Weapons Of Influence

The instinct that once aided in the survival of people in the past serves a purpose in today’s modern society. Even today “herd behavior can aid in bonding, and it can clarify social expectations” (Moore 1). Humans are social creatures and strive to be part of a group whenever possible. By conforming to the norms of a group, a person is able to relate to the other members and therefore create a bond. In confusing situations, humans also look to people who posses more knowledge or appear to be stronger than themselves for guidance. Following others creates a set of guidelines which help to solidify social norms and expectations. By following others, people actually gain “relative morality” (Jasmine 1). Relative morality is the culturally influenced view of ethical and moral standards. Humans are not only affected in their understanding of societal standards, but also in terms of their ethical and moral values, which provide a basis for their actions. When a person’s ethical and moral standards change to match those of their peers, their actions inevitably change as well. Otherwise good people will suddenly start behaving in a way that is uncharacteristic to them because of relative

Though one may favor exchange processes that conclude with a social association that values the idea of equality, however Blau states that exchange processes can “give rise to differentiation of power” (Blau 1964: 114), which results with relation to superordination and subordination. Blau explains this disequilibrium as a result of needs for resources from unlike partners and efforts among equals to gain advantages over the other (Blau 1964: 114). Relating to intrinsic rewards, if one counterpart gains a reward from the exchange, the other counterpart expects repayment in the form of future wards – hence the principle of reciprocity (Blau 1964: 121). Reciprocity between unlike counterparts creates this sense of imbalance

Firstly, this essay will discuss the work by Stanley Milgram (1963) and his obedience studies which used technology to see how far people would obey an authority figure. I will follow this with the ethics argument that surrounded it, noting the issues raised by Diana Baumrind (1964). An updated version of Milgram’s (1963) experiment, carried out by Mel Slater and colleagues (2006) which used technology to replicate it. Moving on, friendship will be examined with the work of Brian Biegelow and John La Gaipa (1975), and other work by William Corsaro (2006).

Social exchange theory includes the following concepts: success, stimulus, value, deprivation, satiation, aggression, and approval. Homans defined each of these concepts explicitly in his book and various articles. The success concept which he defines is the principle of reward. (Homans, 1983, p. 33) While stimulus is defined when a stimulus presents itself and it resembles a previously rewarded activity, that individual is likely to repeat that action again. (Homans, 1950, Chapter 4) Homans defined value as a system of rewards and punishments. (Homans, 1983, p. 32) Deprivation and satiation was defined as the more often a reward has recently been received, the less valuable further rewards become. And if forced for a long time to go without a certain reward, an individual will lose interest and move on. (Homans, 1983, p. 33) Lastly, aggression and approval falls under the principle of distributive justice. When behavior does not receive the expected reward the response is anger. Yet, when the individual receives a greater reward than what is expected or does not receive punishment he will be pleased. (Homans, 1950, Chapter 4).

Artificial security is placed in people’s minds as soon as society suppresses and limits individual creativity and freedom. When conformity begins to rule human’s lives, decisions, and thoughts, it creates a restriction of personal opinions and acceptance towards others. In The Chrysalids, by John Wyndham, personal beliefs and freedoms are restricted by Waknuk, creating a false sense of security for the community. Conformity in a community can result in a manipulative cult, which forces people to submit to a leader’s irrational ideas and beliefs. Members of an unstable group join because they seek a sense of belonging. These people are willing to listen to an authority figure in order to escape responsibilities and to cope with life’s

Good vs. evil, light vs. dark, constructive vs. destructive. All of these are common themes in literature, where there is a struggle for power between two sides. An example of this is William Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”. Within the text, the power struggle between being a constructive leader and a destructive leader is illustrated in various ways, like diction and syntax. These are standard literary elements that help authors interpret their ideas. Authors are able to explain the power struggle between constructive and destructive powers by using different literary elements.

Due to cult leaders withhold a all-powerful physiological offense their followers are alter to do things they would not normally do in their right state of mind. For a long time, there has been an non stop issue surrounding the definition for the term “Cult”. The term cult has a lot of different meanings. However the term cult is described as “A group, often times though not always religious or spiritual in nature, that is led by a single or small group of leader’s.”

Dr. Furnham analyses the reasons why individuals join cults. In his initial assessment, he argues that certain benefits that cults can offer such as connections, an identity, and a chance to contribute. Throughout his article, Dr. Furnham questions if the motives are similar to groups such as Al Qaeda, Hamas, or the Order of the Solar Temple He

The Obedience study that was conducted by Stanley Milgrim in 1974 addressed a person’s obedience to an authority figure. The participants in the study were asked by a person in a lab coat (authority figure) to shock learners (who were confederates). Milgrim found that the participants in the study obeyed the authority figure, because they felt that they were not in control and were not responsible for the shocking of the learners (Gardner, Williams, & Sadri, 2007; Myers & Twenge, 2013). The idea of obedience is linked to the power of situations for people, which can induce seemingly normal people into the engagement of cruelty against other people (Myers & Twenge,

This Paper will tell you about three great weapons from the 5th to 6th centuries. It will also tell you about how they affected the wars they were in. The three weapons are Greek Fire ,Siege Towers ,and Battering Rams.

On a daily basis courageous service member’s risk their lives to serve the United States of America. Armed forces ensure that a country is safe, such that every person can live in peace acknowledging that he or she is protected. Through the approaches of weaponization, military prevention methods have changed over the years. However, the goal remains to safeguard the land and be strong to fight in warfare with the best approaches available. Previously, armies used swords, knives, shields and spears to safeguard themselves during the battle, but today they use heavy machine guns, missiles, pistols, and bulldozers. Clearly, most of weaponization methods have changed over the years, indicating the changes that have steadily developed within the

This article reiterates that no one is immune to the complex psychological manipulation process that cult leaders in order to recruit new members. All cults around the world use similar tricks when it comes to recruiting and keeping members. Parsi (2015) states that there are many misconceptions about cults that scholars need to know when studying cultic groups. The first misconceptions is that cult members wear strange clothes and are easy to spot but that is not necessarily the case. The other misconceptions about cults are that the members are emotionally unstable, weird, religious nutcases and weak. There are up to four major categories of cults and these include religious, self-help, commercial and political cults. According to the definition of a cult in the previous two articles, it is a clear that there is psychological manipulation by cult leaders in order to gain the control of a member’s mind. In order to control their members, cult leaders use psychological techniques such as mind control. Cult leaders threaten their members that they are likely to fail in business, lose their families and friends or go to hell if they leave the group or fail to conform to

To empathize with those involved in destructive cults it is important to take into consideration the incidences of social unrest, economic adversity, political uncertainty (Glock, 1964, 26-29) and the breakdown of family relations that society as a whole can identify with. These events most often seem to lead people to seek comfort, security and easy answers, and can lead them to group led by an authoritarian type

destructive cult is a rigidly structured absolutist group usually under an authoritarian, charismatic leader which isolates itself from established societal

It turned individuals against their own blood. This cult also made it unsaved to being in the streets or walking. The thieve level increases tremendously. After the cult many people needed to get help because not only thief occurred but, people also where killing other others. “Some students have become blind or deaf as a result of the injuries they sustained during initiation ceremonies” (Raj). There where literality kids and men that would walk around murdering innocent samaritans. This story helped the audience to educated themselves on this cult which was extremely helpful.