Obedience and Authority

1. Obedience and Authority

2. ORDER “sociologists talk of social system which means that the coordination and integration of social structure which ends in order rather than in chaos.” “The means by which individuals or groups are induced and/or compelled to confirm to certain norms and values are numerous.” (sociologyguide.com)

3. Obedience describes the act of carrying-out commands under threat obedience to laws (go to jail) obedience to social norms (ostracized) obedience to a monarch, government, organization, religion, or church (excommunication) obedience to God (fear of judgment) obedience to management in the workplace (fired)

4. Conformity (not same) describes behavior intended to match that of the majority Conform to style (dictated by fashion industry) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1LVptO7o4L8 Conform to peers (group think) Mean girls Conform to media images - Televisual or “Cultural reproduction (Johnson, 2006) Conform to social expectations (marriage) Conform to gender roles (girls don’t do wires) Conform to group mores (Easy A)

5. WW II & beyond • Nazi guards routinely committed atrocities in concentration camps. • When tried, all claimed they were simply following orders.” (Obedience) • Jews were extremely compliant (conformity) making it relatively easy for the Nazis. • Replicated in Ireland (British), Viet Nam (by Americans), Lebanon (Israelis) • Turkey (Armenians) MORE?

6. Sociology of studies of Obedience • Milgram experiments, (1961) were the earliest investigations of the power of authority figures as well as the lengths to which participants would go as a result of their influence. • Results showed that a majority of civilian volunteers would obey orders to apply electric shocks to another person until they were (supposedly) unconscious or dead.

7. Stanford Prison Experiment (1971) • Willingness of people to obey orders and adopt abusive roles in a situation where they were placed in the position of being dominant by a higher authority. • Volunteers were divided into two groups and placed in a "prison," with one group in the position of playing "prison guards," and other group in the position of "prisoners." • Experimenters acted as authority figures at the start of the experiment, but then delegated responsibility to the "guards," who enthusiastically followed instructions • “Guards” assumed the roles of abusive authority figures, going far beyond the experimenters' original instruction and brutalizing the "prisoners." • Prisoners adopted a submissive role with regard to their tormentors, even though they knew that they were in an experiment. • The Stanford experiment demonstrated not only obedience (of the "guards" to the experimenters, and the "prisoners" to both the guards and experimenters), but also high levels of conformity (Prisoners). http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0jYx8nwjFQ

8. Obedience does not always lead to atrocities Traffic signals reduce deaths Laws protect the weak/poor Religion creates sense of purpose Lack of rules leads to Anomy

9. Obedience can lead to internal order Institutions lead to self-discipline (internal police): Deferral of rewards Priority of community over individual Goal oriented individuals Alterism: principle or practice of unselfish concern for or devotion to the welfare of others (opposed to egoism). In over-populated areas, need for obedience is important but can lead to repression

10. Dogmatism 1. pertaining to, or of the nature of a dogma (system of principles or tenets concerning faith, morals, behavior, etc.) 2. asserting opinions in a doctrinaire or arrogant manner; opinionated.

11. Example - Varna marriage system Varna system n marriage system : nature, including humans, are grouped, by origin, into groups: gunas, Satva, Rajas & Tamas. They come by birth: a man gets birth in a particular genetic lineage (family) on the basis of his previous karmas ( thoughts and actions). A woman should always marry a man superior to her. Otherwise she will not respect him, and good progeny will not be born. There are 3 types of marriages: 1. SavarnaAnulom: Boy/girl of the same varna. This is essential. To maintain the original biological-genetic strain of the family. 2. AsvaranaAnulom: Boy of a higher varna with girl of a lower varna. This inter-varna marriage is the best. As it begets highly developed individuals. This is essential for the growth of society. This cross-breeding is very crucial. 3. Pratilom: Boy of a lower varna - girl of a higher varna: This is banned. As it is an outrage to mate less developed sperm with more evolved ovum. Children of such wedlocks may be intelligent but they will be, by nature biological makeup, destructive for the society, life and growth. Source: Parivar, Sangh. “Science of Caste/Varna system- Marriage Laws” Accessed October 16, 2011 http://www.sanghparivar.org/blog/swastika/science-of-caste-varna-system-marriage-laws.

12. Conform to others’ expectations Style (FASIONISTAS) Groups social norms (give examples at St T – NOT obedience) Gender norms (give examples from your life) Televisual (social reproduction)

13. Televisual We see media representations(clothing, values, lifestyle), buy into them, replicating what we see Men get to do all the ‘fun stuff,’ supporting Johnson’s theories of cultural reproduction. Women represented in media are trivialized and attempts to gain status often lead to heartbreak and burnout (Gills, 2007). Examples? Most of the women featured in the media are prettier, younger than the general population, more likely to be identified by their marital status (Lauzen, 2005).

14. “media portrayals that underrepresented and/or misrepresent females in positions of power and leadership may have real-life consequences for girls and women. Studies of media use and sex-role socialization reveal that televisual portrays influence children's notions of appropriate occupational expectations and choices (Lauzen & Dozier, 2004).

15. Propaganda

16. What is Propaganda? Biased information Simplifies complex issues or ideas Created to shape public opinion and behavior True, partially true, or blatantly false information Plays on emotions Symbols, images, words, or music Advertises a cause, organization, or movement and its opponents Directs human action toward a given goal

17. Common Propaganda Techniques Bandwagon Testimonial Plain Folks Transfer Fear/Card Stacking Logical Fallacies Glittering Generalities Name-calling

18. Bandwagon An appeal to the subject to follow the crowd Tries to convince the subject that one side is the winning side and that winning is inevitable Appeals to a person’s desire to be on the winning side

19. Testimonial Quotations or endorsements which attempt to connect a well-known or respectable person with a product or ideal with the intent to better “sell” the product or ideal

20. Plain Folks An attempt to convince the public that his or her views reflect those of the “common person” The candidate tries to appear to be working for the benefit of the “common person”

21. Transfer Used to transfer feelings (positive or negative) from one object to another In politics, this technique is often used to transfer blame or bad feelings from one politician to another or from one group of people to another

22. Fear/Card Stacking Only presents information that is positive to an idea or proposal and omits information contrary to it While the information presented is true, other important information is purposely omitted

23. Logical Fallacies An argument that sounds as if it makes sense but the premises given for the conclusion do not provide proper support for the argument Slippery slope - ”If we let gay people get married, next there will be men marrying horses!” Generalization - ”Enron was a large, corrupt company, therefore all large companies are corrupt.”

24. Glittering Generalities Uses words that have different positive meaning for individual subjects, but are linked to highly valued concepts Words often used as glittering generalities are honor, glory, love of country, and freedom

25. Name-calling Uses derogatory language or words that carry a negative connotation when describing an enemy Attempts to arouse prejudice among the public by labeling the target something that the public dislikes

26. Common Propaganda Traits • Uses truths, half-truths, or lies • Omits information selectively • Simplifies complex issues or ideas • Plays on emotions • Advertises a cause • Attacks opponents • Targets desired audiences

27. NAZI Propaganda (they wrote the book)“National Community” A cornerstone of Nazi ideology and propaganda An organic, racial union of all “Aryan” Germans Political strife and dissension have no place in National Socialist society Contributing to the general welfare of the nation, not individualism Nazi propaganda played a crucial role in selling the myth to Germans who longed for unity, national pride and greatness

28. Making a leader Nazi propaganda idolized Hitler as a gifted statesman who brought stability, created jobs, and restored German greatness Under the Nazi regime, Germans were expected to pay public allegiance to the “Führer” in quasi-religious forms, such as giving the Nazi salute and greeting others on the street with “Heil Hitler!,” the so-called “German Greeting” Faith in Hitler strengthened the bonds of national unity, while non-compliance signaled dissension in a society where open criticism of the regime, and its leaders, were grounds for imprisonment Modern techniques of propaganda -- including strong images and simple messages -- helped propel Austrian-born Adolf Hitler from being a little known extremist to a leading candidate in the 1932 German presidential elections. The style of this poster is similar to some of film stars of the era. Election poster, 1932; photo by Heinrich Hoffmann

29. Defining the Enemy One crucial factor in creating a cohesive group is to define who is excluded from membership Nazi propagandists contributed to the regime's policies by publicly identifying groups for exclusion, inciting hatred or cultivating indifference, and justifying their pariah status to the populace Propaganda helped to define who would be excluded from the new society and justified measures against the “outsiders”: Jews Sinti and Roma (Gypsies) homosexuals political dissidents Germans viewed as genetically inferior and harmful to “national health” Nazi propaganda often portrayed Jews as engaged in a conspiracy to provoke war. Here, a stereotyped Jew conspires behind the scenes to control the Allied powers, represented by the British, American, and Soviet flags. The caption reads, "Behind the enemy powers: the Jew." Circa 1942.

30. Deceiving the Public Propaganda served as an important tool to win over the majority of the German public who had not supported Adolf Hitler and to push forward the Nazis' radical program A new state propaganda apparatus, headed by Joseph Goebbels, sought to manipulate and deceive the German population and the outside world Propagandists preached an appealing message of national unity and a utopian future An antisemitic poster published in Poland in March 1941. The caption reads, "Jews are lice; They cause typhus." This German-published poster was intended to instill fear of Jews among Christian Poles.

31. Indoctrinating Youth From the 1920s onwards, the Nazi Party targeted German youth as a special audience for its propaganda messages These messages emphasized that the Party was a movement of youth: dynamic resilient forward-looking hopeful Millions of German young people were won over to Nazism in the classroom and through extracurricular activities "Students/Be the Führer's propagandists." With militant appeals to nationalism, freedom, and self-sacrifice, the Nazi Party successfully recruited students disenchanted with German democracy and their current student organizations.

32. Writing the News Der Stürmerwas the most notorious, antisemitic newspaper in Germany The newspaper, headed by Julius Streicher, published lurid tales of Jewish “ritual murder,” sex crimes, and financial malfeasance The Nazis understood the power and attraction of emerging technologies, such as film, loudspeakers, radio, and television, in the service of propaganda These technologies offered the Nazi leadership a means for mass dissemination of their ideological messages and a vehicle for reinforcing the myth of the National Community through communal listening and viewing experiences "All of Germany Listens to the Führer with the People's Radio." The poster depicts a crowd surrounding a radio. The radio looms large, symbolizing the mass appeal and broad audience for Nazi broadcasts.

33. Starts young so you don’t even question “the truth”

34. LIKE “Women like dressing in skimpy clothing for men”

35. Gender Propaganda • So ingrained we don’t even see it (Hegemony) • Hegemony: the social, cultural, ideological, or economic influence exerted by a dominant group • Males run the industry so they decide the way things are

36. “Digital Divide” • Digital divide is the one between men and women (Reid-Walsh and Mitchell, 2004), particularly in relation to media production • U.S. girls compromise 50 percent of students in high school computer classes but account for only17 percent of the computer science advanced placement test-takers (Kearney, 2006)

37. Women’s portrayal • “We studied the top 100 movies released from 1990 to 2005. Of characters shown, only 17% were female. And of the few female characters that were in these movies, most of them were highly stereotyped. During this fifteen-year period, there was zero improvement, as far as the percentage of female characters. What message is our culture still sending to kids?” Geena Davis, Speaking at the National Conference for Media Reform, 2007

38. Normative Reflexivity • We live and learn our behaviour through the media (Johansson, 2007) and find gender relations and expectations through media. (we believe what we see on TV to be true) • These behaviours are imitated by the media consuming population, and then fed back through the media to society, creating culture, validating the media’s initial claims that these images represent society (Collective consciousness)

39. Asch’s conformity studies • How much will people go along with the group EVEN when they know the group is wrong? • In this experiment, a participant and a group of accomplices were given two cards • On one card was a line, on the other a set of three lines • People in the group were asked to state which of the three lines was most similar to the single line.

40. Example

41. In the first rounds, the accomplices in the group would give the correct answer • Later on, the accomplices would give the wrong answer • Would the participant go along with the group, or not?

42. 66% would go along • Conformity to wrong answers at least once by 2/3 of the participants • If only one of the accomplices said the correct answer, the participants would never conform to the wrong answer • How does this apply t to Media influence?

43. Studies of helping behavior • In what social situations are people likely to offer help to others? • When they believe they are the only person who knows of the problem, they are more likely to help

44. People are less likely to offer help when: • They are unsure of the situation and whether the need for help is legitimate • If they are unsure of what will happen to them if they help • They think that other people are likely to help if they do not. Also known as the “free rider” problem

45. Symbolic Interactionism • George Herbert Mead • Describes and explains people’s social behavior in terms of the meanings these behaviors have for the people involved.

46. Symbolic interactionists look for the hidden meanings and subtexts behind people’s words and actions • A person’s self identity is very important to understanding the meanings

47. Gossip as subtext • People gossip in part because that way they can find out information about other people’s trustworthiness • i.e. If you gossip with someone about someone else, they now know you are going to gossip about them (Subtext – “you can’t be trusted”)

48. Men who see themselves as “real” men may only do things that they see are consistent with this self image – such as drinking beer or whiskey in a bar, rather than some other drink • Others? • Culture determines symbols and meanings • Examples?

49. In addition, the way people want others to see them also helps us understand their words and actions • This is “impression management.” • E.g. dressing in a suit for a job interview conveys the impression of a serious job candidate

50. A woman will dress in a suit for a job interview – conveys the impression of a serious job candidate • In a fashionable outfit to go out with friends-conveys the impression of a fun, hip person