AI Flashcards Lecture 4
Why do groups engage in violence?
Conflict arises between groups over resources and incompatible values.
What are the two main types of threat in Intergroup Threat Theory?
Realistic and symbolic.
What is an example of a realistic threat?
“Because of the presence of Muslims, unemployment in Norway will increase.”
What is an example of a symbolic threat?
“Muslims are a threat to Norwegian culture.”
What did Obaidi et al. (2018) find about the relationship between symbolic threat and anti-outgroup behaviour?
Symbolic threat predicted negative attitudes and behavioural intentions against outgroups, including joining anti-Islamic movements and willingness to persecute Muslims.
According to Black (1976; 1983), what is the function of violence?
Violence can be a mechanism of control or ‘self-help.’
What is a ‘moral community’ in the context of Crime as Social Control theory?
A group that uses violence to control inappropriate behaviour within its community.
What is ‘conflict structure’?
Six dimensions of conflict that determine when violence is justified.
What are the six dimensions of conflict in Black’s (1976; 1983) theory?
Relational distance, cultural distance, radial distance, normative distance, functional independence, and inequality.
How does Senechal de la Roche (1996) apply Crime as Social Control theory to collective violence?
‘Conflict structure’ determines which conflicts lead to collective violence and the type of collective violence.
What are the four dimensions of conflict in Senechal de la Roche’s (1996) application of Crime as Social Control Theory?
The sources do not explicitly list the four dimensions. They mention that there are four, while Black’s theory has six.
What two additional factors predict the type of collective violence?
The degree of social polarization and the continuity of the deviant behaviour.
What type of collective violence is associated with high polarisation?
Rioting and terrorism, as there are perceptions of collective liability.
What type of collective violence is associated with low polarisation?
Lynching and vigilantism, as there are perceptions of individual liability.
What characterises collective violence when the deviant behaviour is chronic?
The violence is highly organised, such as in vigilantism and terrorism.
What characterises collective violence when the deviant behaviour is infrequent?
More informal violence typically arises, such as lynching and rioting.
What is a key concept relating to the difficulty of violence?
Participation in collective violence requires overcoming considerable aversion or hesitance.
According to Littman & Paluck (2015), what is a striking feature of collective violence?
Ordinary people without extreme predispositions toward violence participate in harming others on behalf of their group.
What can help people overcome their aversion to violence?
Practice, prior experience with violence (e.g., witnessing domestic violence as a child), and self-medication with drugs and alcohol.
What is a key concept relating to sociality?
People are ‘set up’ psychologically, emotionally, and neurologically for interactions with others.
What is Social Identity Theory?
A theory that explains how group memberships contribute to social identity.
What are the two components of social identity?
The content of the identity (who ‘we’ are) and the strength of identification.
How does social identity connect individuals to their groups?
Psychologically, what happens to the group affects individuals personally, including conflict.
What is a key concept relating to group membership?
Once people are part of groups, they start to function psychologically as a group member.
What is de-individuation theory?
A theory that suggests acting in groups allows people to act out their violent tendencies because of the anonymity, diffusion of responsibility, and contagion of behaviour and ideas.
What are some critiques of de-individuation theory?
The mechanism for its effects is unclear, research with different set-ups find different results, and the theory is considered old-fashioned in the context of collective violence.
What is a key concept relating to modern explanations of collective violence?
There is no ‘natural’ tendency towards violence; instead, it arises from group processes.
What are ‘group processes’?
Processes that occur at the group level and impact individual members, potentially leading to violence.
What are the two stages/conditions of collective violence?
Intergroup conflict and hostility, followed by intragroup processes that justify and facilitate violence.
