Prejudice: Key Question

Question 1

What is the key question?

Answer 1

Why do ordinary people commit genocide?

Question 2

What is genocide?

Answer 2

An act committed with the intent to eradicate a specific group of people, such as a religious group.

Question 3

Give 4 examples of what genocide can involve.

Answer 3

1) Murder
2) Torture
3) Deprivation
4) Sterilisation

Question 4

Give 3 examples of genocide.

Answer 4

1) Nazi Germany
- The Nazis tried to eradicate the Jews, past and future
2) Rwanda
- Hutus overthrew the Tutsis, 800,000 people dead
3) Cambodia
- Khmer Rouge overthrew ethnic minorities (e.g. Vietnamese, Chinese, Thais), targeting intellectuals first
- 1.7 million victims

Question 5

Why is this issue important?

Answer 5

As it has lead to millions of deaths (such as the one in Cambodia under Khmer Rouge’s rule) and so identifying the factors that lead to prejudice can provide solutions to prevent it from occurring again.

Question 6

List the 4 concepts from Social Psychology that can be used to help explain why ordinary people may commit genocide.

Answer 6

1) Agency Theory
2) Social Identity Theory
3) Authoritarianism
4) Realistic Conflict Theory

Question 7

Briefly describe how Agency Theory can explain genocide.

Answer 7

• An authority figure being present will lead to an agentic shift form the autonomous state the the agentic state in which individuals give up their free will
• They then follow the orders of that authority figure even if it goes against their morals, in which they will experience a moral strain and may dissent but not disobey
• The Nazis in WW2 were in the agentic state when discriminating against the Jews as they were following Hitler’s orders due to giving up their free will allowing them to commit the atrocities
• The constant reminder from propaganda and Nazi officers kept them in the agentic sate

Question 8

Evaluate 2 strengths of Agency Theory as an explanation for genocide.

Answer 8

P - Hofling’s (1966) research has high validity
E - Carried out a field experiment whereby 21/22 nurses gave overdose due to being in the agentic state under the authority figure of the doctor
E - Therefore provides real life evidence for people giving up their free will to authority to commit severe acts
P - Practical application for Nazi Germany
E - Due to the prejudice propaganda Nazis went through the agentic shift
E - Allowing them to commit the crimes due to not having their own free will

Question 9

Evaluate 2 weaknesses of Agency Theory as an explanation for genocide.

Answer 9

P - Milgram’s supporting study was lab based
E - Controlled conditions meant the setting was artificial
E - Cannot apply to real life and so solutions that help reduce factors leading to genocide are less creditable and may not work
P - Deterministic
E - It states that people give up their free will when they enter the agentic state and so are not in control of their own actions
E - However people and their reasons for genocide are more complex than that with individual differences that allow them to make their own decisions

Question 10

Briefly describe how Social Identity Theory can explain genocide.

Answer 10

• The presence of another group divides us into ‘us’ and ‘them’ due to the tendency to categorise things during social categorisation
• In-groups will find ways to increase their group esteem with social identification and so would use ways to make out-groups look inferior to them through social comparison
• This can escalate to genocide as may want to get rid of the out-group if they perceive them as a big threat to their esteem
• Nazi propaganda was designed to increase ‘otherness’ of the Jews, creating high esteem for the Nazis
• Used the 3 cog processes that led to genocide:
  1) Nazis/Jews, 2) Nazi Swastika/Star of David, 3) Nazis comparing themselves to the Jews

Question 11

Evaluate 2 strengths of Social Identity Theory as an explanation for genocide.

Answer 11

P - Support from Jane Elliot’s (1968) research
E - Brown eyed people and blue eyed people developed prejudice attitudes towards each other
E - Shows that the mere presence of another group can create prejudice and so is the case of many examples of genocide (theory can provide solutions to reduce)
P - Provides an explanation for prejudice when there is no outgroup threat on ingroup
E - As it states that the mere presence of an outgroup can cause discrimination towards them in order to maintain self-esteem of ingroup
E - Therefore providing an explanation for why someone may commit genocide on a group of people despite them not providing a reason

Question 12

Evaluate 2 weaknesses of Social Identity Theory as an explanation for genocide.

Answer 12

P - Much research comes from minimal group studies
E - Only demonstrates low level hostility (e.g. name calling in Jane Elliot)
E - Further explanation is needed as to how this could escalate to mass extermination of out-groups
P - Doesn’t give an explanation for the bits in between social identification and social comparison
E - Identifying with a group compared to genocide is a big leap
E - Doesn’t explain how it can get out of control

Question 13

Briefly describe how Authoritarianism can explain genocide.

Answer 13

• This personality type has characteristics prone to prejudice (e.g. hostility towards minorities)
• It is measured using the F-scale questionnaire whereby a high F-score indicate high fascism and prejudice
• Adorno looked at the childhood of people with this personality type and found that they had a strict upbringing and so couldn’t express hostility towards them for fear of punishments
• And so they differed hostility towards minority groups due to seeing them as easier targets which would explain the progression to violence in the form of genocide

Question 14

Evaluate 2 strengths of Authoritarianism as an explanation for genocide.

Answer 14

P - Adorno’s (1950) research supports
E - Uses quantitative data in his F-scale of 2,000 ppts
E - Reduces subjectivity and so gives a scientific method of looking at the reason for genocide
P - Individual differences has practical application
E - It provides an explanation for why 35% of Milgram’s (1963) ppts didn’t administer highest level of shock at 450V
E - Therefore has mundane realism as to why only some people commit genocide

Question 15

Evaluate 2 weaknesses of Authoritarianism as an explanation for genocide.

Answer 15

P - Reductionist
E - Only looks at one type of personality as the cause for prejudice
E - Prejudice is more complicated than that and so the reason why people would commit genocide is more complex
P - Doesn’t give an explanation for Nazi Germany
E - It doesn’t account for the sudden rise and fall in prejudice
E - And so maybe doesn’t explain mass prejudice in the form of genocide

Question 16

Briefly describe how Realistic Conflict Theory can explain genocide.

Answer 16

• Competition for resources or a conflict of interest increases prejudice between groups
• This can be extended to genocide due to a zero-sums fate whereby resources are so limited only one group can prosper and so they may take extreme action to ensure they are the superior group
• Germany was in a depression and the Nazis were blaming the Jewish people on the fall in the economy and so chose to eradicate them in a zero-sums fate to prosper

Question 17

Evaluate 2 strengths of Realistic Conflict Theory as an explanation for genocide.

Answer 17

P - Sherif’s (1954) study supports
E - When introducing competition between the two groups, conflict arose
E - Demonstrating that competition for resources could be the reason why people commit genocide to eradicate a population to solve the competition
P - Evidence from WW2
E - Competition for scarce resources resulted in prejudice against Jews because they had professional status
E - Has real life application and so increases the credibility of findings, and offers solutions by saying plentiful resources reduce/eradicate prejudice

Question 18

Evaluate 2 weaknesses of Realistic Conflict Theory as an explanation for genocide.

Answer 18

P - Sherif’s (1954) evidence is weak
E - Small sample of boy scouts
E - Cannot generalise to wider population and and so may not reflect how deep rooted prejudice is in the real world in the form of reasons for genocide
P - Correlational data
E - The best that can be said is that there is a relationship
E - Lacks validity in a causation and so has lower credibility as an explanation

Question 19

Briefly outline a conclusion for the key issue.

Answer 19

The theories are not a good enough explanation for genocide on their own and so combining them would provide a more holistic explanation for genocide with more detail to provide better preventions.