Institutional aggression BETWEEN groups. Flashcards
Introduction. Aggression? Genocide?
Aggression is a hostile behaviour usually inhibited by social norms.
For aggression to take place between groups; it looks at genocide.
Genocide refers to killing a large group of people; it is when one society aims to wipe out another. For example; Nazi’s and Jews.
The 5 steps that lead to Genocide?
1) Difficult social conditions, which lead too…
2) The scape-goating of a less powerful group, which leads too…
3) A negative evaluation and dehumanisation of another group.
4) Then, the moral views and rules start becoming inapplicable within society which is when the killing begins…
5) Finally, the bystanders (e.g. United Nations) enhances the process of genocide.
This is what leads to the aggressive behaviour between groups.
Dehumanisation. What happens to groups?
Humans usually moral disinhibitations when it comes to killing people.
But, this changes when a target group is dehumanised by genocide.
This is because within a target group people are seen as worthless and are more or less considered as a pack of animals waiting to be killed.
The target group are not worthy enough for moral considerations; this causes the aggressive behaviour.
Dehumanisation. Research support + Rwandan Genocide. Hutu + Tutsi.
The idea of dehumanisation is supported by the Rwandan Genocide, which was a ‘hate’ radio station.
They encouraged Hutu listeners to murder their Tutsi neighbours.
They did this by dehumanising Tusti’s by referring to them as ‘cockroaches’ and made them become a target group.
Obedience to authority. Milgram. Higher authority + Nazi’s + aggression?
This is thought to be able to explain institutional aggression through Milgram.
Milgram believed that the holocaust was the result of situational pressures that forced the Nazi’s to obey their leader, Hitler.
With Milgram’s own study, he argued that all of those people administered the electric shock because someone who was a high authority told them too, it was situational pressures.
His study consisted of a group of students, some were the ‘learner’ and some were the ‘teacher’, the learner was asked questions and if they got the question wrong the teacher was told to give them an electric shock from a higher authority.
Aggression and genocide can be explained through the obedience to authority according to Milgram.
Evaluation. Mandel + rejection? Mono casual?
Mandel rejects Milgram’s claim and he said that the obedience to authority is an insufficient way to explain the behaviours from the holocaust.
He argues that Milgram’s point of view is mono casual (he doesn’t consider other factors) and his claims do not match with the historical records.
Evaluation. Not applicable to the real world? Milgram?
Milgram’s study to support the obedience to authority also cannot be applied to the real world as it is done in a laboratory.
It also lacks ecological validity and realism as well and not being able to be generalised to the real world.
However, Milgram did do a further 8 studies after his electric shock study which was able to be applied to the real world and supported his claims on the obedience to authority.
