Violence: Sources & Consequences

1. Violence: Sources & Consequences Topics 4, 6, 8, & 9

2. Topic 4: Genocide An act intended to destroy a whole social group (e.g., ethnic, religious, racial, nationality) Mass killing: intent to kill large number of people from a particular group; may be a way station for genocide Staub (2001a, 2001b)

3. Genocide & Mass Killing(unfolds sequentially) • Instigation: Difficult life conditions and/or intergroup conflict • Threat to basic needs • Elevating ingroup; derogating outgroup; scapegoating; creating or adopting ideology • Initial Harming • Altered societal & individual identity; changes in norms and institutions • Mass killing and/or genocide Staub (2001a, 2001b)

4. Some Risk Factors Factors that put a society at risk for genocide (no sequential order) • Legitimizing ideologies • Authority Orientation • Cultural devaluation • Unhealed group trauma (victim-perpetrator cycle) Staub (2001a, 2001b)

5. Risk Factors • Ideology of antagonism (define self = opposite of enemy) • Monolithic vs. pluralistic cultures • Ideology of superiority • Leaders exacerbating group differences • Bystander complicity Staub (2001a, 2001b)

6. Intervention Early Warning Systems that activate responses Private high-level communications Public demands Sanctions (e.g., economic boycotts, withholding aid) International forces Intensity of Intervention Staub (2001b)

7. Prevention • Meet human needs • Reconciliation (memorials, etc.) • Dialogues (problem solving workshops) • Truth commissions • War tribunals • Democratization • Teaching children Staub (2001b)

8. Topic 6: Sociopsychological Foundations of Intractable Conflicts • Over time, intractable conflicts evolve a Sociopsychological Infrastructure: Shared beliefs that provide collective narratives, and collective emotional orientations. • Two Collective Narratives: Past & Present • Collective Memory • Ethos of Conflict Bar-Tal, 2007, ABS

9. Collective Memory • Socially constructed history of conflict • Memory: selective attn, processing, recollection, etc. • Black/white picture; parsimonious, unequivocal • Public Memory & Official (Govt) memory Bar-Tal, 2007, ABS

10. Collective Memory Themes • Justify outbreak of conflict • Positive image of in-group • Victim of opponent • Delegitimization of opponent Bar-Tal, 2007, ABS

11. Ethos of Conflict • Narrative about the present • Eight themes: Societal belief in • justness of own goals • importance of security • positive collective self-image • one’s victimization • delegitimizing the opponent • patriotism • unity • peace Bar-Tal, 2007, ABS

12. Collective Emotional Orientation • Emphasis on one or a number of particular emotions • Collective fear orientation • Collective hatred (as a potent motivating force) Bar-Tal, 2007, ABS

13. Bar-Tal, 2007, ABS

14. Functions of Sociopsychological Infrastructure • Epistemic: coherent understanding and meaning in a stressful situation • Moral: justify destructive acts toward the enemy • Social Dominance: needs for differentiation and superiority (Sidanius & Pratto, 1999) • Preparedness: attune members to threatening acts of enemy – satisfying needs for predictability & mastery • Motivation: solidarity, mobilization, and action Bar-Tal, 2007, ABS

15. Social Identity • Based on self-categorization • SI is shaped by sociopsychological infrastructure Bar-Tal, 2007, ABS

16. Institutionalization of Sociopsychological Infrastructure • Extensive Sharing and Socialization • Wide Application (in daily conversations, etc.) • Expression in Cultural Products • Appearance in Educational Materials Bar-Tal, 2007, ABS

17. Sociopsychological Infrastructure • Responsible for Vicious Cycle of Intractable Conflict Intractable Conflict Sociopsychological Infrastructure Bar-Tal, 2007, ABS

18. Processes through which individuals and societal institutions become reliant upon, or dominated by the military Topic 8: Militarism (Winter & Pilisuk, 2001, PCV)

19. Typology of Peace & Violence Episodic Structural Episodic Violence Systemic Violence Structural Violence Violence Structural Peace- building Episodic Peace- building Systemic Peacebuilding Peacebuilding (Christie, 2006, JSI)

20. Structural violence is continuous, not intermittent During war: use resources (weapons, etc.) During peace: prepare for war Mythmaking throughout: threats Militarism as Structural Violence (Winter & Pilisuk, 2001, PCV)

21. Militarism kills people slowly, depriving them of basic need satisfaction (during war and peace) National military expenditures exceed expenditures for education in 34 Developing Countries (out of approx 100) Same is true for three “developed” countries: Israel, Russia, and USA! Approx 90% of global sales in arms from US Cost for one nuclear-powered submarine ($2.5 billion) could immunize the world’s children for one year. Militarism as Structural Violence (Winter & Pilisuk, 2001, PCV)

22. Causes of Militarism (Winter & Pilisuk, 2001, PCV)

23. 1. Traditional Explanations: Just War Theory • Criteria that must be met • Last Resort • Legitimate Authority • Self Defense • Moral Benefits must Exceed Costs • Noncombatant Immunity (Winter & Pilisuk, 2001, PCV)

24. Fear and deterrence Pride: of medals & membership in the “nuclear club” Realpolitik Offense/defense ambiguity Fundamental attribution error 1. Traditional Explanations:Political Psychology (Winter & Pilisuk, 2001, PCV)

25. Jobs and Profits! U.S. defense budget is justified often on the basis of economic rather than security reasons U.S. winners: McDonnell-Douglas, Boeing, Lockheed, etc. Selling small arms to developing nations 90% of deaths worldwide are within nations and caused by small arms 2. Monetary Explanation of Militarism (Winter & Pilisuk, 2001, PCV)

26. MilitarismThe Political-Economic-Scientific-Industrial System Politics (funding) Global Arms Trade: Militarization Jobs Science & Technology: Weapons Development

27. Universally, men are violent Men saturate the institutions of war Sexual imagery is common (e.g., penetration) 3. Masculinity Explanation of Militarism (Winter & Pilisuk, 2001, PCV)

28. Belonging to something larger than ourselves bonding to the platoon War monuments as religious experiences 4. Mystical (Winter & Pilisuk, 2001, PCV)

29. Militarism:Ben – The Ice Cream Guy http://ww11.e-tractions.com/truemajority/servlet/Gamelet;jsessionid=57573689B715CCEF1C71D878C57B84E5?req=BjEzO6PaM3E3tzM6bjEFtXM6B3Ef%2BWC3Q%2FmabjF9b9Z1ozMzGjEft2MzMjEEt3KaB3Ef%2Ba5ZpiFkv4x%3D

30. Topic 9: Cycles of Violence • First some background, based on: In the Wake of 9/11: The Psychology of Terror Pyszczynski, Solomon, and Greenberg (2003)

31. In the Wake of 9/11:The Psychology of Terror Chapters 1 & 2 Pyszczynski et al., 2003

32. Chapter 1 Terror in America: The Day Our World Chaged • Terror Management Theory • Not about how we cope with terrorism • How we cope with our awareness that death will be our ultimate fate • Answer: by fulfilling culturally sanctioned dreams Pyszczynski et al., 2003

33. Chapter 2Terror Management Theory • An evolutionary existential account of human behavior • Epistemological Assumptions • Interdisciplinary • Scientific • Maximize well-being • Grounded in evolution theory Pyszczynski et al., 2003

34. Terror Management Theory: Evolutionary Basis • Assumption: all living things strive for self-preservation • Humans: convoluted brain! • Freedom of reactivity (i.e., behavioral flexibility) • Consciousness and Self-awareness • Project ourselves into the future • Unsettling awareness that death is inevitable Pyszczynski et al., 2003

35. Terror Management Theory: Psycho-Cultural Basis • We experience “terror” at the thought of our own mortality • What saves us? • Culture: shared beliefs about reality Pyszczynski et al., 2003

36. Terror Management Theory:Psycho-cultural Basis To maintain psychological equanimity we need: • Faith in culturally constructed worldview that gives reality order, stability, meaning, and permanence • Belief that one is a significant contributor to this meaningful reality (Quote p17, para 1&2) Pyszczynski et al., 2003

37. Terror Management TheoryPsycho-cultural Basis • To manage terror, cultures give members “death transcending worldviews • Cultural Worldviews • Creation stories: Foundation for meaning systems • History stories: Includes stories of patriotism • By being part of or contributing to something larger than yourself, you can transcend death! Pyszczynski et al., 2003

38. Terror Management Theories • Culture and Immortality • Literal immortality: afterlife provided by religions (including reincarnation!) • Symbolic immortality: social connections and cultural contributions (Quote: 20;2;2-4) (Quote: 22;2;11-13) Pyszczynski et al., 2003

39. Terror Management Theory • Culture, Self-Esteem, Security • Biology: Bowlby’s work on attachment • Baby’s attachment system (bungee cord!) • Caregiver as a “need satisfier” • Caregiver as a “secure base” • Later: Caregiver as “conditional dispenser” of affection • Baby view: Good = safe and secure = self-esteem • Baby view: Bad = anxious and insecure = self-esteem Pyszczynski et al., 2003

40. Terror Management Theory • Culture, Self-esteem, and Security • Child realization of parent mortality • Meet cultural standards = self-esteem • Self-esteem is the culture-based belief that one is a good and valued participant in a meaningful reality • Self-esteem: protection against death Pyszczynski et al., 2003

41. Terror Management Theory • Conversion • Derogation • Assimilation • Accommodation • Annihilation The clash of cultural views about immortality! Pyszczynski et al., 2003

42. Summary of Terror Management Theory Chapter 3 Pyszczynski et al., 2003

43. Summary (p. 68-69) • Mortality salience effects (e.g., ingroup-outgroup bias and other forms of worldview defense) occur when thoughts of death are highly accessible but not immediately conscious • Mortality salience effects occur when people are in an experiential state of mind • Rational defenses (e.g., suppression) occur immediately after mortality salience is manipulated Pyszczynski et al., 2003

44. Summary • Defense of cultural worldviews occur only after a delay in the mortality salience manipulation • Death thought accessibility (coff__) is low immediately following mortality salience induction but increases over time • Why? Because proximal defenses (e.g., suppression) relax Pyszczynski et al., 2003

45. Summary • Subliminal death primes produce immediate increases in accessibility of death thoughts • Subliminal death primes result in increased worldview defense • High self-esteem and rational thinking moderate worldview defense • How? By lowering accessibility of death thoughts Pyszczynski et al., 2003

46. A Dual Process Model of Defense Against Conscious and Unconscious Death-Related Thoughts Thoughts of death enter consciousness V Proximal defenses: Suppression & rationalization V Increase in accessibility of death-related Thought outside consciousness V Distal terror management defenses: Worldview defense and self-esteem bolstering V Death thought accessibility is reduced and Potential terror is averted Pyszczynski et al., 2003

47. Psychological Impact of 9/11 Chapter 5 Pyszczynski et al., 2003

48. Psychological Impact • Physical attack • Symbolic attack on cultural icons • Result: Mortality Salience! • Evidence: Arndt (2002) • Subliminal images of WTC • Increased availability of death word fragments Pyszczynski et al., 2003

49. Reactions to 9/11 • Proximal Defenses • In response to conscious thoughts of death • Distal Defenses • In response to unconscious (more readily available) death thoughts Pyszczynski et al., 2003

50. Proximal Defenses • It Can’t Happen Here! • Distraction/Escapism • Alcohol consumption • Video rentals • Shopping • Music sales “Modern man is drinking and drugging himself out of awareness, or he spends his time shopping, which is the same thing (Becher, 1973).” Pyszczynski et al., 2003