'Ordinary Men,' Ordinary Children, and Extraordinary Violence Commentary on Wainryb

摘要

Acts of group violence such as genocide or terrorism are often assumed to be the rare work of evil individuals and groups motivated by hatreds beyond our comprehension. But even the most extraordinary forms of group violence, it turns out, are common. Perhaps even more disturbing, extensive research has shown that group violence is perpetrated mostly by ordinary people and is the outcome of ordinary psychological and social processes. The perpetrators are more understandable than we thought; the problem is that to explain their behavior we must acknowledge how much of it is simply human behavior, no different from what we might have done.