Culture of fear

Blog Number Two
Question: Is our culture becoming increasingly fearful, risk-averse, suspicious, even paranoid? What social psychology theory and research evidence speaks to this question?

Abstract
Hardly a day goes by when we are not confronted with stories of disaster on the horizon or threats to individual health, safety and security. It is clear that our culture is becoming increasingly fearful, risk-aversive and suspicious, walking a thin line on bordering into paranoid. Numerous social psychological theories to support this and research conducted into culture of fear in society will be discussed and critically analyzed. I will show how although today we can be seen as more fearful and risk-aversive than in our parents or grandparents generation, fear is not always a negative emotion and there are many advantages to being more cautious and aware of the world around us.

You have only to switch on the evening news tonight to get a good dose of what there is out there to be fearful about. We are fearful of the Equine influenza (Horse flu), a terrorist attack on our own soil, airline safety, cancer, ‘stranger danger’ and the safety of offspring, just to mention a few. It is clear that our culture is becoming increasingly fearful (Furedi, 2007; Glassner, 1999), risk-averse (March, 1996), suspicious, perhaps even to the extent of being paranoid, when in fact we are living longer, healthier, happier lives than ever before (Furedi, 1997; Glassner, 1999; Hogg & Vaughan, 2005). In spite of this, we have even been labeled the age that ‘loves to be scared’.

Fear and risk minimizing measures are easily observable in everyday life. We seem to be increasingly fearful compared to our parents and grandparents generations (Furedi, 1997), however it can be seen that we are fearful of the wrong things (Cadzow, 2004). For instance, you can see young females lock their doors for fear when they get into their car at night, but dangerously talk on their mobile phone while driving. You can see young children not allowed to play outside after dark but are allowed to sit in their rooms on the internet being exposed to all sorts of damaging information as well as predators. In my parent’s day, they did not travel in cars containing air bags and at the beach my mum would put baby oil on her skin to ‘make it softer and burn more easily, so that I would tan more easily.’ As a 12 year old she used to hop on the train from Newcastle and head down to Sydney for the day by herself (A. Myers, personal communication, October 4, 2007). It is clear that our perception of risk is out of proportion to the reality of risk. Compared to my upbringing, people of my parents generation had much more freedom and lived their lives with less knowledge and awareness of the consequences, for example of getting skin cancer by putting baby oil on your skin instead of sunscreen. Although our parents generation seemed to be more free and innocent, we have grown more fearful but we have also become more wise and educated, more healthy and more aware (Furedi, 2007; Glassner, 1999; Hogg & Vaughan, 2005; Tranter, 1996).

It is natural for parents to be worried about their offspring, but when you look at the figures in the table shown in Appendix B, many of these fears are unfounded. Although we fear for our children’s safety and educate them heavily not to talk to strangers, it’s in fact the people that you already know that you should fear, with studies showing that more than 90 percent of Australian child homicide victims are killed by their own parents (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2005). Moreover, on average since 1999, only one child under the age of 15 is killed by a stranger per year in on our soil (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 1999). We are more fearful because we are now fully aware of the possible outcomes of allowing our child to go to the park by themselves and we would rather be called the ‘mean parent’ by the child and be risk-aversive rather than risk-taking (March, 1996; Roberts, Smith & Bryce, 1995).

Research

Research has found that individualistic cultures are more risk-aversive than collectivistic culture (Furedi, 1997; Glassner, 1999; Wadham, Pudsey & Boyd, 2007). This is evident in Western society with findings of studies indicating that we are becoming so risk-aversive that our children have been labeled the ‘bubble-wrap generation’ (Cadzow, 2004; March, 1996; Tranter, 1996).

Australian children have been found to have markedly decreased freedom due to fears held by parents than our British and American counterparts. This social isolation and constant nagging of children by their parents to ‘be careful on the swing, don’t go on the road, never talk to strangers’ has been found by behavioural scientists to be negatively impact their emotional and intellectual development (Furedi, 1997). Not just merely cushioning them through life, but parents bubble-wrapping their children will lead them to have a lack of exposure to developmental challenges and when they finally do come across a fear, ‘it will hit them for 6’. However, parents seem to disagree with the disadvantages of this ‘safety culture’ and have adopted the attitude of ‘better safe than sorry.’ Tranter (1996) found 80 per cent of 10-year-old German children were allowed to travel alone to places other than school compared with 37 per cent of Australian children. Dwindling family sizes has also been said to be factor, with parents given more temptation to treat each child like a ‘rare and fragile flower’ (Cadzow, 2004). Increased wealth and consequently comfort has also given families the feeling that they have more to lose and as a result, more for them to protect and safeguard (Tranter, 1996). The current average age of moving out of home is 25 (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2006) and although increases in house prices and competitiveness in the rental market cannot be ruled out as an influencing factor, neither can the comfort and safety of the family home that children feel (March, 1996).

Research also tells us that a culture filled with risk-aversion has been shown to have negative impacts, such as decreasing curiosity, increasing reluctance to learn from your mistakes and venture into the unknown which are urges essential for broadening and expanding your horizons (Baumeister & Bushman, 2008; Hogg & Vaughan, 2005; March, 1996). In order to become a well adjusted and well balanced adult, children need to be faced with fear and overcome it (Cadzow, 2004).

Research has also shows that our perception of risk has changed dramatically. Scott Higginbotham, a NASA engineer emphasized this in his statement:

‘We go fight a war in 1940 and we lose millions of people, but the result was worth it in the end. We go to another place these days, and if two people get shot, (the reaction is) ‘Oh my gosh. We need to pull out now’. Not to belittle human life – which is absolutely precious – but our perspective of risk has totally changed.’

When you are onboard a flight, you can witness countless people during the course of the flight getting up from their seats, walking around stretching, doing simple leg exercises and stretches to reduce the risk of getting Deep Vein Thrombosis. Yet a large study by doctors at the University of Amsterdam has found no evidence that air transport can raise passengers’ risk of DVT (Glassner, 1999).

Research has shown that as crime rates plunged throughout the 1990s, two-thirds of Americans believed they were soaring (Glassner, 1999) and were afraid of the ‘mad poisoner’ at Halloween (see Appendix F). Media influences can therefore be seen as making us fearful of the wrong things (Furedi, 1997; Glassner, 1999; Tranter, 1996). We are in fact not living in more dangerous times, but we are clearly living in times that are more highly aware of the dangers that may lie in wait around us (Furedi, 1997).

Theories

There are numerous explanations that have been put forward to explain this ‘culture of fear’ that will be discussed. In this day and age, we are very prone to finding a party we can hold accountable for every single accident ‘that could and should have been prevented’ (Glassner, 1999). The topic of ‘culture of fear’ is no exception, whereby we have a tendency to point our fingers at politicians and the media (Furedi, 1997). Politicians use ‘scare campaigns’ to gain power and create an image that they are the ‘publics protector’ and media uses it, intelligently crafting their news stories in a very dramatic way to get their ratings up (Singer & Endreny, 1993). However, it is also important to bear in mind that the media increase or calms society’s sense of risk, but do not cause it (Furedi, 1997, Glassner, 1999). Some cultures may be more impressionable than others by media reports (Tranter, 1996).

One major theory of this culture of fear is the cultivation theory, which is supported chiefly by George Gerbner. This theory underlines the negative affects of media violence and states that people often get deceived with false images and perceptions of the outside world, for example violence on television can lead to ‘mean world syndrome’ where people get perception that the world is a much worse and evil place than it actually is.

Glassner reinforces this theory, stating three key elements that the media uses in successfully creating fear and risk-aversive behaviour:

1) From a mere few isolated incidents, mass media creates panics & hysteria, intelligently crafting news stories, making them very dramatic
2) Hard scientific proof is replaced with anecdotal evidence
3) The people that the media locates to make comments do not have the authorization to be regarded as an expert.

It is clear that our perception of risk is out of proportion to the reality of risk.

In his book Culture of fear, Furedi (2002) also highlights the five key trends he believes has contributed to this risk-aversive society as well as a culture of fear (See Appnedix E) whereby safety has become a moral principle and top priority over everything else; as well as the crucial loss of the belief of individual autonomy.

Our culture becoming increasingly fearful has been heavily discussed, but in terms of our culture becoming increasingly suspicious, one can draw on the 2005 Cronulla riots, whereby the intense suspicious of Middle Eastern Australians lead to the scene of racist, mob-violence in what has been described as a ‘disgusting, un-Australian and shameful behaviour’ involving a 5,000-strong mob assaulting people suspected of being Lebanese origin (Wadham, Pudsey & Boyd, 2007). This social psychological example of group behaviour comprises of plentiful examples that we have studied over the course of this semester, including anti-social behaviour, prejudice, stereotypes, aggression, diffusion of responsibility, deindividuation, in groups and out groups (Baumeister & Bushman, 2008; Hogg & Vaughan, 2005), as well as the negative affects of the media.

In summation, it is clear that our culture has become increasingly fearful, risk-averse and suspicious of others. Although the blame seems to lie with politicians and mass media, there are numerous theories suggesting causes for the culture of fear. In spite of the fact that we may have grown more fearful, fear is not a terribly negative emotion and over time we have also grown more wise, more aware of risks as well as living longer, healthier lives. Various advantages and disadvantages have been discussed and I believe that society needs to find a healthy balance somewhere between content with your lifestyle and actively aware of your surroundings. Moreover, I believe this importance of taking risks needs to be highlighted to our youths.

References

Australian Bureau Statistics http://www.abs.gov.au/

Baumeister, R. F., & Bushman, B. J. (2008). Social psychology and human nature (1st ed.) Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Beck, U. (1996). ‘Risky society and the provident state’, in Lash, S., Szerszynski, B. and Wynne, B. (eds) Risk, environment and modernity: Towardsa new ecology (London: Sage), pp. 28-9; and Beck, Risk Society, p.26.

Cadzow, J. (2004, January 17) ‘The bubble-wrap generation’, The Sydney Morning Herald, Good. Weekend supplement, p. 18.

Furedi, F. (1997). Culture of fear: Risk-taking and the morality of low expectation. London: Cassell.

Glassner, B. (1999). The culture of fear: Why Americans are afraid of the wrong things. New York: Basic Books.

Harms, E. (1937). Paranoid tendencies in social behaviour. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 32(3-4), 431-438.

Hogg, M.A. & Vaughan, G.M. (2005). Introduction to Social Psychology (4th ed.). Harlow: Pearson/Prentice Hall.

Kaufman, W. (1994). No turning back: Dismantling the fantasies of environmental thinking. New York: Basic Books.

March, J.G. (1996). Learning to be risk averse. Psychological review, 103(2), 309-319.

Roberts, H., Smith, S. & Bryce, C. (1995). Children at risk? Safety as a social value. Buckingham: Open University Press.

Singer, E. & Endreny, P.M. (1993). Reporting on risk. New York: Russell Sage Foundation.

Tranter, P. J. (1996) Children's independent mobility and urban form in Australasian, English and German cities., in: D. Hensher, J. King and T. Oum (Eds.) World Transport Research: Proceedings of the seventh world conference on transport research, Volume 3: Transport Policy, pp. 31-44, Sydney, World Conference on Transport Research.

Wadham, B., Pudsey, J. & Boyd, R. (2007). Culture and education. Frenchs Forest: Pearson Prentice Hall.

Appendix A: Self Evaluation
Theory
There are many social psychological theories which speak to this idea of a culture of fear and with the restrictive word limit in mind, I clearly identified and discussed the major and most relevant theories, applying them to real life situations. I did this to the best of my ability considering this was a topic not directly covered in the unit.

Research
There has been much research conducted into risk-aversion, paranoia and fearfulness within our culture, however research directly related to ‘culture of fear’ is rather limited. Moreover, research has failed to find many other causes for this apart from the influence of mass media and scare campaigns by political leaders.

Written expression
Word count: 1,497 (not including abstract, quotations, subheadings, in-text references and citations, appendices or reference list)
My blog is laid out in an easy to read format, with a light background and dark font. Tables, quotations, appropriate statistics as well as subheadings have made my argument more clear and organized.

Online engagement
My online engagement has improved greatly since the submission of the first blog and my technological skills and knowledge in using blogging has also increased significantly. Prior to the actual Blog 2 submission, I posted numerous other blogs relating to the topic of ‘culture of fear’ as well as embedding a video and creating two separate polls to draw feedback from other students.

Appendix B

A Safer Place Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics
Deaths of children aged five to 14 1972 1982 1992 2002

All causes 883 715 433 358

Medical conditions 474 343 234 225

External causes 409 372 199 133

Motor vehicle accidents 239 234 117 68

Pedal cyclist 45 54 14 7

Pedestrian 106 62 40 24

Other 88 118 63 37

Accidental poisoning 6 3 0 0

Accidental falls 7 9 5 5

Accidents caused by fires and flames 7 8 6 2

Accidental drownings and suffocation 79 43 27 32

Suicide 5 12 7 8

Homicide 10 17 7 5

Appendix C – Notable quotations

‘Anyone who set out to discover new countries and continents – like Colomubus – certainly accepted ‘risks’. But there were personal risks, not global dangers like those that arise for all of humanity from nuclear fission or the storage of radioactive waste. In the earlier period, the word ‘risk’ had a note of bravery and adventure, not in the threat of self-destruction of all life on Earth.’

‘The power of technology to extend our perceptions of the natural world has challenged even our strongest principles. ‘Thou shalt not kill’ is still a sound idea, but because we can see into wombs, fertilise human eggs in a test tube, and pump air and blood into people after their brain had died, we are now arguing over the very definition of life and killing… we are using sophisticated biological investigation and computer calculations to measure risk. We are going to have to decide how much risk is too much, and even how many deaths we will tolerate.’ Kaufman (1994)

Suburbs are known only to dogs and children.
They sniff, circle, explore, trespass, uncover,
Unguessed, circuitous byways and acquire
Bizarre acquaintances. Children and dogs discover
All of a suburb…
-Nancy Keesing

‘Not anymore they don’t. The dogs are on leashes. The kids are inside.’ Jane Cadzow

"False and overdrawn fears only cause hardship" Barry Glassner

Appendix D: Glossary of terms used
Flash mob - a large group of people who assemble suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual action for a brief period of time, then quickly disperse.

DVT - Deep vein thrombosis is a condition where a blood clot forms in a deep vein, usually in the leg. DVT can cause pain and may lead to complications such as pulmonary embolism. It most commonly happens in the deep veins of the lower leg (calf), and can spread up to the deep veins in the thigh. Rarely, it can develop in other deep veins, for example in the arm.

‘mean world syndrome’ - can occur when frequent consumers of news media begin to perceive the world around them as an unrealistically mean and dangerous place. It is described as the distinguishing characteristic of Media Induced Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (MIPTSD).

Appendix E

In his book Culture of fear, Furedi (2002) also highlights the five key trends he believes has contributed to this risk-aversive society as well as a culture of fear:

1. Moral shift in reaction to harm, with individuals and groups no longer believing in natural disasters or acts of God. People are quick to suspect someone is behind it and find that someone to pin the blame on.
2. Harm is portrayed in an overly dramatic fashion. People are no longer expected to rise upwards and onwards from their ordeals, but are labeled ‘perpetually haunted’ and ‘scarred for life’.
3. In spite of the fact we are living healthier and longer lives, life is perceived as a dangerous thing.
4. Safety has become a moral principle and has taken number one priority over everything else. Schools now have slogans that ‘our number one priority is your children’s safety’ however Furedi raises the questions that shouldn’t their priority it be teaching children to read and write?
5. Radical redefinition of personhood – people no longer believe in the idea of individual autonomy. People are represented as weak and vulnerable decreasing our capacity to deal with risks.

Appendix F

At Halloween time in America in 1995, media reports were rife about a ‘mad poisoner’ putting razor blades and poison in Halloween confectionary and distributing it to children (Glassner, 1999). This fear still lives in the United States today although until 2000, there had not been a single proven incident in which a child was injured by Halloween sweet from a stranger (Glassner, 1999). Parents should be fearful more of the sugar and fat content of the confectionary and junk food their children put into their mouths at Halloween more so than the threat of ‘poisoned sweets’ given out by strangers.

Travel warnings - do you fear them?

All part of the culture of fear are the constantly updated travel advisories for each country worldwide. In the present day, it is clear that caution must be taken wherever you choose to travel, moreso than you might have 10 or 20 years ago. The increasing threat of terrorism scares us all, and not only on our own soil, but the threat to travelling Australians. More than 5 years on from the Bali bombings, it is still a popular travel destination.

Even from 2 years ago, the number of Australian tourists choosing to travel to Bali has increased significantly. Are we all sick of the never ending travel warnings? Are Australians more fearless than other nationalities? Do we believe that now Bali has had a terrorist attack, that the chances of another are slim?

Tourists flock to Bali despite new travel warnings
June 19, 2007

Bali, the lush Indonesian island famous for its sun-kissed beaches, is drawing tourists in droves, and travel warnings that Islamic militants might strike again has done little to dampen the spirit.

Almost five years after 202 people, including 88 Australians, were killed in the bombing of a Bali nightclub, tourists are back enjoying the island's nightlife and soaking up the sun on Bali's palm-fringed beaches.

"That was a sad event but Bali is too beautiful to resist. The place is bouncing back," said 23-year-old Australian Josh Donnelly as he walked past the now razed Sari Club, which was blown up in the 2002 bombing.

After the attack, Bali suffered a dramatic slump in tourism and locals such as taxi driver Gede Widiada found they could barely make ends meet.

"I have been selling my wife's jewellery in the past four years to run my family. But my income now is much better," said the taxi driver as he waited for tourists outside a resort.
Like Widiada, many shops, restaurants, and hotels on this island are finally seeing their fortunes revived.

Dubbed the "Island of Gods" for its myriad Hindu temples and religious rituals, Bali suffered another blow in 2005 when suicide bombers blew themselves up at three restaurants, killing 20 people.

The attacks in 2002 and 2005, aimed at Western targets, killed a total of 92 Australians.
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued an upgraded travel advisory on July 8, warning Australians that terrorists were actively planning attacks, including on Bali.

But despite these warnings, Australians who make up more than 15 per cent of the total foreign tourist arrivals in Bali, are flocking to one of their favourite destinations.

"I am not afraid of coming back to Bali. You could die in a road accident tomorrow," said Donnelly.
Indonesian police say the security situation in the country at the moment is favourable.
Tourism in Bali, a predominantly Hindu region in Muslim Indonesia, provides a livelihood for 70 per cent of the three million people living on this island of surfing beaches.
Shops selling batik clothing, carvings and silverware near the famous Kuta beach reported increased sales since this year, although they have still not reach pre-2002 levels.
"We have probably reached just 60 or 70 per cent of that level. Two years ago, it was just 30-40 per cent," said Tina, an assistant at a shop selling paintings to tourists.

Middle-aged women providing foot and shoulder massages on Kuta beach still hurl abuses at the bombers.
Bagus Sudibya, an adviser at the Bali Tourism Board, said the industry and the government had jointly spent nearly $US10 million ($A11.47 million) since last year to revive tourism to the island.

The island saw a 34 per cent jump in foreign tourist arrivals in the first five months of 2007 compared to the same period last year. Tourism figures show the average hotel occupancy in Bali so far in July was between 70 and 90 per cent, compared with 50-70 per cent in July 2006.
"It's the holiday season now and it's nice to see there that our rooms are fully occupied," said Made Kardana, resort assistant manager at Intercontinental Bali Resort.
While Jakarta has been aggressively promoting the island by holding major governmental meetings, hotels have been providing attractive packages to private business conference organisers.

"Business delegates are visiting the region and seeing it for themselves," Sudibya said.
Bali will also host the high profile Kyoto Protocol meeting in December, which will give a boost to arrivals this year.
In June Indonesian police arrested two alleged top Jemaah Islamiyah leaders. Among them was Abu Dujana, who admitted to heading a military wing of the network and is suspected by police of being involved in the first Bali bomb among other attacks.
"There is stepped-up security everywhere in Bali and the arrest of militants will also add to the region's confidence," Sudibya added.
Guards still frisk customers at doors of pubs and cars at the gates of hotels and resorts, but the mood is upbeat.
"The spirit of Bali never dies," said a discotheque manager Putu Budiasa as tourists bopped to hip-hop music.

Backlash: Governments anti-terror work 'may spur radicals'

After posting my previous blog last night, I awoke to this news and new findings about the governments anti-terror work to 'Help protect Australia from terrorism'

Anti-terror work 'may spur radicals'
Monday Oct 15 07:28 AEST

The federal government's hardline approach to terrorism prevention may spur on radicals, a new report compiled by Melbourne academics for Victoria Police says.

The Counter-Terrorism Policing and Culturally Diverse Communities report, the result of a three-year project initiated by Victoria Police and researched by Monash University terrorism experts, is expected to be released on Monday, Fairfax newspapers say.

It warns that the federal government's approach could fuel radicalisation and undermine Victoria Police efforts to build links with communities.

"The Australian government's approach to prevention of terrorism fits with the major policy approach being applied in the United States, and is at odds with the best available knowledge on the threat of terrorism and the way that threat is best countered," the report says.

Credible anecdotal evidence exists that extremists were already probing Victorian society for alienated individuals to recruit, it says.

Tough counter-terrorism laws catches up more innocent people than traditional anti-criminal approaches, the report says. "Evidence from the UK and US suggests the impact of this may be significant in terms of fuelling a process of alienation, social exclusion and, ultimately support for terrorism."

A better way would be community policing that emphasises social cohesion and human rights, the report says, as it is more likely to win the trust of communities, including Muslim communities.

Or read it here: http://news.ninemsn.com.au/article.aspx?id=63661

Why are so many fears in the air, and so many of them unfounded?

We have a virus called fear that is rapidly infecting Australian society, we are afraid of a threat yet to happen on our soil, a threat costing our government millions of dollars and a threat that will never kill as many Australians as smoking or obesity.

There seems to be no shortage of things that people are fearful of these days.

We fear for global warming. We are afraid of avian flu. We were petrified of SARS.

Many thought the world would end upon the new millennium.

We are fearful of the Equine influenza (Horse flu) and what will happen to Melbourne Cup Day 2007.

We dread future terrorist attacks. We are terrified about airline safety.

This topic of a ‘culture of fear’ interests me greatly and some key points I plan to focus on for my 2nd blog include:

Who fears what—and to what degree?

Is our culture becoming increasingly fearful, risk-averse, suspicious, even paranoid?

To what extent do these fears vary across various social groups?

How do fears shape identities, behaviours, morals, willingness to sacrifice freedoms, and other emotions?

What are the current trends by social groups such as the government, media etc that bring attention to specific fears in order to gain greater social control?

One reason I chose this topic was due to the fact that I have had numerous people from numerous countries tell me how paranoid they think the Australian government is. Upon hearing the first suggestion of this, I casually shrugged it off. However, the comments were becoming more and more frequent, so when a British friend of mine came around to my house to say hello and ask about travel advice for Thailand, he was absolutely gobsmacked when I showed him our governments travel advice website <http://www.smarttraveller.gov.au/>

He said to his knowledge the British government had nothing of the sort, and he was stunned at how comprehensive and detailed the information was. For every single country, there is a rating of precaution, ranging from ‘Be alert to own security’ right up to ‘Do not travel’

He also made a few interesting points such as ‘doesn’t this discourage you from travelling all together?’ and ‘if you completely abided by this website, where could you actually travel to?’
Each month up to half a million Australians travel overseas and this website, although it was made to protect and help travelling Australians, could have possibly done more harm than good for some.

On top of this, we also have a National Security Hotline:
National Security Hotline 1800 123 400, National Security Australia

This is a TV ad for the National Security Hotline http://youtube.com/watch?v=0x9vXEaGsL8

This 1 800 number attracted 500 calls in its first day - an early warning sign of how paranoid and suspicious we already are????

We also have a National Security Website http://www.nationalsecurity.gov.au/

We have new laws to stop ‘home grown terrorism’:

http://www.afp.gov.au/national/fighting_terrorism/home_grown_terrorism.html

Did you know we even have an Australian Ambassador for Counter-Terrorism?????

Is this all a bit much?? Where is the line between very cautious and paranoid??

How it happened: Genocide in Rwanda

During the 100 days between the 4th of April when President Habyarimana’s plane was shot down and the successful take-over by the Rwanda by the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) an estimated one million people were massacred (Smith, 1998), mostly members of the Tutsi tribe whom the Hutu tribe sought to be exterminated (Parkes, 1996). For such a massive amount of people to be killed in such a short space of time and under such a horrific circumstances, it is clear that numerous social psychological variables were influential and those variables and theories on how genocide occurs will be identified and discussed.

To begin with, prejudice and stereotypes intensify and become ethnic and cultural distinctions forming dangerous ‘in group’ and ‘out group’ patterns of thinking. In the case of Rwanda, many believe the colonial rulers from Belgium can be seen as introducing this way of thinking, by projecting their own cultural divisions and racist ways of thinking on Rwanda (Smith, 1998). When they arrived in Rwanda, they gave Tutsis special privileges based on earlier reports by missionaries and researches claiming that the Tutsis were ‘the most intelligent’. Creating such a strong social stratification and division between ethnic groups can lead to an ideology of hatred being formed. The group who feels underprivileged then starts to blame not only their own problems and their groups problems, but the problems of society on the ‘out group/aliens’ and a frame of mind forms that those problems will only be resolved if the group is eliminated (Eltringhame, 2006; Parkes, 1996; Zimbardo, 2007). Tension therefore increases along with rivalry and this can drive the group from just feeling this way, to actually doing something about it. In the case of the Rwandan genocide, it can be seen that this strong hatred and destructive ideologies held by the Hutus were the strong driving force that pushed them from feelings of strong hatred to acts of strong hatred carried out on the Tutsis (Smith, 1998).

Once these patterns of thought are in motion, uncertainty and destabilization of the government at national and local levels can create an opening for others to take control (Eltringham, 2006; Parkes, 1996). In the case of Rwanda, after the president’s plane was shot down, by which party is still to this day unknown, it created insecurity and instability at both national and local heights, ultimately creating opportunity for some Hutus to rally to take control.

After meticulous planning and the decision to take control has been put in motion, the group must rally to take control (Eltringham, 2006), using and spreading propaganda to acquire as many participants as they possibly can. This propaganda needs to intelligently justify their proposed actions and in the case of the Hutus, it can be seen that their propaganda was incredibly well crafted, using radio broadcasts to reinforce the needed ingredient of divisionism and social pressure in order to gain mass participants (Smith, 1998). In order to reach their genocidal goals, they realized they had to make the message clear that it was ‘us’ versus ‘them’, Hutus versus Tutsi with no room for anyone in between. Furthermore, the influential leaders seeking to gain control use various methods in order to gain mass participants. For example, studies of past genocides have shown threats (Suedfeld, 2000), force, desirable incentives (Parkes, 1996), widespread indoctrination, coercion (Eltringham, 2006), intimidation and rationalization of their behavior are commonly used tools. Many of these were present within the influential Hutu extremists techniques, who threatened that those who worked together with Tutsis for reconciliation would be considered ‘traitors’ and would consequently be ‘marked for death’; potential participants were given new incentives to loot houses and properties; they wanted to avoid suspicion they were hiding the enemy in their home and fear of negative consequences such as death and torture. These mass murdering individuals are able to commit these horrifying acts due to dissociation (Parkes, 1996; Zimbardo, 2007), whereby the victims were dehumanized and devalued, making the killings easier and making empathy with them unlikely. The Hutus dehumanized the Tutsis, referring to them as ‘inyenzi’ meaning cockroach, in their minds reducing them to animals (Barker, 2004), making it easier to kill them. Reversal of morality is also commonly present in genocides (Suedfeld, 2000; Staub, Pearlman, Gubin & Hagengimana, 2005), whereby killing the victims ‘becomes the right, moral thing to do’ and it can be seen as a ‘racial cleansing’ for the good of the country (Mamdani, 2001).

To explain how people can turn into these evil, mass killers with no sense of remorse or understanding of what they have done (Finzch, 2005), the perpetrators must be examined on an individual level, as well as within the group. In the documentary Ghosts of Rwanda the perpetrators were described as ‘not human’, ‘pure evil’ and ‘killing machines amongst others (Barker, 2004). Some reasons put forward for their participation include they were conforming to the group, saying they were just ‘doing what others around them were doing’, they wanted to avoid suspicion they were hiding the enemy in their home, obedience to authority (Zimbardo, 2007), the knowledge of how to kill, with many Hutu members had already been given the opportunity of lessons on how to kill (Parkes, 1996), and Zuckerman (1994) proposes the individual trait of sensation seeking as an explanation, that these perpetrators were looking for a thrill and the perpetrators realized they received excitement out of killing. In the documentary, it was also stated that once these perpetrators made the first killing, it was easier to commit the second, and then once they had killed dozens of people, killing dozens more became insignificant and ‘normal’. During the day, they were had either ‘just killed and were looking to kill again, or hadn’t killed yet and needed to quench their thirst for a kill which they hadn’t done yet that day.’ Skinner (1968) also proposes a reinforcement theory, stating that rewards given for consequences will increase a behavior and the way to successfully and efficiently increase a behavior is to make the behavior ‘more frequent, more intense, more likely’. All of these influencing factors resulted in the mass participation of perpetrators and lead to a successful genocide in Rwanda.

Country factors: Rwanda
Other factors which can be seen to have aided the Hutus towards a successful genocide include Rwanda’s dense geographic settlement (Staub et al., 2005), a country history of institutions geared towards mass participation, the structure of their political system, in that the more power those who rule have, the less human rights and civil liberties of their people, then the more likely the rulers will commit genocide and mass murder (Parkes, 1996). All of these factors acting simultaneously on the Hutu tribe lead to the unfortunate and horrific but successful genocide that occurred in Rwanda.

It is clear that many impacting social psychological variables were present within Rwanda, and when they reach a ‘perfect storm’ or optimal level, genocide is highly likely. There have been many theories put forward for the explanations of genocide, but current thinking is that genocide includes a combination of all of them. Genocide ultimately begins with ethnic division and ‘us versus them’ patterns of thinking, which commonly stem from long held stereotypes and prejudices. With psychology’s contributions into genocide and their causes, warning signs and social psychological variables which could result in genocide can therefore hopefully be detected and future genocides prevented.



References

Barker, G. (2004). Ghosts of Rwanda [video recording]. United States of America: Public Broadcasting Services, (frontline). Viewed during Week 4 Lecture.

Eltringham, N. (2006). 'Invaders who have stolen the country': The Hamitic Hypothesis, Race and the Rwandan Genocide. Social Identities: Journal for the Study of Race, Nation and Culture, 12(4), 425-446. Retrieved from Ebsco host database on the 30th of July, 2007.

Finzsch, N. (2005). 'It is scarcely possible to conceive that human beings could be so hideous and loathsome': Discourses of genocide in eighteenth- and nineteenth-century America and Australia. Patterns of Prejudice, 39(2), 97-115.

Mamdani, M. (2001). When Victims Become Killers: Colonialism, Nativism and the Genocide in Rwanda. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press.

Parkes, C.M. (1996). Genocide in Rwanda: Personal reflections. Mortality, 1(1), 95-110.

Skinner, B. (1968). The technology of teaching. New York: Appleton-Crofts.

Smith, D. N. (1998). The Psychocultural Roots of Genocide: Legitimacy and Crisis in
Rwanda. American Psychologist, 53:7, 743-753. Retrieved from Psychinfo database on the 7th of August, 2007.

Staub, E. (2003). The Psychology of Good and Evil. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Staub, E., Pearlman, M.A., Gubin, A. & Hagengimana, A. (2005). Healing, Reconciliation, Forgiving and the Prevention of Violence After Genocide or Mass Killing: An Intervention And It's Experimental Evaluation in Rwanda. Journal of Social & Clinical Psychology, 24(3), 297-334.

Suedfeld, P. (2000). Reverberations of the Holocaust fifty years later: Psychology's contributions to understanding persecution and genocide. Canadian Psychology Psychologie Canadienne, 41(1), 1-9. Retrieved from Ebsco host database on the 11th of August, 2007.

Zimbardo, P. G. (2007). The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil. New York: Random House.

Links

Orphans of Rwanda – make a donation
http://www.orphansofrwanda.org/

General information
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwandan_Genocide

Official coordination site provides information on the activities and progress of the UN agencies working in Rwanda
http://www.unrwanda.org/