Rumor mongering: scapegoating techniques for social cohesion and coping among the Japanese-Americans in United States internment camps during World War II

摘要

This thesis examines the linkages between the verbal response to social stress,the ostracism of individuals from a social group, and the subsequent increased cohesionof the remaining members. To write the thesis, I utilized these printed references in theforms of scholarly research, journals, diaries, and interviews primarily from the TexasA&M Sterling Evans Library and the online journal resource JSTOR as well as a videodocumentary. Previous research into the genres of rumor, identity, and scapegoataccusations are explicated. Then, these approaches are applied to the rumors told by theJapanese-Americans who were removed from their homes and sent to internment campsin the United States during World War II. The internment camps were rife withscapegoat accusations between the internees whose once unified culture group wasfissured along lines of loyalty to the United States or to Japan. These scapegoataccusations against fellow internees were an outlet for the stress exerted upon them bythe American government that was not directly combatable. Even processes as complicated as changing social dynamics can be observed through the mechanisms ofrumors and scapegoat accusations.