Identity and Violence may seem isolated from each other on a superficial level, but on a deeper analysis both seem to depend on each other. To put in a different way, just as long-stagnant water can give birth to deadly mosquitoes, similarly a logged and rigid definition of identity may lead to violence which could be similar to Aedes. To briefly explain this analogy it’s essential to refer to Charles Taylor who argued that identity is shaped in three ways:-
1) Recognition of identity
2) Absence of identity
3) Misrecognition of identity.
All three modes of shaping identity have the potential to bring out violence which is latent. Here, Sigmund Freud’s idea of human instincts being of two kinds: those that conserve and unify and, the instincts to destroy and kill is very significant. These instincts work according to the motive, when individual works for their ‘motive’ that is of shaping the identity leads to use of violent means and ends mostly.
Our presentation will include Terrell A. Northup idea of identity as a system of beliefs or a way of construing the world that makes life predictable rather than random. This way, he conceptualizes that social constructs of an identity become so entrenched that the conflict surfaces as violence. The identity first takes the form of threat, which later gets distorted and extremely rigid and ultimately colludes in maintaining the conflict.
Thus, it can be said that, identity is central; almost core to individuals and their sense of connectedness to themselves and the society-scope they engage in. Kriesberg examines how there is a formation of not only one's own, but also a sense of identity of the other, which further reinforces the self. Though identities can be both 'ascribed' a...
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...llows that the intervention is contingent on the identity dynamics of the groups involved. For instance, peripheral would limit itself to the objective component. Similarly, change in the dynamics of the relationship between parties,will not change the core schema, but alter the nature of the existing relationship between parties. This carries connotations of a relatively enduring change. Changes that occur in the identities of the parties are aimed at reconstructing the core schema, in this case, the perception of ‘us’ and ‘them’. Such would be the case if the Israeli State recognizes the Palestinian State as an equal and de-emphasizes the differences between the two. This level implies a change approximating utopia. The introduction of super ordinate goals establishes a commonality between the groups, forcing them to acknowledge the ‘other’ as more like ‘self’.
Personal identity, in the context of philosophy, does not attempt to address clichéd, qualitative questions of what makes us us. Instead, personal identity refers to numerical identity or sameness over time. For example, identical twins appear to be exactly alike, but their qualitative likeness in appearance does not make them the same person; each twin, instead, has one and only one identity – a numerical identity. As such, philosophers studying personal identity focus on questions of what has to persist for an individual to keep his or her numerical identity over time and of what the pronoun “I” refers to when an individual uses it. Over the years, theories of personal identity have been established to answer these very questions, but the
Identity is a prevalent theme in John Knowles novel, A Separate Peace. Each of the four main characters, Gene, Finny, Leper, and Brinker, questions their values and have their actions molded by their identities. As Shahram Hashmat wrote in "Basics of Identity", "Identity relates to our basic values that dictate the choices we make (e.g., relationships, career). These choices reflect who we are and what we value" (1). The identities of each character are influenced by their values and beliefs, but they can change based on their surroundings. Bob Edelstein wrote in "Authenticity and Identity", "... out authentic identity changes throughout our life in response to the impact of our life experiences" (1). All four of the main characters deal
Claudia Card begins by questioning the difference between wrong and evil. How do we know when something crosses the line between being just wrong, to being an evil act? How does hatred and motive play a part in this? How can people psychologically maintain a sense of who they are when they have been the victims of evil? Card attempts to explain these fundamental questions using her theory of evil; the Atrocity Paradigm (Card, pg.3).
Taylor, S. (2009) ‘Who We Think We Are? Identities in Everyday life’, in Taylor, S., Hinchliffe, S., Clarke, J. and Bromley, S. (eds), Making Social Lives, Milton Keynes, The Open University.
Identity is defined as the collective aspect of the set of characteristics by which a thing is definitively recognizable or known. There is personal identity and even national identity and, even though everyone in society’s identities can change very quickly, it can convince one of doing almost anything. Without religion as a source of identity, it became fundamentally easy for ideas and ideology such as communism, social norms, and communism to became a person’s identity instead. After all, society’s citizens are always looking to unite through each of their identities.
Identity is a huge topic that could go on for hundreds of pages; in fact, Solomon did. The concept of vertical and horizontal identity is unknown to many, yet very important. Sometimes, we do not belong in the vertical
Identity is 'how you view yourself and your life.'; (p. 12 Knots in a String.) Your identity helps you determine where you think you fit in, in your life. It is 'a rich complexity of images, ideas and associations.';(p. 12 Knots in a String.) It is given that as we go through our lives and encounter different experiences our identity of yourselves and where we belong may change. As this happens we may gain or relinquish new values and from this identity and image our influenced. 'A bad self-image and low self-esteem may form part of identity?but often the cause is not a loss of identity itself so much as a loss of belonging.'; Social psychologists suggest that identity is closely related to our culture. Native people today have been faced with this challenge against their identity as they are increasingly faced with a non-native society. I will prove that the play The Rez Sisters showed this loss of identity and loss of belonging. When a native person leaves the reservation to go and start a new life in a city they are forced to adapt to a lifestyle they are not accustomed to. They do not feel as though they fit in or belong to any particular culture. They are faced with extreme racism and stereotypes from other people in the nonreservational society.
The question ‘who am I?’ raises speculations about who we are as human beings and why we behave the way we do. This is of great interest to social psychologists. One particular theory about this social identity is that it is not fixed or innate but that it is something that changes over time and is constructed through our social interactions with other people. This essay will explicate the idea of socially constructed identities and consider the evidence for and against this view with examples of research studies from both social constructionism (Phoenix, 2007) and Social Identity Theory (SIT) (Turner and Brown, 1978).
Human development is a highly complex lifelong process. Identity is a self-definition or sense of who one is, where one is going, and how one fits into society. It relates to our basic values that dictates the choices we make in life. It is considered that identity formation is a means of finding oneself, by matching one’s talent with available social roles. Crisis is a vital part in one’s development. It occurs in every stage of finding one’s self and without resolution, may lead to tension and role confusion. Dedicated and influential theorists such as Erik Erikson and James Marcia have contributed significantly to the broadening and understanding
In all aspects of their lives we associate with various groups, for example demographic, cultural or peer groups. Social Identity theory developed by Henri Tajfel in 1979 explains how people develop a sense of belonging and membership in particular groups. This theory explains behaviors in terms of social groups, we form social groups and create perceptions of others and ourselves that are influenced by the various groups to which we belong. A social group is a set of individuals who hold a common social identification or view themselves as members of the same social category (Chen & Li, 2009). Individuals can have multiple, co-occurring identities which could vary. This paper aims to explain how the Social Identity theory is used to explain violence and prejudice behavior and it also looks at the advantages and disadvantages of this theory compared to other theories in explaining the same behavior.
What is identity? Identity is an unbound formation which is created by racial construction and gender construction within an individual’s society even though it is often seen as a controlled piece of oneself. In Dr. Beverly Daniel Tatum’s piece, “The Complexity of Identity: ‘Who Am I?’, Tatum asserts that identity is formed by “individual characteristics, family dynamics, historical factors, and social and political contexts” (Tatum 105). Tatum’s piece, “The Complexity of Identity: ‘Who Am I?’” creates a better understanding of how major obstacles such as racism and sexism shape our self identity.
In this paper I will be focusing on Erikson’s Theory mainly about identity versus role confusion. Finding one’s identity is not always an easy task. Everyone at some point in his or her life has had, as Erikson puts it, an identity crisis. Everyone experiences different struggles that can have either a positive or negative impact on their identity. On my path to identity, I have reached identity achievement, which means I have explored and made commitments. I will also be focusing on two articles highlighting a fifth possible outcome regarding identity and looking at identity statuses as developmental trajectories.
Humanity is defined by one major factor: one’s understating of the self. By understanding one’s self, one can understand society and the world that surrounds themselves. There is one thing that can often distort one’s personality, one’s identity. By identifying as one thing a person can often change how they act or do certain things. This is often found to hide one’s true motives or intention, but it can also be used to hide hidden factors that aren’t as prevalent. One’s personality and identity are very closely linked, and tend to play off one another. This fact can be show in within multiple works. To name a few authors who demonstrate this fact: Clifford Geertz, Horace Miner, and Andrei Toom. Their works seek to dive deeper
In conclusion, the formation of one’s identity has many components. Beginning at the onset of adolescence and continuing to expand, grow and form and reform as we live through the struggles or success of life. Many theorists have endeavored to clarify the development of identity formation. However, Erik Erickson offered one significant theory involving the formation of one’s identity. Expounding on Erickson theory, Marcia developed his Identity Status Model according to the existence or absence of crisis and commitments. These four statuses, diffusion, foreclosure, moratorium and achievement can combine in various ways to produce a self. One’s sense of identity is determined largely by the choices and commitments made, therefore, having a well-developed sense of self can provide an individual with insight to their strengths, weaknesses, and individual uniqueness. An individual that finds themselves
Generally culture and self-identities are the first and by far one of the most important aspects that people consider in their lives as they bring meaning to them. People seek to know who they are, where they are coming from and also where they are going. However Huntington said that the very same cultural identities are the primary source of conflict within civilisations. He further says that within people’s journeys of seeking their cultural identities they encounter new but often old identities. In other words they are then marching under new but old flags which then eventually lead to war with their new but old enemies (Huntington, 1996).