Lecture 5: ideology and leadership Flashcards
Ideology
This is not the main reason for people to join a group, but it shapes the interactions within the group and contributes to collective violence.
The role of ideology in a violent group
People have a needs for significance and join a group. Once they are part of the group, ideology influences them (which can lead to extremism):
–> Significance quest links to violent extremism ONLY through the role of group identity and ideology.
The group creates the link between the group itself and the ideology, not the individual itself. Once people are part of the group, ideology facilitates:
- A shared sense of what we stand for (bonding, having a mission).
- Presenting a negative image of others.
Communicating ideology
Ideology is often communicated through leaders of the group. They are often selected because they are the ‘prototypical’ people of the group. They embody the values and ideology and present the group to the outside world. They are often decision makers and have a position of influence (formal or informal).
Ideological leadership
Often influence groups through shared beliefs and sketching a view of what things should look like, which is different from practical leadership. BUT:
- Operational leaders are often much more closely related to the network of the group.
- Operational leaders often have greater influence, because they have more personal connections to the group.
Leadership characteristics
- Older than their followers
- More experience/ longer careers within the group
- More likely to be male
- In violent groups: violent characteristics
Study about violence of leaders
Why leaders might be LESS violent than their followers:
- More aware of the risks
- Less of a need to prove themselves
Why violent leaders might MORE violent than their followers:
- Because they often become part of they group due to their willingness to engage in violence.
Findings: leaders are LESS likely to personally engage in violence.
Hierarchy in a group
Strong hierarchy in a group causes more violent attacks and the attacks were more lethal. Hierarchically organised groups are more effective in carrying out attacks, because:
- They have more functional differentiation (people do what they are good at).
- Accountability
- Clear command structure
Removal of the leader in militant groups
After a leader is removed from the group (in this case, decapitated), their military target attacks decreases, but the balance shifted towards civilian targets, which increased.
Removal of the leader in criminal groups
Leadership removal in these criminal groups caused a decrease of violence, but this effects disappeared after 9 months, because the business (like drug-trafficking) still goes on.
–> In criminal groups, leadership removal is not effective in the long term.
–> Leader removal also causes more violence between the groups, because one group is now ‘weak’ without a leader.
What differentiates violent groups from non-violent groups
Violent groups are often characterised by:
- Oppositional bonding: seeing themselves as opposing to the other group.
- Group insularity: seeing themselves as isolated form the rest of society.
What differentiated violent ideological groups from non-violent ideological groups
Violent ideological groups are seen in times of social conflict and disruption. They are characterised by:
- Ideological righteousness: ideology aimed at being right.
- Ideological indoctrination: no space for other options.
Selective information processing
In violent groups selective information processing is more common as a feature of the leader. There is not a lot of space for different opinions and deviant information.
Conclusion
- Violent groups are characterised by features that increase clarity and direction.
- The features that clarify this can be through ideology or features of the leader.
- Leaders can convey an ideology.
- Both leaders and ideology give direction to the groups and to its violence.
- Leaders cause different types of attacks (more lethal)
