Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- PART I INTRODUCTION AND CORE CONCEPTS
- PART II THE ROOTS OF HELPING OTHER PEOPLE IN NEED IN CONTRAST TO PASSIVITY
- PART III HOW CHILDREN BECOME CARING AND HELPFUL RATHER THAN HOSTILE AND AGGRESSIVE
- PART IV THE ORIGINS OF GENOCIDE, MASS KILLING, AND OTHER COLLECTIVE VIOLENCE
- 21 A Note on the Cultural–Societal Roots of Violence
- 22 The Psychology of Bystanders, Perpetrators, and Heroic Helpers
- 23 Steps Along a Continuum of Destruction: Perpetrators and Bystanders
- 24 The SS and the Psychology of Perpetrators: The Interweaving and Merging of Role and Person
- 25 The Origins of Genocide: Rwanda
- 26 Bystanders as Evil: The Example of Rwanda
- 27 Individual and Group Identities in Genocide and Mass Killing
- 28 Mass Murder: U.S. Involvement as Perpetrator, Passive Bystander, Helper
- 29 When Instigation Does Not Result in Mass Murder
- 30 Persian Gulf Conflict Was Reflection of Stormy Undercurrents in U.S. Psyche
- 31 Mob Violence: Cultural–Societal Sources, Instigators, Group Processes, and Participants
- 32 Understanding and Preventing Police Violence
- PART V THE AFTERMATH OF MASS VIOLENCE: TRAUMA, HEALING, PREVENTION, AND RECONCILIATION
- PART VI CREATING CARING, MORALLY INCLUSIVE, PEACEFUL SOCIETIES
- Appendix: What Are Your Values and Goals?
- Index
- References
21 - A Note on the Cultural–Societal Roots of Violence
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 07 May 2010
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- Preface
- Acknowledgments
- PART I INTRODUCTION AND CORE CONCEPTS
- PART II THE ROOTS OF HELPING OTHER PEOPLE IN NEED IN CONTRAST TO PASSIVITY
- PART III HOW CHILDREN BECOME CARING AND HELPFUL RATHER THAN HOSTILE AND AGGRESSIVE
- PART IV THE ORIGINS OF GENOCIDE, MASS KILLING, AND OTHER COLLECTIVE VIOLENCE
- 21 A Note on the Cultural–Societal Roots of Violence
- 22 The Psychology of Bystanders, Perpetrators, and Heroic Helpers
- 23 Steps Along a Continuum of Destruction: Perpetrators and Bystanders
- 24 The SS and the Psychology of Perpetrators: The Interweaving and Merging of Role and Person
- 25 The Origins of Genocide: Rwanda
- 26 Bystanders as Evil: The Example of Rwanda
- 27 Individual and Group Identities in Genocide and Mass Killing
- 28 Mass Murder: U.S. Involvement as Perpetrator, Passive Bystander, Helper
- 29 When Instigation Does Not Result in Mass Murder
- 30 Persian Gulf Conflict Was Reflection of Stormy Undercurrents in U.S. Psyche
- 31 Mob Violence: Cultural–Societal Sources, Instigators, Group Processes, and Participants
- 32 Understanding and Preventing Police Violence
- PART V THE AFTERMATH OF MASS VIOLENCE: TRAUMA, HEALING, PREVENTION, AND RECONCILIATION
- PART VI CREATING CARING, MORALLY INCLUSIVE, PEACEFUL SOCIETIES
- Appendix: What Are Your Values and Goals?
- Index
- References
Summary
When there is large-scale or widespread violence in a society, either cultural characteristics, societal conditions or, most likely, a combination of the two are exerting influence.
Genocidal violence is a societal process. To understand its origins and evolution, we must consider beyond individual psychology group psychological processes and their roots in culture, social conditions, and societal institutions (Fein, 1990; Staub, 1989). For the sake of simplicity in language, I will use the term genocidal violence to include both genocide – the attempt to eliminate a whole group of people, whether defined by race, religion, ethnicity, or political beliefs – and mass killing, in which there is no intention to eliminate a whole group. Genocides and mass killings often have fuzzy boundaries and shared determinants (Staub, 1989).
By considering only individual psychology, without the role of culture, social conditions, and group process, we will be unable to understand these phenomena and hampered in taking action to deal with them. My intention is to show the role of cultural characteristics and societal conditions in genocide or mass killing, including the way they generate and shape psychological processes and actions that contribute to violence.
Culture refers to the perspectives and meanings shared by members of a group: their views of the world and of themselves; their beliefs, values, and norms of conduct; their myths and conceptions of God and the spiritual; and so on. Social institutions, like schools, the legal system, religion, police, and the family, embody culture.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Psychology of Good and EvilWhy Children, Adults, and Groups Help and Harm Others, pp. 289 - 290Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2003