Social Psychology Blog

The Stages of Group Development from an Organisational Behaviour Perspective

2007-10-30T08:46:00.000+11:00

Summarise and critically review the theoretical model describing the stages of group development.

A group can be defined as a collection of two or more people who work with one another regularly to achieve one or more common goals. Groups can appear in various forms particularly within organisations, all groups have purposes and fall into two main categories, formal and informal. (Baumeister, 2008) Formal groups can be defines as ‘official’ groups that are designated by formal authority to serve a specific purpose. (Wood, 2004) Formal groups can further be broken down into two categories, permanent formal work groups, such as departments, and temporary work groups, such as a group formed to solve a specific problem or to perform a defined task. (Stone, 2006) Informal groups are groups that emerge unofficially and are not formally designated as parts of the organisation. Informal groups include such groups as friendship groups, which consist of people with natural affinities for one another, and interest groups, consisting of people who share common interests. (Wood, 2004)

One way to enhance the internal operations of groups and to assist group efficiency is to identify the different stages of group development. Groups typically go through several stages of expansion in their lifecycle. Any given group, be it a work group, committee or task force, may be in a different stage of development at any one point in time. (Davidson, 2006) Depending on the stage, the group may have different challenges to face and management needs. Importantly, members of a new group often behave differently from members of a group that have been performing together for a comprehensive period of time. In both cases, group effectiveness may be influenced by how well group members and leaders deal with the problems typical of each stage of development. (Wood, 2004) A better understanding of group development can help people to better manage both newly formed and existing groups; it can also help people to perform better as part of a group. (Stone, 2006) Tuckman’s model describes group development in five sequential stages, forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. Each stage faces different challenges, an understanding of these trials help managers to better comprehend how a group will approach a set task.

The forming stage is the first stage of group development in which the key concern is the initial entry of members to the group. Individuals ask themselves numerous questions to identify similar characteristics with other group members, and the group itself. (Davidson, 2006) People start to discover what is considered appropriate behaviour; they begin to found the real task of the group and start to define group rules. Some of the challenges the group and individuals might face during this stage are such things as multiple group memberships and identifications, prior experience with group members in similar or different situations, and diverse impressions of the organisational philosophies, goals and polices. (Baumeister, 2008) All of these factors influence how a group may initially behave during the forming stage.

The second stage of group development is the storming stage. It is a period of high emotionality and tension between group members. Common to this stage is hostility and in-group fighting. (Davidson, 2006) The group’s concentration moves towards focusing on the obstacles that challenge the successful completion of the group’s goals. Members of the group begin to understand one another’s interpersonal styles and take them into consideration when finding ways to accomplish group tasks, while also satisfying individual needs. Extrinsic demands such as premature performance results may create pressures at this time. (Baumeister, 2008) Informal sub-groups may form, causing conflict over such things as leadership and authority. This happens as individuals contend to inflict their preferences on the group, and hence achieve their desired status position. (Stone, 2006) During this stage of discussion about the task, alternatives and possible actions occur.

The third stage is the norming stage, also referred to as the initial integration stage. This is the point in which the group begins to come together as a synchronized component. (Stone, 2006) At this point the interpersonal investigations and hostility behaviours of the storming stage give way to an unstable balancing of forces. Members of the group will most likely make every effort to keep this new found balance. Individual behaviour is regulated by the group, and tendencies to deviate from the group or questions about the group’s directions and minority view points are discouraged. (Davidson, 2006) There becomes a sense of closeness within the group, caused by the initial interrogation of group members. This sense of closeness makes the group members want to protect the group from disintegration; this can cause the problem of the protection of the group becoming more important than the task at hand. (Wood, 2004)The norming stage can be misperceived as a stage of maturity by some of the group members; however this sense of premature accomplishment needs to be carefully managed as a springboard to a higher level of group development.

The performing stage, or total integration stage is the forth level of group development. This stage sees the development of an organised, mature and well-functioning group. (Davidson, 2006) The group is now able to deal with complex tasks and to handle membership disagreements in imaginative ways. The group structure is constant and members are motivated by group goals and are generally satisfied. The primary challenges of this stage largely relate to human resource maintenance and task performance, but with a strong commitment to ongoing development and self renewal. (Baumeister, 2008) If a group successfully reaches this stage of expansion, the members continue to work together, understand their individual and collective responsibilities to other groups and the greater organisation and are able to adapt as opportunities and demands arise and change over time.

The final stage is the adjourning stage. This is where members of the group disband when the job is done. (Stone, 2006)This is an important stage for many temporary groups that are becoming common within the workplace, such as committees and task forces. (Davidson, 2006) They are groups which must solve problems efficiently and effectively, and be able to do their jobs on a tight schedule, adjourn and then work together again in the future.

Understanding group development is an essential part of enhancing internal operations of the group in order to assist group efficiency and effectiveness. Groups typically go through five stages of group development. The forming stage is the first stage in which the key concern is the initial entry of members to the group. (Stone, 2006)The second stage of group development is the storming stage. It is a period of high emotionality and tension between group members. Common to this stage is hostility and in-group fighting. The third stage is the norming stage, also referred to as the initial integration stage. This is the point in which the group begins to come together as a synchronized component. The performing stage, or total integration stage is the forth level of group development. (Wood, 2004) This stage sees the development of an organised, mature and well-functioning group. The final stage is the adjourning stage. (Davidson, 2006) This is where members of the group disband when the job is done. The adjourning stage is not necessary for all groups, as some groups continue working together for extended periods of time, and some might acquire new members and relapse back to the storming stage. (Stone, 2006) A strong understanding of group development can help people and managers to better supervise both newly formed and existing groups; it can also help people to perform better as part of a group. Tuckman’s model describes group development in five stages, forming, storming, norming, performing and adjourning. (Wood, 2004) Each stage faces different challenges, and an understanding of these trials help managers to better comprehend how a group will approach a set task, and how to successfully approach the group and its members in order to gain the most effective response according to the level of development the group is at. (Wood, 2004)

References

Baumeister, R. F., & Bushman, B. J. (2008). Social psychology and human nature (1st ed.) Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Davidson, P, Griffin, RW. 2006. Management. Milton; John Wiley and Sons Australia LTD

Stone, J. 2006. Managing Human Resources. Brisbane; John Wiley and Sons Australia LTD

Wood. 2004. Organisational Behavior: A Global Perspective. Milton; John Wiley and Sons Australia LTD

Online Resouces

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forming-storming-norming-performing

A basic overview of the steps of grou formation

http://www.coe.ohio-state.edu/btuckman/

Tuckman's home page.

http://www.onepine.info/mgrp.htm

A page about leadership and group formation for companies.

http://www.majortraining.com.au/

This company teaches other buisnesses about the levels of group development so they can better their managment strategies.

Children of Iraq

2007-10-09T11:53:00.000+10:00

I was just watching the 1130 news and a story grabbed my interest, it was about a man, who has started giving some of the surving children from the war in iraq psychological treatment. He was saying that even thought they have survied, this generation has watched more rape, murder and horrific crimes against humanity than most. One girl said she was kidnapped from her school and forced to watch her close friends being raped, and then murdered. She slept next to her best friends dead body. To me, i find this inconcievable. I cannot imagine watching all of my best friends being raped and then murdered and being completly helpless. Incidently many of the children who have seen such horrific things as this find it too much to go to school, as they associate school with death and murder and rape. I suppose that this is something that, as 'psychologists in training' we all need to be aware of, the bigger picture. Our skills are needed in many countries to help the next generation, in this case the 'free-er' generation, deal with the horrible things that they have seen and watched happen to their friends and loved ones and even strangers, in order for them to create a better society. Feel free to comment, this was just something that i came across and i guess it just made me sad. Ive posted some links for furter reading if your interested.

http://www.operationiraqichildren.org/

http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2007/03/c7485fca-6cc3-4611-90af-3d55686b3540.html

Interestingly, when typing 'helping the children in Iraq psychologically' into google, the first entry that comes up is about children in america watching violent images of the war in iraq, and the effects that this has on them. NOT the effects that the traumatic events have on the children in iraq who see them FIRST HAND. This really frustrates, and angers me.

flow chart of the five stages of group development

2007-10-09T10:34:00.000+10:00

History is to blame...

2007-09-06T09:28:00.000+10:00

On September 2, 1998, Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of the Rwandan town Taba, was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity for the behaviour he engaged in and supervised during the Rwandan Genocide. (Obadina, 2007) It was the world’s first conviction of the newly defined crime of genocide, set down by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, a court established by the United Nations. (Melvern, 2006) This was the first step in justice for the Rwandan people for the genocide that occurred in 1994. This nightmare event started on June 6 1994 when Rwandan President Habyarimana was killed after a missile shot down his plane. Almost simultaneously, Hutu extremists quickly seized control of the government. (Horvitz, 2006) Over the following hundred days, 8000 Rwandans a day were slaughtered, based on their race. Approximately ten percent of the countries population was murdered, ninety percent of those were Tutsis, or Tutsi sympathises. (Melvern, 2006) The ‘perfect storm’ of social psychological variables that combined in the lead up to the Rwandan genocide are numerous, but almost all come down to the history of a country separated by power and ethnicity.

In order for an understanding of the events that took place in Rwanada, the comprehension of the word genocide is essential. The term ‘genocide’ can literally be defined as race killing. (Melvern, 2006) It is taken from the Greek word ‘geno‘ meaning race or tribe, and the Latin word ‘-cide’ meaning killing. The term was created in 1948 by Jewish-Polish lawyer, Raphael Lempkin, to describe the Nazis policies of methodical murder, during world war two. (Horvitz, 2006) In 1948, with the memory of the Holocaust fresh in their minds, the United Nations approved the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide. Genocide could now be defined as an international crime. It classifies genocide as:

Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group. (Horvitz, 2006)

It was this convention that allowed the Hutu extremists to be convicted of their crimes.

There are many events that need to take place before genocide occurs. Classification is the first, defining the population into ‘us and them’. In the case of Rwanda, the classification of Tutsi and Hutu has been around for decades. (Obadina, 2007) Over history, being Hutu was associated with being in a lower class, and being Tutsi was associated with being of a higher social status. The classification between the two clusters was originally about ethnic groups, developed into power distinctions. (Horvitz, 2006) The next events are symbolisation and identification. Again, these steps occurred many years before the genocide. When the Belgians took over Rwanda in 1918, they issued racial identification cards. The Belgians continued to favor Tutsis over Hutus for positions of power. (Melvern, 2006) Polarization, separation of the two groups has occurred through out Rwanda’s history, to the point that Hutus could go through a process called Kwihutura to ‘shed their Hutuness’ and become of a higher social status by gaining wealth. (Obadina, 2007) Likewise a Tutsi could go through the process called Gucupia, when they lost possessions, moving them down in the social hierarchy. Organisation of the extremist groups involved, and preparation for the mass murders. This involves the take over, or involvement of the government, the plans for genocidal killings, such as death lists being drawn up. Hutu racial groups funded and organised by the government were formed, and it was leaked that there was intentions to exterminate the Tutsi race. (Melvern, 2006) Dehumanisation of the Tutsi people begin, messages of hate and fear were spread across the country, using a radio station. Hutu’s were encouraged to use violence on their neighboring Tutsis. (Melvern, 2006) The next level of action is extermination, the systematic killing of a race. This lasted for one hundred days and approximately eight hundred thousand Tutsis and Tutsi sympathisers were murdered. The killings occur rapidly and without remorse.

The final event that takes place is denial. The denial can be from the people who committed the genocide, or the neighboring countries or nations denying what happening in the country that is suffering. (Melvern, 2006) In the case of Rwanda, it was the outside world not sending aid and admitting that the events occurring in Rwanda were genocide.

The history of the country seems to play an important role in the social psychological variables that influence the occurrence of genocide. The age old prejudice that has existed between the Tutsi and the Hutu people seemed almost predictable when looking back at the countries history. (Horvitz, 2006)The association of wealth and power with the Tutsi people, led the Hutu’s to form a social revolution in 1959, which ended in twenty thousand Tutsi people being murdered, and a further two hundred thousand to flee the country. (Melvern, 2006) All of the factors that mentioned above have to be present, along with a strong history of prejudice and discrimination to influence the genocide of a race. Each stage is influenced by the one before it, escalating the situation to the extreme action of genocide.

There are many social psychological factors that contribute to genocide. The most distinguished reason is extreme prejudice and discrimination. Another prominent cause is the theory of ‘groupthink’. (Baumeister, 2008) ‘Groupthink’ is the type of thought exhibited by group members who try to minimize conflict without evaluating ideas. Members of the group avoid promoting viewpoints that contradict or lay outside of what the ‘group’ thinks. In the case of genocide this plays a large role. It could explain why, in particular circumstances; groups of people make irrational decisions and behave in ways that are outside the realm of their ‘normal’ behaviour. (Wood, 2004)

The ‘perfect storm’ of social psychological variables that come together to create genocide, are influenced by the history of the country, and the racial tension caused by extreme racism and discrimination. (Obadina, 2007) These variables are classification, symbolisation, identification, organization, polarization, preparation, dehumanization, extermination and denial. The Rwandan genocide exhibited all of these factors, in conjunction with a racial war that had been present for decades, as well as a history of violence, and a corrupt government. (Melvern, 2006) Each variable was influenced by the next, for example symbolisation and identification were influenced by classification.

The only piece of mind that comes from such a horrendous crime as the Rwandan genocide is that the crime is punishable by international law. The United Nations and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide has been put in place to prevent such perfect storms of variables to occur. (Obadina, 2007)

USEFUL LINKS

http://www.genocidewatch.org/

This site gives up to date information about what is happening in the world in relation for genocide, it also gives a good outline of the eight steps of genocide that were used in this posting.

http://www.ushmm.org/

This site shows an insight into the Holocaust and the Rwandian Genocide, it is updated regularly.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/
An eye opening link to the documentry 'Ghosts of Rwanda'. Has a full transcript available

http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/africa/index-rwanda-children.html
An insight into the children affected by the genocide.

http://69.94.11.53/default.htm
The homepage for the International Crminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/Genocide/genocide_in_rwanda.htm
The United Human Rights Counsel homepage, has information on the Rwandan Genocide and others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda

Information on the people of Rwanda

REFERENCES:

Baumeister, R. F., & Bushman, B. J. (2008). Social psychology and human nature (1st ed.) Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Horvitz, L.A., Catherwood, C., (2006) Encyclopedia of war crimes and genocide New York, USA: Schiffer Publishing

Melvern, Linda., (2006). Conspiracy to murder: the Rwandan genocide, (Rev.ed) London, UK: Verso

Obadina, Elizabeth., (2007) Ethnic groups in Africa, Philadelphia, USA: Andersen Press

Wood. 2004. Organisational Behavior: A Global Perspective. Milton; John Wiley and Sons Australia LTD

History to Blame

2007-09-03T17:02:00.000+10:00

On September 2, 1998, Jean-Paul Akayesu, the former mayor of the Rwandan town Taba, was

found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity for the behaviour he engaged in and

supervised during the Rwandan Genocide. (Obadina, 2007) It was the world’s first conviction of

the newly defined crime of genocide, set down by the International Criminal Tribunal for

Rwanda, a court established by the United Nations. (Melvern, 2006) This was the first step in

justice for the Rwandan people for the genocide that occurred in 1994. This nightmare event

started on June 6 1994 when Rwandan President Habyarimana was killed after a missile shot

down his plane. Almost simultaneously, Hutu extremists quickly seized control of the

government. (Horvitz, 2006) Over the following hunderd days, 8000 Rwandans a day were

slaughtered, based on their race. Approximately ten percent of the countries population was

murdered, ninety percent of those were Tutsis, or Tutsi sympathises.(Melvern, 2006)

The ‘perfect storm’ of social psychological variables that combined in the lead up to the

Rwandan genocide are numerous, but almost all come down to the history of a country

separated by power and ethnicity. In order for an understanding of the events that took place in

Rwanada, the comprehension of the word genocide is essential. The term ‘genocide’ can literally

be defined as race killing. (Melvern, 2006) It is taken from the Greek word ‘geno‘ meaning race

or tribe, and the Latin word ‘-cide’ meaning killing. The term was created in 1948 by Jewish-

Polish lawyer, Raphael Lempkin, to describe the Nazis policies of methodical murder, during

world war two. (Horvitz, 2006) In 1948, with the memory of the Holocaust fresh in their minds,

the United Nations approved the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of

Genocide. Genocide could now be defined as an international crime. It classifies genocide as:

Genocide means any of the following acts committed with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such:

(a) Killing members of the group;

(b) Causing serious bodily or mental harm to members of the group;

(c) Deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction in whole or in part;

(d) Imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group;

(e) Forcibly transferring children of the group to another group.
(Horvitz, 2006)
It was this convention that allowed the Hutu extremists to be convicted of their crimes.

There are many events that need to take place before genocide occurs. Classification is the first,

defining the population into ‘us and them’. In the case of Rwanda, the classification of Tutsi and

Hutu has been around for decades. (Obadina, 2007) Over history, being Hutu was associated

with being in a lower class, and being Tutsi was associated with being of a higher social status.

The classification between the two clusters was originally about ethnic groups, developed into

power distinctions. (Horvitz, 2006) The next events are symbolisation and identification. Agan,

these steps occurred many years before the genocide. When the Belgians took over Rwanda in

1918, they issued racial identification cards. The Belgians continued to favor Tutsis over Hutus

for positions of power. (Melvern, 2006) Polarization, separation of the two groups has occurred

through out Rwanda’s history, to the point that Hutus could go through a process called

Kwihutura to ‘shed their Hutuness’ and become of a higher social status by gaining wealth.

(Obadina, 2007) Likewise a Tutsi could go through the process called Gucupia, when they lost

possessions, moving them down in the social hierarchy. Organisation of the extremist groups

involved, and preparation for the mass murders. This involves the take over, or involvement of

the government, the plans for genocidal killings, such as death lists being drawn up. Hutu racial

groups funded and organised by the government were formed, and it was leaked that there was

intentions to exterminate the Tutsi race. (Melvern, 2006) Dehumanisation of the Tutsi people

begin, messages of hate and fear were spread across the country, using a radio station. Hutu’s

were encouraged to use violence on their neighboring Tutsis. (Melvern, 2006) The next level of

action is extermination, the systematic killing of a race. This lasted for one hundred days and

approximately eight hundred thousand Tutsis and Tutsi sympathisers were murdered. The

killings occur rapidly and without remorse.

The final event that takes place is denial. The denial can be from the people who committed the

genocide, or the neighboring countries or nations denying what happening in the country that is

suffering. (Melvern, 2006) In the case of Rwanda, it was the outside world not sending aid and

admitting that the events occurring in Rwanda were genocide.

The history of the country seems to play an important role in the social psychological variables

that influence the occurrence of genocide. The age old prejudice that has existed between the

Tutsi and the Hutu people seemed almost predictable when looking back at the countries

history. (Horvitz, 2006)The association of wealth and power with the Tutsi people, led the

Hutu’s to form a social revolution in 1959, which ended in twenty thousand Tutsi people being

murdered, and a further two hundred thousand to flee the country. (Melvern, 2006) All of the

factors that mentioned above have to be present, along with a strong history of prejudice and

discrimination to influence the genocide of a race. Each stage is influenced by the one before it,

escalating the situation to the extreme action of genocide.

There are many social psychological factors that contribute to genocide. The most distinguished

reason is extreme prejudice and discrimination. Another prominent cause is the theory of

‘groupthink’. (Baumeister, 2008) ‘Groupthink’ is the type of thought exhibited by group

members who try to minimize conflict without evaluating ideas. Members of the group avoid

promoting viewpoints that contradict or lay outside of what the ‘group’ thinks. In the case of

genocide this plays a large role. It could explain why, in particular circumstances; groups of

people make irrational decisions and behave in ways that are outside the realm of their ‘normal’

behaviour. (Wood, 2004)

The ‘perfect storm’ of social psychological variables that come together to create genocide, are

influenced by the history of the country, and the racial tension caused by extreme racism and

discrimination. (Obadina, 2007) These variables are classification, symbolisation, identification,

organization, polarization, preparation, dehumanization, extermination and denial. The Rwandan

genocide exhibited all of these factors, in conjunction with a racial war that had been present for

decades, as well as a history of violence, and a corrupt government. (Melvern, 2006) Each

variable was influenced by the next, for example symbolisation and identification were

influenced by classification.

The only piece of mind that comes from such a horrendous crime as the Rwandan genocide is

that the crime is punishable by international law. The United Nations and the Convention on the

Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide has been put in place to prevent such

perfect storms of variables to occur. (Obadina, 2007)

USEFUL LINKS

http://www.genocidewatch.org/
This site gives up to date information about what is happening in the world in relation for genocide, it also gives a good outline of the eight steps of genocide that were used in this posting.

http://www.ushmm.org/
This site shows an insight into the Holocaust and the Rwandian Genocide, it is updated regularly.

http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/

An eye opening link to the documentry 'Ghosts of Rwanda'. Has a full transcript available

http://www.nytimes.com/library/world/africa/index-rwanda-children.html

An insight into the children affected by the genocide.

http://69.94.11.53/default.htm

The homepage for the International Crminal Tribunal for Rwanda.

http://www.unitedhumanrights.org/Genocide/genocide_in_rwanda.htm

The United Human Rights Counsel homepage, has information on the Rwandan Genocide and others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rwanda
Information on the people of Rwanda

REFERENCES:

Baumeister, R. F., & Bushman, B. J. (2008). Social psychology and human nature (1st ed.)

Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.

Horvitz, L.A., Catherwood, C., (2006) Encyclopedia of war crimes and genocide New York, USA: Schiffer Publishing

Melvern, Linda., (2006). Conspiracy to murder: the Rwandan genocide, (Rev.ed) London, UK: Verso

Obadina, Elizabeth., (2007) Ethnic groups in Africa, Philadelphia, USA: Andersen Press

Wood. 2004. Organisational Behavior: A Global Perspective. Milton; John Wiley and Sons Australia LTD

Harry Potter and the eight stages of Genocide.

2007-08-28T12:45:00.000+10:00

Upon re- reading the final Harry Potter novel, and with all this social psych stuff running around in my head i started thinking about how the Harry Potter novels (which are written for children) are based around genocide. So i decided to write a blog about how the eight stages of genocide relate to harry potter, and if nothing else but a bit of fun, this can maybe help us all gain a greater understanding of genocide and how it occurs.

STAGE ONE - CLASSIFICATION
The distinction between us and them. This happens early on in the novels, the 'muggles' (non-magical folk) are separated from the wizards, its an 'us and them' situation. This can further be broken down in to the 'pure bloods' (those who descend from a long lived wizarding family) 'half bloods, (those who had one parent who was a wizard and one a muggle) and 'mud blood' (horrible word for those whose parents are both muggles) In the novels, A group of extremist 'pure blood' wizards become a 'them' and the rest of the wizarding community become an 'us'. The extremist 'us' form a group called 'The order of the Phoenix', and plan to fight the Death eaters.

STAGE TWO - SYMBOLISATION
Giving names and symbols to the classifications. In this case the 'bad' group are called the 'Death Eaters' and are distinguished by a tattoo found on the inside of their arm. The names part was classified in the first stage.

STAGE THREE - DEHUMANIZATION
One group denies the humanity of another group. In this case it was the death eaters dening that all wizards that are not of pure blood decent were worthless.

STAGE FOUR - ORGANISATION
The death eaters were lead by a evil wizard called Voldermort (or He Who Must Not Be Named). They started as a small group and recruited more and more people and magical creatures, eventually they over throw the ministry of magic, taking control of the government and the country.

STAGE FIVE -POLARIZATION
Extremists drive the groups apart. The death eaters take over the country, forcing the members of The order of the Phoenix and other wizards of human decent into hiding, if they are found they will be tortured and killed.

STAGE SIX - PREPARATION
The death eaters start to attack and identify all members of the community who are not of 'pure blood', or who are 'blood traitors' (those who chose to help the general wizarding community, but are of pure blood) Lists are made of who should live, and if your name isn't on the list, you are to be killed on sight, or taken in as a hostage.

STAGE SEVEN - EXTERMINATION
Mass murders start to take place. Many wizards are murdered. (including some main characters!) A safe haven is set up in Hogworts (the wizard school) Eventually The Order of the Phoenix recruits enough members to take on the Death eaters and there is an epic battle (between good and evil)

STAGE EIGHT - DENIAL
This is an interesting stage in the book, the Minister for Magic denies that Voldermort is back (in short he kind of died but managed to come back to life) because of the fear and horrible things he did to people when he was in power last time, the minister thought it better to deny the obvious and tell the wizarding community that Voldermort was still 'dead'. This idea is presented to the wizarding community for about 2 books or so, (2 years) until its too late to stop the wizard genocide from happening.

I find that the denial that is shown in the book, as the minister can not deal with the horrible things that go along with admitting Voldermort is back, very similar to the US and UN not admitting what was happening in Rwanda as 'genocide'. It appears that by labelling and naming the horrible thing makes it more real, and if its real then the Governments have something incredibly horrible and serious to deal with. It seems that it is just easier to deny it, even when the evidence points to the complete opposite.

hmmmm anyway just something that was running through my head. Feel free to add comments!

Attempt at posting a concept map.

2007-08-17T15:51:00.000+10:00

Not sure how big this is going to appear, but its a concept map on what, at this stage, i believe to be some of the contibuting factors to genocide. Most of it has come from the 'Eight stages of Genocide' which was posted on someones blog, from the website 'Genocide Watch'. Anyway, here goes!!!

Ghosts of Rwanda: an eye opener

2007-08-15T21:59:00.000+10:00

Wow. That was an eye opener. Some of those images will haunt me. I found that dvd to be incredibly informative, and as i said before, and eye opener. I felt physically sick while watching some parts of that dvd, at the attitudes of people and what was going on. Its strange how that was such a graphic documentary, and yet the images that remain with me are not the ones of the mass graves, but that image of the single floating hand in the murky water, and the bodies floating in the river. Horrific. Killing, slaughtering people in the house of God, that just seems so immoral. It seems that Rwanda was the result of two enemy extremeist groups, and the scary thing is that it could very easily happen again. In answer to the question 'what would i do' id honestly have to say, with the skills we learn in psych, id have to do something. Even if thats debriefing and counselling the people who come back/escape from the country in trouble. Or something as small as protesting the governments decisions or signing a petition. I think i would have to do something.

Ive posted the link to the transcript of Ghotos of Rwanda below.
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/ghosts/etc/script.html

Article: Genocide as a Scientific Project.

2007-08-10T10:18:00.000+10:00

I found this article titled 'Genocide as a Scientific Project' (Andrew S Winston, 1997). Its based on the Nazi Holocaust, but it reviews some of the litriture written in the 1930's-1940's and gives a bit of an understanding as to what the german people would have been exposed to in order for the Nazi holocaust to, for lack of a better word, 'work'. There were two quotes in particular that struck me as horrifing and interesting, but also somewhat hard to understand. Being part of the 'modern educated western world' its hard to comprehend how people took these 'articles' as serious and actually believed them. (To some extent) On the other hand, i suppose that at the time these sources were seen as repudable, they were written by doctors and scientists, whom i am sure at that time were deemed a crediable source. Below i have posted the two quotes, feel free to add your opinoins/comments on them, as i found them to be quite controversial.

'Jews were commonly understood to be a mixed race - part Negro and part Oriental - and therefore were genetically defective... Jews produced elevated incidents of diabtes, hemophilia, deafness, muscular tumors, manic depression, schizophrenia, suicide, mental retartation, glaucoma, myopia, gallstones, brain malfunction, criminality and moral depravity' (referenced by the author of the article as comming from Proctor, 1988)
'When a people wants, somehow or other, to preserve its own nature, it must refect alien racial elements, and when these have already insinuated themselves, it must supress and eliminate them. The Jew is such an alien and therefore, when he wants to insinuate himself, he must be warded off. This is self defence. In saying this, I do not characterise every Jew as inferior, as Negroes are...But i reject Jewry with every means in my power, and without reserve, in order to preserve the hereditary endowment of my people. (The author states 'as quoted in Muller-Hill, 1988, p. 12)

I found these quotes to be incredibly offensive, wrong and just plain horrible, and yet almost laughable because they are so extreme and inconsiveable, i guess that comes with the old saying when you don't know know whether to laugh or cry. Anyway, thats all from me for now, i just thought they were interesting, from someone who hasnt studied anysort of history since grade 8!

Genocide: A horrific, yet interesting subject

2007-08-10T10:08:00.000+10:00

I have chosen to do the topic of genocide for my first blog. It is something that has always facinated me, but i have yet to have the opportunity to study it. Its funny, even though i was in primary school when the Rwanda genocide happened, i can remember it. Obviously not many of the details sunk in, but as i was attending a catholic school i can remember writting in a 'prayer book' or something. I am actually really looking foward to writting this essay, (i know a rare occurance!) the more research i do, the more interesting it gets, especially with all of the conflicting view points. Well thats all for now.

2007-08-06T15:54:00.000+10:00

2007-08-06T15:50:00.000+10:00

Thought this was funny!!!