What Can Social Psychology Teach Us About What Happened At...

What can social psychology teach us about what happened at Abu Ghraib? By Mandy Stead During the Iraq war that between 2003 and 2006, the united states army committed a series of human rights violations against prisoners at Abu Ghraib prison near Bagdad. The violations included murder, sexual and physical abuse, rape, torturer, sodomy, humiliating and dehumanizing prisoners. In 2004 the abuse that was carried out was exposed by the publication of images that were taken by the soldiers that carried out the violations. This paper will be looking at what social psychology can teach us about what happened at Abu Ghraib. The abuse took place in tier 1A on the night shift. The soldiers involved were all reserve soldiers who were not prepared or trained for this mission. They were asked to interrogate the detainees ‘take the gloves off’ to extract information out of them. The soldiers were pressured into crossing the line to gain information by the centre intelligence agency, tier 1A was known as the interrogation hold. One detained was mentally ill, he covered himself in faeces every day, the soldiers would have to role him in sand so he wouldn’t smell so bad and they named him ‘Shitboy’. What was he doing in an interrogation hold? This is one example that shows the level of humiliation and dehumanisation that went on. Philip Zimbardo was an expert witness for U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Ivan â€Å"Chip† Frederick, who was convicted of five charges of abusing prisoners, including

Role Of Ngos On Addressing Sexual Harassment - 1581 Words

Role of NGOs in addressing sexual harassment India has several non-governmental organizations, which are constantly working towards addressing the issue of sexual harassment at work place. These organizations are working in this direction by following the following steps: 1. Awareness programmes NGOs like Oxfam India and Parivarthan are increasingly taking initiatives to organize programmes and camps to promote awareness among the women of the country. Since, education in an area where India still lags behind, such intervention from outside is important to ensure that the victims know about their rights and duties. These organizations tackle the problem of ignorance through such programmes. 2. Support to victims These NGOs provide social and psychological support to the victims to help them recover from the trauma. Such help is provided in the form of a personal one-on-one counseling for the victim as well as for the family. It gives them courage to fight emotionally and physically. 3. Legal aid NGOs often provide the requisite legal aid to the victims so that they may not be denied justice. Legal costs are borne by these NGOs, who strive to ensure justice. Lawyers engaged by these organizations assist the victims by presenting and fighting for the victims in the court. 4. Self-defense training The NGOs also arrange for self-defense classes for students as well as working professionals. Such training gives physical as well as mental strength to fight againstShow MoreRelatedThe And Strength Of The State921 Words   |  4 Pagesthe state often associates with how the state relates to the society, in which also refers to as ‘Civil Society’. Civil society plays an important role in creating awareness to address rising economic, political, environmental and social problems in our society. 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Why People Commit Murder Free Essays

What Triggers People to Commit Murder? Alicyn Nitsch Criminology April 17, 2013 Murder is the unlawful killing, with malice aforethought, of another human, and generally this state of mind distinguishes murder from other forms of unlawful homicide. (Wikipedia) In most countries, a person convicted of murder is typically given a long prison sentence, possibly a life sentence where permitted, and in some countries, the death penalty may be imposed for such an act. (Wikipedia) Murder has been a common crime in the United States and it has taken a lot of influence for kids and teens. We will write a custom essay sample on Why People Commit Murder or any similar topic only for you Order Now   Control Key and Word – Text and Graphics. The rate of killings in the U. S. involving five or more victims — one generally accepted definition of a mass killing — represented less than 1% of all homicides 25 years ago, and still does today. (Kluger,Jeffery)Though it is difficult to have a control on such factors but a little attention of parents on their children can minimize growth of criminal nature in their kids. Education is another criterion of prevention of such criminal activities. Education makes a person to distinguish between right and wrong and makes him stable and balanced. He is thus able to withstand any kind of circumstances and develops a potential to overcome any situation. (Shipali, Sharma) Murders are committed for many different reasons. One major reason people commit murder is due to anger. People are often confronted with feelings of disappointment, frustration and anger as they interact with government officials, co-workers, family and even fellow commuters. (Greeneimer, Larry) In Anger, a person often tends to lose his senses. He loses the ability to distinguish between right and wrong. Also, the rush of adrenaline makes him to commit crime. What turns anger into action is self-control. Watching a movie showing violent acts predisposes us to act violently. Even just listening to violent rhetoric makes people more inclined to be violent. Ironically, the same mirror neurons that make people empathic make them very vulnerable to all sorts of influences. Indeed, after many years of studies on mirror neurons and their functioning, scientists are shifting their lab research to the study of the control mechanisms in the brain for mirror neurons. The key issue is the balance of power between these control echanisms are called top-down—because they are all like executives that control from the top down to the employees—and bottom-up mechanisms, in the opposite direction, like mirror neurons. This anger could turn into something deadly such as revenge. Revenge can make a person to commit crime. When a person is not able to take revenge by direct means then he adopts indirect and unlawful means to punish his enemy. Pe er influence and poor parenting skills are the reasons for easily giving up the path of honesty and truth. Signs that a person is disturbed enough to take action are quite visible. When it does happen, the people likeliest to commit the crime fall into a drearily predictable group. They’re 95% male, and 98% are black or white — not a big surprise since more than 87% of the population is made up of those two races. action itself is a sign, a desperate form of communication from a disturbed individual. Connecting with the subject, that person may have rethought some of the activity of mirror neurons toward a truly empathic behavior, rather than in the service of the deranged imitative violence leading to action. The violence shown in Televisions is also highly responsible in negatively affecting one’s mind. Kids and teenagers generally try to mimic the stunts and the violence acts shown in the TV. The violent games of video games and computer games are very famous among kids and teens. Such games and scenes shatter their innocent brain and are responsible for making them aggressive and violent. Another key note in why people commit murder is due to mental health and past experiences. According to neuropsychologist Jonathan Reed; 49. 4% had a developmental disorder in childhood, 87% had a brain injury, 85% had a history of substance abuse, 45% had a psychiatric history and 35% have had a history of abuse in childhood. Exactly what is going on in their heads can never be known and the neuropsychological factors don’t explain the trigger or situation in which the murder took place. However, it is clear that there are neurological and neurodevelopmental factors going on here, and given what we know about these in childhood and from case studies, it is unclear how much control such individuals have in a given situation. (Reed, Jonathan) So many of these people’s problems seem to stem from experiences and events in their childhoods. People are not criminals by birth. Their circumstances, needs and their upbringing make them criminals. Another big factor that criminals are brought up by is poverty. Poverty is one of the main factors for committing a crime. When a person is helpless with no money in hand and a huge family to support then in such cases his circumstances forces him to take up the gun in his hand. There are many terrorist associations that hire such needy people for little money and use them in their criminal acts like murders, bomb explosions, kidnapping etc. Unemployment, which is another cause of poverty, is the main cause of aggression in today’s youth. Lack of job opportunities misleads the youth to take up this direction and earn money in this way. (Shipali, Sharma) The Greed of possessing materialistic things and the intense desire to have a luxurious life by any possible means leads a person to follow this track of crime. It is a human desire to lead his life luxuriously which is sometimes not possible in the little income of a person. (Shipali, Sharma) For this reason some people look up for easy and fast methods of gaining cash and they do not even hesitate to take up the life of some other innocent person. It’s greed that completely weighs over their judgment. How to cite Why People Commit Murder, Essays