SOC 232 Lecture Notes - Lecture 14: Groupthink, Group Cohesiveness, Social Inequality
Document Summary
Group pressure to conform despite individual misgivings: the result can be dangerous or even disastrous, dangers of groupthink are greatest in high-stress situations, bystander apathy. Occurs when people observe someone in an emergency but offer no help: related to the idea of groupthink. People usually take their cues for action from others: the greater the number of bystanders, the less responsibility any one individual feels. Networks, groups, bureaucracies, and societies have capacity to constrain human behaviour. These social collectivities can: encourage dangerously high levels of conformity, compel people to act against their better judgment, dominate people in a vice of organizational rigidities, affect the level of social inequality in society. People can form social collectivities to counteract other social collectives. Recognition of the sanctity of human life is a prerequisite to moral action. History of 20th century has seen the call for the exclusion of whole categories of population classes, nations, race, religions from the universe of obligation.
