key question Flashcards
state the key question
Why do ordinary people commit genocide?
what is genocide?
An act committed with the intent to eradicate a specific group of people, such as a religious group.
Give 4 examples of what genocide can involve.
murder
torture
deprivation
sterilisation
Give 2 examples of genocide.
A
1) Nazi Germany
- The Nazis tried to eradicate the Jews
- Nazis invaded jews at the end of WW2 and the situation of persecuting Jewish people increased majorly which caused the situation of genocide to get worse
2) Rwanda
- Hutus overthrew the Tutsis, which resulted in 800,000 people being killed
Why is this my key question important?
genocides have lead to millions of people being killed and dying so being able to identify the factors that lead to prejudice and genocide can provide solutions to prevent it these events from occurring again
List the 4 concepts from Social Psychology that can be used to help explain why ordinary people may commit genocide.
1) Agency Theory
2) Social Identity Theory
3) Authoritarianism
4) Realistic Conflict Theory
Briefly describe how Agency Theory can explain genocide.
An authority figure being present will lead to an agentic shift form the autonomous state the the agentic state in which individuals give up their free will
They then follow the orders of that authority figure even if it goes against their morals, in which they will experience a moral strain and may dissent but not disobey
The Nazis in WW2 were in the agentic state when discriminating against the Jews as they were following Hitler’s orders due to giving up their free will allowing them to commit the atrocities
The constant reminder from propaganda and Nazi officers kept them in the agentic state
Evaluate 2 strengths of Agency Theory as an explanation for genocide.
- Hofling found 21/22 nurses gave overdose due to being in the agentic state under the authority figure of the doctor
the study had high validity and was a field experiment Therefore, the findings that 21/22 nurses obeying an authority figure to administer a potentially lethal overdose of a drug, provides real life evidence for people giving up their free will to authority to commit harmful acts - Practical application for Nazi Germany = Due to the prejudice propaganda Nazis went through the agentic shift which caused them to obey authority figures and kill a large amount of innocent Jewish people
these individuals may have committed these murders because they were not able to act on there own free will because if they did, they may have bene killed themselves
Evaluate 2 weaknesses of Agency Theory as an explanation for genocide.
- during Milgram’s study, the conditions were so controlled that it meant that the setting was very artificial.
this makes the study and the findings lack ecological validity
therefore, this study cannot apply to real life and so solutions that help reduce factors leading to genocide are less creditable and may not work - Deterministic =
It states that people give up their free will when they enter the agentic state and so are not in control of their own actions.
However people and their reasons for genocide are more complex than that with individual differences that allow them to make their own decisions
briefly describe how social identity theory can explain genocide
The presence of another group divides us into ‘us’ and ‘them’ due to the tendency to categorise things during social categorisation
In-groups will find ways to increase their group esteem with social identification and so would use ways to make out-groups look inferior to them through social comparison
This can escalate to genocide as may want to get rid of the out-group if they perceive them as a big threat to their esteem
Nazi propaganda was designed to increase ‘otherness’ of the Jews, creating high esteem for the Nazis
Evaluate 2 strengths of Social Identity Theory as an explanation for genocide.
- one strength of social identity theory as an explanation for genocide is study evidence from jane elliot
she found that Brown eyed people and blue eyed people developed prejudice attitudes towards each other.
therefore this shows that the mere presence of another group can create prejudice and so is the case of many examples of genocide (theory can provide solutions to reduce genocide by integrating groups from the start ) - another strength of social identity theory as an explanation for genocide is that it provides an explanation for prejudice when there is no outgroup threat on ingroup
social identity theory states that the mere presence of an outgroup can cause discrimination towards them in order to maintain self-esteem of ingroup.
therefore, social identity theory can provide an explanation for why someone may commit genocide on a group of people despite them not providing a reason
Evaluate 2 weaknesses of Social Identity Theory as an explanation for genocide
- one weakness of social identity theory as an explanation for genocide is that a large amount of the research comes from minimal group studies which is only able to demonstrate low level hostility (e.g. name calling in Jane Elliot).
therefore, Further explanation is needed as to how this could escalate to mass extermination of out-groups. - one weakness of social identity theory as an explanation for genocide is that it doesn’t give an explanation for the bits in between social identification and social comparison
Identifying with an in group compared to genocide and then displaying prejudice to people who are perceived to be in the outgroup is a big leap.
therefore, social identity theory is unable explain how displaying prejudice towards an outgroup can get out of control
Briefly describe how Authoritarianism can explain genocide.
This personality type has characteristics prone to prejudice (e.g. hostility towards minorities)
It is measured using the F-scale questionnaire whereby a high F-score indicate high fascism and prejudice
Adorno looked at the childhood of people with this personality type and found that they had a strict upbringing and so couldn’t express hostility towards them for fear of punishments
And so they differed hostility towards minority groups due to seeing them as easier targets which would explain the progression to violence in the form of genocide
Evaluate 2 strengths of Authoritarianism as an explanation for genocide.
- one strength of using Authoritarianism as an explanation for genocide is study evidence from Adorno
Adorno uses quantitative data in his F-scale of 2,000 ppts
this use of a standardised scale reduces subjectivity and so gives a scientific method of looking at the reasons for genocide
therefore, this is study evidence which is not subjective which can suggest that authoritarianism can be an explanation for genocide - Individual differences has practical application = explanation for why 35% of Milgram’s (1963) ppts didn’t administer highest level of shock at 450V.
therefore Milgram’s study has mundane realism so can explain why only some people commit genocide and others do not
Evaluate 2 weaknesses of Authoritarianism as an explanation for genocide.
- one weaknesses of using authoritarianism as an explanation for genocide is that it can be considered Reductionist
this explanation of authoritarianism causing genocide only looks at one type of personality as the cause for prejudice.
Prejudice is more complicated than that and so the reason why people would commit genocide is more complex
therefore, this means that there are other factors which cause an individual to act in a prejudice way and commit genocide, not just authoritarianism - one weaknesses of using Authoritarianism as an explanation for genocide is that it doesn’t give an explanation for Nazi Germany
authoritarianism does not account for a sudden rise and fall in prejudice levels
therefore, this may suggest that authoritarianism does not explain mass prejudice in the form of genocide
