Discussions

EDUCATION AGAINST DEHUMANIZATION

by Olek Netzer, Ph.D. -- olek.netzer134@gmail.com:

School or Organization Name: None; Independent researcher

Co-Presenter Name(s): N.A.

Area of the World from Which You Will Present: Middle East - Israel

Language in Which You Will Present: English

Target Audience(s): Educators; Activists; Researchers of the Psychology of Fanaticism. 

Short Session Description (one line):  Presentation; Discussion

Websites / URLs Associated with Your Session: In Youtube: http://youtu.be/vHZnLe5w8Pw

Full Session Description (as long as you would like): 

Description: Introduction of a method of Education Against Dehumanization (EAD) into school/ College/ University.

Significance: EAD claims to prevent/arrest development and settling of intergroup Fanaticism, Prejudice, Ethnocentrism, Racism and general Conflict Orientation effectively, as no any other existing method could.

Scientific basis: EAD is based on Discovery of the direct, causes of intergroup conflict. The Direct Causes were discovered to be Blind Areas on people's cognitive maps of social orientation. It was universally discovered and established that prejudiced persons and fanatics of conflict are not aware of fundamental realities of human existence that do not conform to their dehumanized orientation. They are blind to see that “We” and “They” are human individuals, “We” are liable to error and crimes as any human and “They” are in reality individuals with varied human qualities, same as we. Blind Areas make fanatic self-justification possible. They protect fanatics from falling into an intolerable Cognitive Dissonance with their own highest values such as Sanity, Reason, Virtue, Morality, Truth, Justice.

Methodoogical Approach: The discovery of Blind Areas was made possible by taking the Direct Causation Person-Centered approach, which differs from the mainstream Multiple Causation Approach. It Won't ask "What were the Causes" of the 9/11 attack, because the causes were obvious: the perpetrators believed in doing it, were perfectly conscious of consequences and convinced they are doing the right, moral, even Godly thing.

Relevance-Importance of this Proposal: If the education of 9/11 perpetrators would have prevented the development of their system of self-justification, that is possible only through the effects of Blind Areas, they would not be able to perform their horrendous act. The significance of this proposal is that EAD only could undermine the Self-justification system that is necessary for preventing Cognitive Dissonance and maintaining the fanatical orientation.

Target Groups: Schools and Academic Institutions that would agree to introduce the EAD program into their practices. If granted the funds, I intend to use them for initiation of pilot projects and conduction follow-up measurement of attitudes of students, in order to demonstrate the greater effectiveness of the method toward broader application. Stakeholders, directly, would be educators and any concerned individuals and civic groups who wish they had more effective tools for coping with prejudicial and fanatic attitudes and behavior.

Objectives - Activities - Methodologies

Introduction of the concept: When children are old enough to learn that there are, and always have been, WE and THEM, wars, villains and heroes, perpetrators and victims of genocide, etc., they'd be old enough to learn that there has always been, and still is, Dehumanization (perhaps, in simple language, "Social Evil"). Learners should be alerted to the danger that we as humans could become unfair when we judge, hate, condemn and fight other people or nations; and that we could do onto others that which we hate be done to us.

The Tool to work with: The Dehumanization Syndrome – a list of definite symptoms in conflict-related texts (Dehumanization defined operationally as any mental disorder in the DSM). The Syndrome serves as a tool for analyzing conflict-related expression. The technique makes the general condition of Prejudice or Fanatic Orientation identifiable practically and definable by clear criteria in any specific expression, including our own.

Application: In teaching historical, literary, and relevant contemporary texts, an analysis with the purpose of identifying the Patterned Beliefs will be introduced. For example, students may be asked to identify the expressions that fit the pattern "THEM Cause Our Troubles"; or the racist "THEM Are Inferior/Bad by Nature/Culture". The instructor could move gradually from analyzing texts of other cultures to one's own, and to students' own opinions and beliefs.

When responding to personal views disagreeing and arguing, must be avoided at the first identified symptom of Dehumanization. Reasoning with a person affected with Dehumanization would be like arguing with a well-programmed computer, that the basic data – the reality of self and all people being human – is not programmed in it. The result is fully predictable: the person's responses will be limited to any of the Patterned Beliefs of the Dehumanization Syndrome.

Rather than arguing with dehumanized opinions, educators may provide feedback by fitting the students' expression into the corresponding Patterned Belief. For example, if a student has expressed an idea in conformity with that Patterned Belief, the educator would respond, "What you just said fits the dehumanized pattern ‘They Understand Nothing but Force’. Would you like to respond to that?" - Such feedback suffices for making the person aware, rather than mentally blind, of their personal attitude in relation to a symptom of Dehumanization they had learned to recognize.

Consciousness Raising: Bringing human reality to the person's awareness, by asking open question about realities covered in Blind Areas, is the single most important and useful technique for helping heal Dehumanization. This technique circumvents resistance, since we do not challenge the dehumanized beliefs directly. Instead, we intentionally guide persons to see the realities that they do not see. Awareness of human reality that Blind Areas cover will undermine the self-justification system of dehumanized orientation.

Theory of Change/ Prognosis: If, beginning at the age of identity-forming, Dehumanization were integrated into the basic coordinates of people's identity and social orientation -- to what extent society would be freed from prejudices and ethnic discrimination? To what extent would war be regarded as an option for resolving conflicts in a society well informed and used to detect the characteristic Blind Areas and Patterned Beliefs of dehumanized irrationality? – Experimental evidence indicates that a significant momentous change will occur. I need your means to demonstrate it.

Project team and their qualifications: I am a Ph.D. in Applied Behavioral Science, a group facilitator in interpersonal skills training, and a developer of programs for democratic skills development at schools. The Dehumanization Theory on which EAD is based was developed in research monitoring the Israeli media about its violent conflict for 20 years; there I first discovered the Blind Areas.

Monitoring and evaluation: Before-after surveys of students exposed to a course of learning implementing EAD; comparison of findings with control groups.

Education vs, Dehumanization.pptx