SOCA02H3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 6: Group Cohesiveness, Ingroups And Outgroups, Groupthink
Document Summary
The non-sociological answer is that many nazis were evil, sadistic, or deluded enough to think that jews and other undesirables threatened the existence of germans. Because the relationships are so important to us, we sometimes tend to ignore the morality of our actions. As soon as we are introduced to a structure of authority, we are inclined to obey those in power. Recall a bureaucracy is a large impersonal organization comprising any clearly defined positions arranged in a hierarchy. It has a permanent salaried staff of qualified experts and written goals, rules and procedures. Efficiency means achieving the bureaucracies" goals are the least cost. The structure of the bureaucracies is so strong such that somebody at a higher position has specific duties only. These duties include entertaining the guards, checking train schedules, and maintaining supplies of. For many of these higher positioned officials, they had no idea of what was occurring at concentration camps and across the country.
