Extra questions

Yo,

Describe the strength, immediacy, and number key words of Social Impact Theory.

6m

Give an example of the divisional effect of SIT.

2m

Evaluate Social Impact Theory.

8m

KOP!

Cults - summary info

Yo,

Here's some info you can use for the key question:

Manson Family

Charles Milles Manson was born on 1934-NOV-11 or 12; sources differ. He is a person with an unusual ability to dominate others. He assembled a destructive, doomsday cult around himself, which the media later called The Family. At one time, it numbered in excess of 100 individuals at the Spahn Ranch some 30 miles northwest of Los Angeles CA. Manson was referred to both as "God" and "Satan" by his followers. As the family's guru, he claimed to be a reincarnation of Jesus Christ.

This quasi-communal cult arose in California during the late 1960s. The Manson Family teachings seemed to revolve around Armageddon. It has been reported that, “[Manson] had a strong belief and interest in the notion of Armageddon from the Book of Revelations. Scientology and more obscure cult churches such as Church of the Final Judgment were also fleeting interests.” It was these ideals and teachings that led Manson and his followers on a murderous crime spree.

The Family, along with Manson, are thought to have carried out at least 35 murders. Most of “The Family” members were never tried due to the lack of evidence or because the alleged perpetrators were already serving life sentences for the Tate/La Bianca killings.

KKK

Founded in 1866, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) extended into almost every southern state by 1870 and became a vehicle for white southern resistance to the Republican Party’s Reconstruction-era policies aimed at establishing political and economic equality for blacks. Its members waged an underground campaign of intimidation and violence directed at white and black Republican leaders. Though Congress passed legislation designed to curb Klan terrorism, the organization saw its primary goal–the reestablishment of white supremacy–fulfilled through Democratic victories in state legislatures across the South in the 1870s.

A religious tone was present in its activities: "two-thirds of the national Klan lecturers were Protestant ministers," says historian Brian R. Farmer. Much of the Klan's energy went into guarding "the home;" the historian Kathleen Blee said its members wanted to protect "the interests of white womanhood." The pamphlet ABC of the Invisible Empire, published in Atlanta by Simmons in 1917, identified the Klan's goals as "to shield the sanctity of the home and the chastity of womanhood; to maintain white supremacy; to teach and faithfully inculcate a high spiritual philosophy through an exalted ritualism; and by a practical devotedness to conserve, protect and maintain the distinctive institutions, rights, privileges, principles and ideals of a pure Americanism."

  

Westboro Baptist Church

Fred Waldron Phelps, Sr. (November 13, 1929 – March 19, 2014) was an American pastor who headed the Westboro Baptist Church (WBC), an independent Baptist church based in Topeka, Kansas. Phelps attained notoriety primarily from his vehemently anti-gay activism and his picketing of funerals of homosexuals and soldiers.

Westboro Baptist Church (WBC) is an unaffiliated Baptist church known for its hate speech, especially against LGBT people (homophobia), Jews (antisemitism), and politicians. The church is categorized as a hate group and is monitored as such by the Anti-Defamation League and the Southern Poverty Law Center. It was headed by Fred Phelps (although shortly before his death in March 2014, church representatives said that the church had not had a defined leader in "a very long time"), and consists primarily of members of his extended family; in 2011, the church stated that it had about 40 members.

The church is noted for its anti-homosexual rhetoric and runs numerous web sites such as GodHatesFags.com, GodHatesAmerica.com, and others expressing condemnation of homosexuality. The group bases its work on the belief expressed by its best known slogan and the address of its primary web site, God Hates Fags, asserting that every tragedy in the world is linked to homosexuality—specifically society's increasing tolerance and acceptance of the so-called homosexual agenda. The group maintains that God hates those who engage in homosexual activity above all other kinds of "sinners" and that homosexuality should be a capital crime.

Jonestown

Jones was the founder and leader of the Peoples Temple, best known for the mass murder-suicide in November 1978 of 909 of its members in Jonestown, Guyana, the murder of Congressman Leo Ryan, and the ordering of four additional Temple member deaths in Georgetown, the Guyanese capital.

"Jonestown" was the informal name for the Peoples Temple Agricultural Project formed by the Peoples Temple, an American religious organization under the leadership of Jim Jones, in northwestern Guyana. It became internationally notorious when on November 18, 1978, over 900 people died in the remote commune, at the nearby airstrip in Port Kaituma, and in Georgetown, Guyana's capital city. The name of the settlement became synonymous with the incidents at those locations.

Former Temple member Tim Carter stated that the reasons for choosing Guyana were the Temple's view of a perceived dominance of racism and multinational corporations in the U.S. government. Carter said the Temple concluded that Guyana, a predominantly Indian, English-speaking socialist country, would afford black members of the Temple a peaceful place to live. Later, Guyanese Prime Minister Forbes Burnham stated that Jones may have "wanted to use cooperatives as the basis for the establishment of socialism, and maybe his idea of setting up a commune meshed with that."

KOP!

Cults - info and paragraph structure

Yo,

Paragraph structure:

P: 'Psychology can explain obedience/prejudice in cults.' (For later paragraphs, maybe phrase it differently... Psychology can also explain... jazz it up)

Ev: something from a cult that you can use a theory to explain (i.e. some obedience to the leader / some prejudice)

Ex: HOW does the theory explain the behaviour? If you use key terms from the theory, which you should, a brief one sentence explanation then apply them. 

      Then back up the theory with evidence - Milgram (obedience) or Sherif (prejudice) apply the theory - how do the results support the explanation.

      Finally, brief evaluation of the theory/study - give one strength and one weakness, conclude with whether the theory is or is not a good explanation of the behaviour

KOP! 

Realistic Conflict Theory - Describe and Evaluate

Yo,

 

KOP!

Situational factors that affect prejudice - yellow booklets

Yo,

KOP!

Situational factors that affect obedience - yellow booklets

Yo,

KOP!

Sherif - Describe, handout from the lesson

Yo,

Aim:

Sherif and his colleagues wanted to investigate intergroup relationships over time whilst manipulating the situations the groups faced.

The study was interested in group formation, the effect of competition and the conditions under which conflict could be resolved.

Procedure:

The study took place at Robber’s Cave, a camp in Oklahoma, famous as a hideout for outlaws such as Jesse James.

The study had 3 stages –

Stage one: in-groups were created by getting ppts to do tasks that required co-operation.

Stage two: the two groups would be brought together to compete against one another.

Stage three: superordinate goals (key term) were introduced to encourage cooperation between groups in order to reduce the hostility.

Participants:

22 boys, 11 years old (1 was 12 years old), all ‘normally adjusted’ from middle class Protestant families from schools in Oklahoma. The boys did not know each other before the study (the researchers made sure of this).

Procedure (detail):

Stage one

During the first 5-6 days the two groups were kept separate from one another and each group completed tasks designed to encourage them to form a group identity. During this stage, the ppts were observed by researchers (who the boys thought were camp staff); they observed the verbal and non-verbal communication of the boys, and the relationships they formed. Sociometric data (numerical data) was also collected about how the boys rated each other in terms of popularity, skill, etc.

Stage two

Over the next 4-6 days the boys were brought into contact with one another during competitions such as: baseball, tug of war, tent pitching, cabin inspections, singing, and treasure hunts. Points were awarded to the winners of the competitions and each boy had to participate in each competition.

There were also manipulated situations that frustrated the boys, they were led to believe the other group had caused the problem. During this stage, stereotypes between each group were recorded, as well as behaviours and attitudes towards the other group.

Stage three

The final 6-7 days were devoted to ending the hostility and conflict between the groups. This was done by introducing common goals that needed both groups working together to complete. The three common goals (superordinate) were:

1.     Fixing a water tank that both groups used

2.     A joint camp-over where group members had to work together for food and camping gear

3.     Starting the broken down camping bus

Results:

Stage one

Each group formed their own norms and rules, this was their group identity. By the end of the cooperative tasks, each group had a name – one was the ‘Rattlers’ and the other was called the ‘Eagles’.

After each group was told about the other, there was a definite ‘us’ and ‘them’ attitude.

1.     Which parts of Social Identity Theory does the creation of group names and rules support?

2.     What about the ‘us’ and ‘them’ attitude, what is this indicating?

Stage two

During this stage, the boys demanded competition with the other group. Leaders emerged in each group and the boys became territorial, when the tournament was announced, the boys began to fight, they called each other names (like ‘thief’, ‘braggers’, and ‘stinker’), the Eagles burned(!) the Rattlers flag! They also went into each other’s camps to take things/mess things up. When each boy was asked about who their friends were out of all the boys, 93% said it was someone in their own group.

1.     Is there any evidence here of in-group favouritism?

2.     Out group bias?

3.     What does the 93% data of friendships say about their group identity?

Stage three

Initially, the researchers tried to reduce the hostility by putting the boys together, for example, watching a movie together and sharing the same meal area. However, this had little effect in reducing group prejudice.

The tasks involving the superordinate goals were introduced. The first task (fixing the water tank) required all of the boys to try and find the source of the problem; when the source was identified (a blocked tap) the groups started to work together – there was no name calling. That evening, the cooperation disappeared and name calling re-emerged.

The for the camping bus scenario, the boys worked together to pull the bus and get it started. At the end of the study the researchers reassessed friendship choices. They found a significant number of boys who said their friendships were from outside their group.

1.     What do these results say about reducing prejudice? Is it enough just to be with the out-group?

2.     Does a superordinate goal work straight away?

Conclusions:

Group identities formed quickly. Competition leads to negative out-group bias emerging quickly. Completing successive superordinate goals leads to a decrease in prejudice because it removes competition.

KOP!