This study explores the individual motivations for joining guerrilla and paramilitary groups involved in the Colombian conflict. By studying group enrollment from an individual perspective, I intend to bring the perspectives of ordinary combatants (which top-down and group approaches tend to obscure) to a stage of conflict analysis and policy for resolution. I conducted 150 interviews in Bogotá and Medellín, three with each of 50 men and women who are former and active guerrilla and paramilitary members. A holistic, interdisciplinary framework helped me explore social, psychological, political and economic aspects of their enrollment experiences. The study finds that participants' narratives regarding their enrollment experiences provide vivid revelations of their essential humanity. Once ordinary citizens, they joined militant groups as a result of social circumstances rather than a premeditated intention to hurt others. The study reveals an interwoven system of factors leading to militant group enrollment that has not been understood before in the examination of the Colombian conflict. It suggests that three aspects explain this system: (1) Societal factors, engendered by a history of bipartisan violent confrontations and the resulting adaptation to a culture of violence that cause political conflict and influence group enrollment. (2) A differentiation between driving factors (at society, community and family levels) and triggering factors (at individual levels) leading to group enrollment. (3) A correlation between conflict protraction and a shift in the motivations for militant group enrollment.

The study concludes that in situations of protracted inter-group conflict, individual motivations for militant enrollment differ largely from the purported ideals and goals of the group leaders. Consequently, looking at individual perspectives of ordinary combatants offers a new realm of conflict understanding and the potential for more effective and peaceful resolution policies.