Lecture 12: consequences of collective violent among victims

Question 1

Consequences of collective violence among victims

Answer 1

(1) Community breakdown
(2) Collective victimisation
(3) Collective victimhood

Question 2

(1) Community breakdown

Answer 2

Perpetrators can specifically target a community for the purpose of breaking it down.

Question 3

(2) Collective victimisation

Answer 3

Multiple people having substantially similar victimisation experiences. This can be helpful for coping: a community of people with similar experiences can create a framework to understand their victimisation experiences.

Example: in Colombia there are villages especially for women who experienced sexual assault (without men around).

Question 4

(3) Collective victimhood

Answer 4

The group is victimised, not because they were all individual victims of violence, but because they feel like they are part of the group that it attacked. Has impact on all those who are psychologically committed to that group.
Example: black people have been victimised many times, which gives all people the feeling of collective victimhood.

Question 5

Positive effect of collective victimhood

Answer 5

Inclusive victimhood: can lead to support or action for the whole group.

Example: “no one is free until we are all free” - Martin Luther King

Question 6

Harmful effects of collective victimhood

Answer 6

Cycle of violence: people who have been victimised feel that they have to retaliate (wraak nemen), which creates a cycle of violence.

Question 7

The effects on the perpetrators of collective violence

Answer 7

Violence is aversive, we see similar effects of perpetrators as on victims, like trauma or need for sense-making.
Violence is also transformative and can lead to even more violence (feedback loop of violence).

Question 8

Feedback loop of collective violence

Answer 8

1. Group commitment –> increases motivation for violence –> reduced aversion for violence –> more violence.
2. Collective violence –> increased group commitment –> increased motivation for violence –> reduced aversion –> more violence.

Question 9

How the feedback-loop works

Answer 9

(1) Practice
(2) Social bonding
(3) Ideology
(4) Radicalisation
(5) Dehumanisation

Question 10

(1) Practice (feedback loop)

Answer 10

Collective violence needs practice. A group socialises the members in a way that prepares them for the violence that they have to commit.

Question 11

(2) Social bonding (feedback loop)

Answer 11

Experiencing violence creates a social bond. Having the same experiences, going through the same thing. Especially in forces recruits: they don’t want to be there, but forcing them into committing violence create commitment to the group and individual connections.

Question 12

(3) Ideology (feedback loop)

Answer 12

Collective violence can shape ideology. Ideology gives a sense of significance. It often states that violence is necessary for the group to ‘survive’ or to ‘make meaning’.
After a violent attack, people need to make sense of that, leading to a justification response: violence is justified through ideology, leading to more violence.

Question 13

(4) Radicalisation (feedback loop)

Answer 13

Radicalisation is a precedent and a consequence of violence (McDoom)

Question 14

(5) Dehumanisation (feedback loop)

Answer 14

This is post hoc justification. Having already committed the violence towards the group, makes people want to justify their actions.

Study: white people read a story about the impact of colanisation. This caused dehumanisation of the victims, even after the event, to justify the actions of their ancestors:
- Stories about a disease impact –> dehumanised a bit
- Stories about the killing of people –> dehumanised a lot.

Question 15

Collective guilt

Answer 15

Guilt that people feel on behalf of their group, even if they were not involved personally.

Example: white European students feeling guilt when thinking about their colonial past.

Findings:
- People ONLY felt guilty if they were offered a reasonable option to address that guilt.
- People felt LESS guilty if they were not offered a way to resolve that guilt.

Question 16

Needs-based model of breaking the cycle of violence (Schnabel & Nadler, 2008)

Answer 16

There are different things that are necessary to break the cycle of violence:
- Victims: need to recover some level of control and power.
- Perpetrators: suffer a threat to their moral identity and need to regain a socially acceptable position again.

! These needs are complementary, so there are ways to meet both needs at the same time.

Question 17

Truth and reconciliation committees

Answer 17

Committees that help with the process of reconciliation between groups. The elements for this to be successful are:
- Impartiality: equal treatment of all groups.
- Authority to make decisions.
- Ability to address small-scale dynamics (like the psychological need for each group)

Question 18

What can we do at an individual level?

Answer 18

There is a serious perception of threat form ‘the other’ groups, which looms very large, while the actual knowledge about the group is often very limited. This creates intolerance/hatred, but is often caused by misunderstanding intentions of others and is not based on direct experiences. Positive contact with member of the other group is one of the most effective mechanisms to reduce hostility (contact hypothesis).

Question 19

Contact hypothesis/ intergroup contact hypothesis

Answer 19

Simply contact with members of other groups. This is one of the most effective interventions to reduce intergroup conflict.
BUT: it needs to take a very specific form for this to work, it needs:
- Cooperation
- Common goals
- Equal status
- Structure
- Matching of individuals (through age etc.)
- Supervised by trusted authority
- Start with a ‘safe’ topic
- Gradually introduce conflict-related topics

This impacts:
- Us/them thinking
- Increases individualisation
- In-group reappraisal
- Reduces anxiety
- Increases trust
- Increases empathy
- Support for peace-building
- Changes voting behaviour

Question 20

Limitations of intergroup contact theory

Answer 20

• Practical: applied one-by-one, which has minimal impact.
• Theoretical: what happens where the conditions are not met? Especially equality between groups, because this is not realistic. This can even drive the groups further apart. This is why there can also be harmful consequences of bringing groups together without equality:
  > Positive contact with someone can undermine the perceived seriousness of the conflict or the need for change.
  > Ironically, good relation can hamper (hinderen) ultimate resolution of conflict.