Rachel Kennedy
Professor Martino
PY101D.01
10 November 2014
Assignment 8 Group behavior can help explain why certain people engage in despicable actions. Samuel J. Leistedt states in “Behavioral aspects of terrorism”: “In a number of social and political contexts, political violence is a familiar social phenomenon for some people. When it is combined with the ‘pronounced need to belong to a group’, individuals can, in the end, ‘define their social status by and/or through the group acceptance’” (22). People often do things they would not normally do by themselves when they are part of a group because they are looking for others to accept them. If they have a strong desire to be a part of a particular group, they will often go to extreme measures to please those in the group. It is all about conforming to the group’s ideals in order to become a part of it. There are many different types of groups that coerce others into performing actions that can be dangerous. They often use entrapment, which is when the groups gradually get the perspective members invested step by step. The tasks become more intense as time goes on because the perspective members feel more involved in the group activities. The groups give them an overwhelming amount of attention in order to make them feel truly accepted. They use entrapment as a tactic so that the potential members will not be scared away and it will look like they had a choice to become part of the group. As a result, they will feel that they have earned their way into the group.
This often happens in groups like sororities and fraternities when they participate in hazing in order to initiate the new members. The activities are often harmless at first, but as the initiation period goes on, the tasks often become more dangerous. They start telling others what they can and cannot do and who they are allowed to interact