Any of them will do: In‐group identification, out‐group entitativity, and gang membership as predictors of group‐based retribution

Abstract

In non-gang populations, the degree of identification with an in-group and perceptions of out-group entitativity, the perception of an out-group as bonded or unified, are important contributors to group-based aggression or vicarious retribution. The link between these factors and group-based aggression, however, has not been examined in the context of street gangs. The current study assessed the relationship among in-group identification, perceptions of out-group entitativity, and the willingness to retaliate against members of rival groups who did not themselves attack the in-group among juvenile gang and non-gang members in London. Our results showed the predicted membership (gang/non-gang) × in-group identification × entitativity interaction. Decomposition of the three-way interaction by membership revealed a significant identification × entitativity interaction for gang, but not for non-gang members. More specifically, gang members who identify more strongly with their gang and perceived a rival group as high on entitativity were more willing to retaliate against any of them. In addition, entitativity was a significant predictor of group-based aggression after controlling for gender, in-group identification, and gang membership. Our results are consistent with socio-psychological theories of group-based aggression and support the proposal that such theories are applicable for understanding gang-related violence. Aggr. Behav. 41:242-252, 2015. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

Why we sometimes punish the innocent: The role of group entitativity in collective punishment

“…The present work is different from earlier studies on the punishment of groups in several regards. First of all, earlier work on the effect of group entitativity had focused on different punishment types, such as vicarious punishment [ 21 , 22 ], group punishment [ 23 ], and retaliatory collective punishment [ 24 , 25 ]. Our focus here was on collective punishment, defined as the infliction of a negative sanction from an external agent to an entire group, including innocent individuals, for the misdeed of a few group members [ 9 ], and the present research is hence the first one to show how it is affected by group entitativity both in several vignette studies and in a lab study with a real offense.…”

“…Indeed, goup punishment judgments examined in that earlier work were mostly second-party judgments, such as retaliatory collective punishments by the victim following a rejection [ 24 ] or a provocation [ 26 ], and vicarious punishments (or group-based retaliation)—i.e. the displacement of a punishment from the original outgroup offender to a fellow group member [ 21 , 22 ]. By focusing on third-party collective punishment, the present research is designed to meaningfully extend these earlier studies.…”

Social Group Identity and Perceptions of Online Hate*

“…Similarly, Vasquez et al. () find that willingness to engage in violence against rival gangs is heightened among individuals who identify strongly with their own in‐group. In general, a robust sense of in‐group identity renders group members more sensitive to threats against their group and more likely to engage in violence in preservation of their group identity (Hawdon ).…”

Comparison of Emotional Dispositions Between Street Gang and Non-Gang Prisoners

“…This was supported, with low levels of TEI, and high levels of anger rumination and inclination to aggress all predicting street gang membership; demonstrating each of these dispositions remains important in its own right. It is possible this may be due to differences in emotional deficits underlying each disposition: whereas low levels of TEI is characterized by difficulty in emotion processing (Petrides & Furnham, EMOTIONAL DISPOSITIONS OF GANG MEMBERS 16 2001), engaging in anger rumination maintains negative emotions (Vasquez et al, 2012), whilst inclination to aggress is associated with social and emotional contagion (Vasquez, Wenborne, Peers, Ellis, & Alleyne, 2015). Therefore, it can be suggested street gang membership is related to a number of emotional deficits.…”