How can we apportion responsibility for the massacre at My Lai? What factors share in the blame?
- What do the authors mean when they say that "psychological explanations are unsatisfactory" in this case? Relate this to the central arguments made by Durkheim in his study of Suicide.
- (a) Define each of the 3 "conditions" that seem to potentially transform normal people into those capable of "sanctioned massacres". (b) Give an example of the operation of each from the My Lai situation
-If you were an applied sociologist advising an army in how to avoid sanctioned massacres, what policies or procedures would you suggest, based on the explanations discussed in this article?
- Can the causes of a sanctioned massacre also explain other forms of violence and oppression? Apply the 3 "conditions" to the institution of slavery as it existed in the 19th century American South. Do they help explain why otherwise good people keep and abused slaves?