In the view of an <span title="anthropologist/psychologist/sociologist....?">anthropologist/psychologi...</span>

Question

For my piece of homework I was given a series of printed-off internet posts concerning individuals thoughts on the September 11th attacks. To sum them up, half said that it was a "horrendous atrocity" and that it is unforgivable, while the other half say that it was bound to happen due to US foreign policy, no one to blame except themselves, etc. So first what I have to do is in the view of an anthropologist, sociologist, and psychologist say what would influence these people's thought on the attacks. One reason i was thinking could be media opinion and thinking along the same lines as the government , but would that be from an anthro or socio point of view? For psych i don't know. Then after that i have to chose one of the fields of psych, anthro, socio, and "suggest methods of research to conduct a study to find the reasons for the differences of opinion in the excerpts about the terrorist attacks."

Any help at all would be greatly appreciated, thank you

Answer 1

From an interactionist&#039;s (sociological) standpoint, people are influenced by what others think and feel.  In a group setting, people tend to conform to the norms and values of the group that they are in.  This means, if the group consensus is that the event was an atrocity, most would agree.  It takes a very &quot;brave&quot; non-conformist to say otherwise in a group setting.  

From a psychological perspective, how one internalizes the event will be dependent not upon a group consensus, but how we have internalized the event ourselves.  It&#039;s dependent on our own understanding of the event in relation to our own values and our own perception of reality.  Therefore, you will get more honest answers about people&#039;s feelings when you question them individually.  However, their answers may still be influenced somewhat by how they may perceive that you would want them to answer.   If they don&#039;t think that you have an opinion one way or the other, they may feel more open to giving you an answer that is truly how they feel.  

People who said it was &quot;bound to happen due to US foreign policy&quot; were using their sociological imagination...(this is a term sociologists use to describe looking at the &quot;bigger picture&quot; with an open mind.)  They may be applying interactionist theory, functionalism, or conflict theory.

People who said it was an atrocity may have been answering from a psychological perspective.  They are comparing the event in their minds to other violent disasters, and formulating a perception based on the gravity of the event, and how it personally made them feel.  They are, in part,  reacting to the emotion that it makes them feel.

View of the anthropologist?  I have no idea.  Anthropology is not my field of expertise.

Edit:  for the psychological and sociological research:  a random, open, individually distributed survey may be useful.

Answer 2

Is this a trick question?  I thought, how does one break this down simply, on a level that primitives thought.  I came up with &quot;Us and Them&quot; which is a Pink Floyd song!!!  When something bad happens, did it happen because they(the aggressor) are bad or because we are bad (the gods are punishing us).  In the old testament, when the Jews are carried off as slaves, the Bible tells us that it was because they had forgotten God.  In 2001, some groups were blamed which had nothing to do with the whole situation.   So, people tend to answer the question (why did this happen to us) in one of two ways, us or them.   When Rome fell was there Romans blaming each other for the fall?  Hitler blamed German Jews for problems in Germany. A socio view such as Georgia running out of water 2 questions arise: Did the state not plan for the future or is it because surrounding states are taking too much of the water?  For psych view such as personal debt: did I spend too much or credit cards/mortgage companies too greedy?  I suppose Antro would be, how would this type thinking help man : Is the danger from outside or inside? It forces us to think and evaluate.

http://www.lyricsfreak.com/p/pink+floyd/...