Understanding Genocide The Social Psychology of the Holocaust

by Newman, Leonard S.; Erber, Ralph

• ISBN13: 9780195133622
• ISBN10: 0195133625
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2002-09-26
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

When and why do groups target each other for extermination? How do seemingly normal people become participants in genocide? Why do some individuals come to the rescue of members of targeted groups, while others just passively observe their victimization? And how do perpetrators and bystanderslater come to terms with the choices that they made? These questions have long vexed scholars and laypeople alike, and they have not decreased in urgency as we enter the twenty-first century. In this book--the first collection of essays representing social psychological perspectives on genocide andthe Holocaust-- prominent social psychologists use the principles derived from contemporary research in their field to try to shed light on the behavior of the perpetrators of genocide. The primary focus of this volume is on the Holocaust, but the conclusions reached have relevance for attempts tounderstand any episode of mass killing. Among the topics covered are how crises and difficult life conditions might set the stage for violent intergroup conflict; why some groups are more likely than others to be selected as scapegoats; how certain cultural values and beliefs could facilitate theinitiation of genocide; the roles of conformity and obedience to authority in shaping behavior; how engaging in violent behavior makes it easier to for one to aggress again; the evidence for a "genocide-prone" personality; and how perpetrators deceive themselves about what they have done. The bookdoes not culminate in a grand theory of intergroup violence; instead, it seeks to provide the reader with new ways of making sense of the horrors of genocide. In other words, the goal of all of the contributors is to provide us with at least some of the knowledge that we will need to anticipate andprevent future such tragic episodes.

Table of Contents

Contributors	xi
Introduction	3	(8)
Christopher R. Browning
I. BECOMING A PERPETRATOR
The Psychology of Bystanders, Perpetrators, and Heroic Helpers	11	(32)
Ervin Staub
What Is a ``Social-Psychological'' Account of Perpetrator Behavior? The Person Versus the Situation in Goldhagen's Hitler's Willing Executioners	43	(25)
Leonard S. Newman
Authoritarianism and the Holocaust: Some Cognitive and Affective Implications	68	(23)
Peter Suedfeld
Mark Schaller
Perperator Behavior as Destructive Obedience: An Evaluation of Stanley Milgram's Perspective the Most Influential Social-Psychological Approach to the Holocaust	91	(22)
Thomas Blass
II. BEYOND THE INDIVIDUAL: GROUPS AND COLLECTIVES
Sacrificial Lambs Dressed in Wolves' Clothing: Envious Prejudice, Ideology, and the Scapegoating of Jews	113	(30)
Peter Glick
Group Processes and the Holocaust	143	(19)
R. Scott Tindale
Catherine Munier
Michelle Wasserman
Christine M. Smith
Examining the Implications of Cultural Frames on Social Movements and Group Action	162	(26)
Daphna Oyserman
Armand Lauffer
Population and Predators: Preconditions for the Holocaust From a Control-Theoretical Perspective	188	(34)
Dieter Frey
Helmut Rez
The Zoomorphism of Human Collective Violence	222	(19)
R. B. Zajonc
III. DEALING WITH EVIL
The Holocaust and the Four Roots of Evil	241	(18)
Roy F. Baumeister
Instigators of Genocide: Examining Hitler From a Social-Psychological Perspective	259	(26)
David R. Mandel
Perpetrators With a Clear Conscience: Lying Self-Deception and Belief Change	285	(16)
Ralph Erber
Explaining the Holocaust: Does Social Psychology Exonerate the Perpetrators?	301	(24)
Arthur G. Miller
Amy M. Buddie
Jeffrey Kretschmar
Epilogue: Social Psychologists Confront the Holocaust	325	(22)
Leonard S. Newman
Ralph Erber
Author Index	347	(8)
General Index	355