An Assessment of the Impact of Mediating Variables on Knowledge, Attitudes and Practices of Ethics of War by the Officers and Soldiers of the Zambia Army

Abstract

A study was conducted to establish levels of knowledge, attitudes and practices of ethics of war by officers and soldiers of the Zambia Army. A mixed method study using explanatory sequential approach was undertaken of a survey sample of 420 participants drawn from officers and soldiers serving in the Zambia Army. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data. Focus group discussions and interviews were also undertaken to collect qualitative data. The findings from focus group discussions and interviews provided greater depth and understanding as to how the officers and soldiers felt about ethics of war. The findings of focus group discussions and interviews also helped to explain the findings from quantitative data. The general objective of this study was to establish the knowledge, attitudes and practices of the ethics of war among Zambia Army personnel and examine how they related to age, rank, gender, level of education and years of service. In addition, it was hypothesized that mediating variables namely operational environment, organisational factors and administrative factors are critical in the Zambia Army in facilitating the existence of aforementioned relationships. Largely, it was concluded that, knowledge, attitudes and practice of ethics of war among Zambia Army officers and soldiers is influenced by gender, their level of education, type of service and length of service. Consequently, a model consisting of all recommendations made in the study was developed. This articles focuses on the impact of mediating variables and the degree to which they play a significant role in influencing the Knowledge, Attitudes and Practice of ethics of war as brought out by the Study. The article confirms that mediating variables play a significant role in that knowledge of ethics of war is acquired locally from the few available military schools, and training they undergo before being deployed for operations (pre-deployment training). As such, acquisition of this knowledge is heavily reliant on operational environment, organisational and administrative factors. Furthermore, the degree to which this knowledge shapes the attitudes of service personnel and how well they can be put in practice is equally dependent on how these and other mediating variables facilitate this process.