Essentials of Tribal psychology

[xiinfaniin]

Dr. Abdishakur Jowhar

 

The tribe in war is an altogether vicious animal. Tribal identity gains dominance over that of an individual’s self identity in situations of tribal conflict and competition. Tribal identity almost takes over during times of war. Tribe members at such times drive themselves into an extreme an irrational frenzy. Normal language is replaced by unintelligible animal noises. “Tolaayeey, tolaayeey, Waar Hayaaye†Read on.

 

Abdishakur Jowhar MD, FRCP©, DABPN

E-mail: abdijowhar@yahoo.com

[STOIC]

Perhaps only a psychiatrist could explain why our reactions, decisions, and conclusions are made based on our clan.Most of us will intuitively agree that we as Somalis has taken it granted the notion of "group think" as ownership of our thoughts.We value our group decisions more than our own views and principles.Deviation from this will be viewed by the group members as a psychopathological.When we make decisions it is not we who make the decisions but rather it is the group that does.It seems that our thoughts are executed by others.The primary response to this tribal identity is a quest for self knowledge.We must make our decisions as individuals.The Somali tribe is a myth and a myth always reflects a persons phenomenological views.These views are colored by affect and various developmental perspectives.It starts when we are young.The first thing we are taught is how to live outside our thoughts.We are imbued with unnecesary non-factual stories that can not be verified by anyone other than the one narrating it.This tribal myths we held so dear are only expressed through stories.

 

The author touched on Jungian theory of "subconscious". Individuals thoughts can not be demonstrated that it existed previously without personal ongoing experiences.An unconcious thought can not be seen nor felt but a conscious thought can be perceived through someone's action.It will be hard to justify that Somalis are acting on previuos thought but through their actions we can see that their loyalty lies within the framework of the past experiences.For the same reason that it hard to justify this connection,it is hard too to deny the existance of the connections.The question that every Somali need to ask himself is how can i as an individual free my self from this shackles of clan loyalty?