for the Award of the Degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Business Communication)
in The University of Education, Winneba
MARCH, 2021