Terrorism KQ- Social 3

Question 1

What is your Key Question for social psychology?

Answer 1

Using Social Psychology, how can we explain what makes people commit acts of terrorism against fellow human beings?

Question 2

Explain what is mean by terrorism?

Answer 2

The use or threat of action to influence a government or intimidate the public for a political or religious cause. Terrosism is not new and has been used since the beginning of recored history. Today, the most common types of terrorism include bombings, hostage taking and hi-jacking.

Question 3

Why is this an important key question for today’s society?

Answer 3

1. According to MI5, the threat from terrorism has increased significantly from the 1960’s and is now at
   an all-time high for the UK.
2. Terrorism affects our public safety,
3. It also affects our quality and enjoyment of lite.
4. In addition to this, fighting terrorism is detrimental to the economics of the country.

Question 4

How has the explanation for terrorism changed in recent years?

Answer 4

In the 1960’s, it was believed that terrorists had a disposition as a psychopath or had some psychological abnormality:
This means that is part of the persons personality that may influence whether they become a terrorist or not.
However, more recent research seems to suggest that that the causes of
terrorism are not rooted in the individual, but in the wider situation in which terrorists live and act.

Question 5

Give an example of terrorism in the news and briefly describe it.

Answer 5

The 7/7 London Bombings in 2005 killed 52 people with hundreds of more injured.
4 suicide bombers carrying rucksacks filled with explosives attached Central London.
3 were on the London Underground and one on a double-decker bus.
It’s considered thr worst single terrorist atrocity on British soil.

Question 6

Outline the Social Identity Theory by Tajfel

Answer 6

Social identity theory suggests that the mere presence of another group is enough to cause conflict with another group. Groups are referred to as in-groups and out-groups. People tend to favour their own group as social identity affects personal identity– self-esteem. SIT also suggests the three processes involved in becoming prejudice are social categorisation social identification and social comparison.

Question 7

Explain how Social Identity Theory might explain terrorism

Answer 7

Terrorists may believe they are the in-group and categorise themselves as such at the expense of the anti-terrorists (out- group). By identifying with one group, they start too take on the identity of the group, which may involve dressing in a particular way, using particular language and
developing common beliefs, This in-group favouritism, (to their own
country/ religion/ cause) is important for the group to uphold their self-
esteem and may lead to discrimination against other groups in order to
maintain this self-esteem.

Question 8

Briefly outline Realistic conflict theory by Sherif

Answer 8

RST suggests prejudice is a result of conflicts between groups. This conflict arises due to competition between the groups. The conflict can lead to increasing animosity towards the other group and can cause ongoing feuds to develop.

Question 9

Explain how Realistic Conflict Theory might explain terrorism

Answer 9

Realistic conflict theory would suggest that there may be competition between the terrorist and anti-terrorist group; this could be in the form
social or political ideology or even physical respurces, which can lead to discrimination.

Question 10

Briefly describe Milgram’s agentic state of obedience

Answer 10

When a person allows someone else to direct their behaviour instead choosing it themselves. They’re acting as an agent for someone else in authority. They assume because someone else is directing them that the other person is responsible for their behaviour.

Question 11

Explain how Agency theory might

explain terrorism

Answer 11

Terrorists may put themselves in an
agentic state in order to obey leaders to carry out terrorist acts. Displacing responsibility of the act onto leaders or
the cause or God.

Question 12

How might social identity theory be applied to help reduce terrorism?

Answer 12

Encourage equal status where everyone is on the same social level and contact and communication is encouraged.
Deutsh & Collins (1951) found housewives in desegregated housing mixed regularly and hold each other to a much higher regard than housewives in segregated housing.
We can apply this to schools making sure that they are not segregated and make them as inclusive as possible.

Question 13

How might you apply realistic conflict theory to help reduce terrorism?

Answer 13

Get terrorist groups and anti-terrorist groups to work together towards a subordinate goal to remove the competition between them.
In schools children from different cultural backgrounds could be encouraged to work together on a superdinate goal e.g. designing a play space at school.
Or and getting wider/ larger communities to work on making a communal garden for the local area.

Question 14

How might you apply Agency theory to help reduce terrorism?

Answer 14

Having an awareness of how we go into an agency state when we obey authority figures helping understand this process and shows us sivations where this may happen. Having an understanding of this can help us make better choices. For example the government is using the PREVENT strategy in schools to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

Question 15

Give one strength and one weakness of SIT to explain terrorism

Answer 15

•A strength of Social Identity Theory in
explaining terrorism is that it can show how people begin to identify with their group and eventually start seeing their in-group as better than the out- group in order to maintain their own self esteem. Tajfel et al. (1970) demonstrated in a lab experiment how boys favoured their in group and would actively discriminate against the out-group.
•However, Tajfel’s results cannot be
generalised beyond young boys in a lab setting, so they can’t necessarily be applied to the complex factors involved in terrorist activities.

Question 16

Give one strength and one weakness of using Agency Theory to explain terrorism

Answer 16

•A strength of Milgram’s agency theory is that it explains that people obey authority figures and can commit atrocious acts on other human
beings. The theory would suggest that the terrorist goes into an agentic state where they don’t necessarily act from their own free will, but place the responsibility of the act on the authority figure. Milgram (1963) demonstrated that 65% of people in
his study would potentially administer fatal shocks to another person under the orders of an authority figure.
•However, Milgram’s studies lacked
ecological validity because they were carried out in a laboratory environment at Yale University, so it can’t be assumed that these results would apply to people in the real-life
world with many other factors acting on them.

Question 17

Give one strength and one weakness of using RCT to explain terrorism

Answer 17

• A strength of realistic conflict theory in explaining a terrorism it shows how superordinate goals can be used to reduce conflcit between groups. For example when the boys were asked to work together to fix the camp water supply hostility between the boys significantly reduced.
• However RCT may not be complete im explaining terrorism as Sherif’s own writings suggest that the boys are becoming hostile towards the other group before any competition was introduced.

Question 18

Does the more recent research argue that terrorism occurs because of the person’s personality or is it due to situational factors?

Answer 18

• Recent research suggest that terrorism is not created by dispositional factors. More recent ideas are that it is extreme situational factors that influence people resorting to terrorism.
• However there are still some theories
  (alternative explanations) which suggest that dispositional factors play a part in peoples prejudice i.e.
  authoritarian personality traits.