Integrative Beliefs in Group Crises
In: The journal of conflict resolution: journal of the Peace Science Society (International), Band 16, Heft 1, S. 25-40
ISSN: 0022-0027, 0731-4086
One type of internal-violence crisis & its effect on community solidarity is considered. The focus is on the way in which integrative or divisive tendencies are reflected in public interpretations of the crucial event. Violence on 3 U & Coll campuses in southern Calif during early 1969 provide the cases for study. Data were gathered from the content of campus & city newspapers before & after the events. 2 orienting hyp's re group solidarity & divisiveness in crises were used. Divisive & integrative content & divisive & integrative versions of the events in the newspapers were counted & analyzed. No vigilante spirit was found & the favored views diverted attention from the divisive implications of the intracampus violence. Several alternative interpretatio ns of the data are considered: (a) in terms of situational norms & individual reactions; (b) in terms of scapegoating the outgroup; (c) from the viewpoint of integrative imagery & belief; & (d) in terms of group boundaries. The model employed visualizes the interplay of opposing tendencies toward escalated conflict toward accommodation or conciliation. Following an initial period of contention, one of the tendencies achieves dominance & shapes subsequent events, though sometimes, neither prevails. The 2 fundamental conditions specified in the hyp's are the degree of bondedness & the degree of threat. The case studies confirmed the validity of the model. If bonds are weak, conflict escalates & bonds are further weakened or destroyed. Some studies on the dynamics of bonds & bonding are noted. Continued high levels of conflict tend to erode many types of bonds, so that integrative tendencies will no longer be activated. The effect of level of conflict can thus be predicted only after types of bonding & the diff'ial effects of continued conflict on them have been isolated. 1 Table. M. Maxfield.