Cycle Of Violence: Perpetrating Violence and Identification With Violent Groups

Abstract

Heightened group identification motivates individuals to perpetrate violence, but can perpetrating violence - in and of itself - increase identification with violent groups? I test this question using two methodological approaches. First, I test this proposition in a set of consequential real world cases, using archival data from interviews with former combatants in Liberia and Northern Uganda. In Liberia, where many combatants joined their violent group willingly, the data show a positive association between perpetrating violence and identification with one’s violent group (Study 1). Study 2a replicates and extends this finding with data from ex-combatants in Uganda who were abducted into their group, using a natural experiment in which some abductees were forced to perpetrate violence while others were not. Only perpetrating violence, not exposure to violence more generally (Study 2b), and only violent behaviors that involve a heightened sense of personal responsibility (Study 3) are associated with increased group identification. Additionally, perpetrating violence during conflict does not influence post-conflict attitudes about the use of violence for resolving problems, suggesting that individuals do not re-appraise violence itself (Study 4). These findings support a cycle of violence in which perpetrating violence increases identification with violent groups and heightened identification increases future violent behavior. For the second part of my dissertation, I conduct a series of online and laboratory experiments in the United States in an attempt to establish and explore this phenomenon in a more controlled setting. I find no evidence that engaging in violent behavior increases group identification with this methodological approach. These divergent findings between the field and the laboratory highlight the challenge of studying the causal consequences of violent behavior and of achieving psychological realism in the laboratory.