Page 20 - Šolsko polje, XXIX, 2018, no. 5-6: Radicalization, Violent Extremism and Conflicting Diversity, eds. Mitja Sardoč and Tomaž Deželan
P. 20
šolsko polje, letnik xxix, številka 5–6
could be argued that all of us live within particular inescapable societal
contexts which have a major bearing on our sense of ourselves and our in-
teractions with others around us. But the sense of “interactionism” sug-
gests that the relationship between societal structures and any one indi-
vidual’s behaviour is a complex and variable one.
Closely related to SSI is “identity control theory” (ICT), which, in
the words of Stryker, is:
concerned with the internal dynamic of selves viewed as cybernetic sys-
tems seeking to restore equilibriums when identities are threatened by
external events (Stryker, 2008: p. 21).
The notion here is that individuals are constituted by a complex sys-
tem of identity drivers and values, arranged in a delicate and finely-bal-
anced “hierarchy of salience” to the individual. The individual’s behaviour
will be determined by a constant rebalancing and adjustment in response
to external events and stimuli, depending on how far a particular element
of identity may be challenged and how salient that particular identity fac-
tor is to the overall identity of the individual. Perceived challenges to the
more important elements of identity in the hierarchy of an individual may
be followed by particularly robust responses as a way of attempted rebal-
ancing. Such a theory applies not only to how and why individuals may
turn to violence, but much more widely to interactions in the workplace,
management psychology and so on.
On the question of violence, one of the most infamous experiments
is that conducted by Stanley Milgram in the early 1960s. The Milgram
Experiment, as it came to be known, explored the relationship between
power and hierarchy by establishing in fairly chilling terms that ordinary
individuals will be prepared to inflict suffering on others if told to do so
by those in positions of power over them (De Vos, 2009: p. 223). The ex-
periment helped to shed some light on the gruesome bureaucratisation of
daily violence during the Third Reich in Nazi Germany, in which the hu-
man desire for conformity trumped adherence to fundamental values of
humanity.
In terms of security, ICT can help to conceptualise how and why in-
dividuals choose to undertake a violent act, with some analysts building
on the essentials of rational choice theory by using linear “decision-tree”
approaches (see for example Dornschneider (2016)). There has also been
much connection in these approaches with cognitive psychology, nota-
bly in terrorism studies. Maikovich, for example, presents an interesting
“cognitive dissonance” model for understanding terrorists. Here, the rad-
icalisation process (although Maikovich does not describe it as such) aims
18
could be argued that all of us live within particular inescapable societal
contexts which have a major bearing on our sense of ourselves and our in-
teractions with others around us. But the sense of “interactionism” sug-
gests that the relationship between societal structures and any one indi-
vidual’s behaviour is a complex and variable one.
Closely related to SSI is “identity control theory” (ICT), which, in
the words of Stryker, is:
concerned with the internal dynamic of selves viewed as cybernetic sys-
tems seeking to restore equilibriums when identities are threatened by
external events (Stryker, 2008: p. 21).
The notion here is that individuals are constituted by a complex sys-
tem of identity drivers and values, arranged in a delicate and finely-bal-
anced “hierarchy of salience” to the individual. The individual’s behaviour
will be determined by a constant rebalancing and adjustment in response
to external events and stimuli, depending on how far a particular element
of identity may be challenged and how salient that particular identity fac-
tor is to the overall identity of the individual. Perceived challenges to the
more important elements of identity in the hierarchy of an individual may
be followed by particularly robust responses as a way of attempted rebal-
ancing. Such a theory applies not only to how and why individuals may
turn to violence, but much more widely to interactions in the workplace,
management psychology and so on.
On the question of violence, one of the most infamous experiments
is that conducted by Stanley Milgram in the early 1960s. The Milgram
Experiment, as it came to be known, explored the relationship between
power and hierarchy by establishing in fairly chilling terms that ordinary
individuals will be prepared to inflict suffering on others if told to do so
by those in positions of power over them (De Vos, 2009: p. 223). The ex-
periment helped to shed some light on the gruesome bureaucratisation of
daily violence during the Third Reich in Nazi Germany, in which the hu-
man desire for conformity trumped adherence to fundamental values of
humanity.
In terms of security, ICT can help to conceptualise how and why in-
dividuals choose to undertake a violent act, with some analysts building
on the essentials of rational choice theory by using linear “decision-tree”
approaches (see for example Dornschneider (2016)). There has also been
much connection in these approaches with cognitive psychology, nota-
bly in terrorism studies. Maikovich, for example, presents an interesting
“cognitive dissonance” model for understanding terrorists. Here, the rad-
icalisation process (although Maikovich does not describe it as such) aims
18
