Psychology and morality in genocide and violent conflict: Perpetrators, passive bystanders, and rescuers.

Abstract

In this chapter, I consider the roles of psychology and morality in genocide and in intense violence and mass killing. The starting point for both can be either difficult social conditions in a society or conflict between groups. But psychology and individual-level morality have central roles. Even though there are many societal, cultural, and institutional forces at work, the proximal influences leading to genocide or mass killing are psychological. As the participants undergo a grim evolution, progressing along a "continuum of destruction" (Staub, 1989), moved by psychological and social forces, moral principles and orientations can be subverted. As people respond to these forces, they may engage in profoundly immoral actions without even struggling with the immorality of their thoughts, feelings, and actions. How psychological forces can overwhelm or subvert moral principles and emotions is the primary focus of this chapter. I consider the psychology and morality of perpetrators, passive bystanders, and active bystanders who endanger themselves as they attempt to save lives.I define morality as principles, values, emotional orientations, and practices that maintain or promote human welfare (see also Chapters 13 and 14, this volume, for similar definitions). With the increasing awareness of our

Bad guys suffer less (social pain): Moral status influences judgements of others’ social suffering

“…Classic work on dehumanization (Bandura, Underwood, & Fromson, ; Kelman, ) emphasizes a strong link between aggression, violence, evil, and dehumanization, and subsequent research has established a strong relationship between moral status and the attribution of humanity (Bastian et al ., ). This prior research suggests that when we perceive others to be fully human, we also feel compelled to consider their needs, care about them, and alleviate their suffering (Staub, ). In agreement with this research, our findings suggest that when observers perceive that someone lacks moral qualities and therefore deny this person full humanness (Bastian et al ., , ), they downplay the experiences this person might feel as a consequence of ostracism, exclusion, and rejection.…”

Police officers’ perspectives on state (police) violence: A sociomoral and psychological-driven study on disengagement

“…The responsibility for the harm is placed on the target. Consequently, victims and violence are both denied because the perpetrator of the violence becomes the 'real victim' (Cohen, 2003) and his/her acts become the expected punishments (Staub, 2011;White, 2010).…”

“…Notions such as violence make police officers more aware of the moral contradictions presented in terms of principles and practices, which Stanley Cohen (2003) has coined as the 'paradox of knowing and not-knowing'. Put simply, since stable and universal moral tenets nourish a positive self-image (Staub, 2011), it then becomes necessary to refuse certain features, motivations or characteristics of the harmful actions. Moral disengagement processes emerge then as the categories used to make sense of the moral agency inhibition amongst police officers.…”

Scholar-practitioner collaboration in media-related interventions: A case study of Radio La Benevolencija in Rwanda

“…Those within this category suffer psychologically when their basic needs (security, feeling of control, positive identity, etc.) are unmet (Staub 2012a). Under such conditions, some may attempt to meet their own psychological needs in ways that are destructive: that is, their efforts to fulfil their own needs interfere with the psychological well-being and needs of others.…”

“…This concept forms the crux of the Staub -and, therefore, the RLB-methodology. By teaching members of society to understand how destructive needs and actions arise -especially those that 'can subvert moral thinking, feeling, and action' (Staub 2012b: 394) -they are more likely to recognize the truth behind their own behaviour before it develops into violence. By 'understanding the influences that lead to mass violence', citizens can become self-aware in a way that will ultimately reduce violence (2012b: 394).…”