Lecture 4: the role of groups in collective violence

Question 1

Intergroup threat theory

Answer 1

States that intergroup conflict is based on (perceived or real) threat. This can be:
- Realistic: objective threat.
- Symbolic: perceived threat (like threat to values and norms)

Question 2

Study about realistic and symbolic threat among Muslims and Norwegians.

Answer 2

Symbolic threat, but not realistic threat, predicted:
- Non-Muslim Norwegians to join anti-Islam movements.
- Non-Muslim Americans willingness to persecute Muslims.
- Attitudes and behavioural intentions against the West among Swedish and Turkish muslims.

Question 3

Crime as social control

Answer 3

Violence can be seen as a mechanism of social control. We are constantly trying to control each other to ensure that we can live together. Society needs lots of different steps of control and violence is a conflict resolution of this.

Question 4

Conflict dimensions

Answer 4

Collective violence is more likely to occur when groups are more distant form each other on 2 dimensions:
1. Degree of social polarisation
2. Perceived continuity of the problem
This causes 4 forms of conflict:
- Vigilantism
- Lynching
- Rioting
- Terrorism

Question 5

(1) Polarisation

Answer 5

• When polarisation is greater, this leads to collective liability, which leads to rioting and terrorism.
• When polarisation is lower, perceptual of individual liability can lead to lynching and vigilantism.

Question 6

(2) Continuity of the violence

Answer 6

• When alleged offences are chronic or enduring, the violence is often highly organised, which causes vigilantism and terrorism.
• When alleged offences are infrequent or transitory, more informal violence arises like lynching and rioting.

Question 7

4 types of violence

Answer 7

• Vigilantism: low polarisation and structural conflict (high continuity).
• Lynching: low polarisation and incidental conflict (low continuity).
• Terrorism: high polarisation and structural conflict (high continuity).
• Rioting: high polarisation and structural conflict (low continuity).

Question 8

Study about practice of violence

Answer 8

Participation in violence requires overcoming considerable aversion/ hesitance. One of the 2 ways to do this is through practice. People had to practice violence in 2 conditions:
1. Practice killing 1 bug before starting.
2. Practice killing 5 bugs before starting
People who felt a connection to the bugs had the most benefit of the practice killings.

Question 9

Social identity theory

Answer 9

Group membership forms your social identity. This can be from groups that you’re born into or that you choose. There are 2 components of social identity:
- Content of identity
- Strength of identification
Social identity connects people to their groups (psychologically) and whatever happens to the group starts to affect them personally. This also creates us-them thinking.

Question 10

De-individuation theory

Answer 10

When we are in a group, we lose ourselves/ the ability to think for ourselves, because the groups creates a feeling of:
- Anonimity
- Diffusion of responsibility
- Conjugation (samenvoeging) of behaviour and ideas
In a crown, this brings out the tendency to commit violence.

Question 11

Critique of the de-individuation theory

Answer 11

The theory states that violence is natural and easy, but this is and old-fashioned idea, because we are not wired to commit violence. De-individuation does happen, but this is not always a means of violence.