Group Think Essays

Group Think Essays Group Think Essay Group Think Essay Abstract This paper discusses groupthink a psychological phenomenon with reference the attack on Iraq. It argues that what happened in Iraq was a case of groupthink. Outline Introduction Definition Attack on Iraq and Groupthink Conclusion Groupthink On July 9, 2004 the US Senate Intelligence Committee released its report on the United States’ justification for the Iraq war, reported an erroneous â€Å"groupthink† was to blame. Groupthink is described as â€Å"a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive group, when the members’ strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action†. In other words, retreat into a system allowed â€Å"socially designed flaws† to rear within the group’s members. And that was what occurred when American and its allies went on war with Iraq. In 1972, Irving L. Janis published his ground-breaking work â€Å"Victims of groupthink: A psychological study of foreign-policy decisions and fiascoes† which scrutinized how things go wrong when rebellious voices are drowned out, discounted or dismissed out of hand. From the Bay of Pigs, the boom of the Vietnam War, the Challenger shuttle disaster and the notion of the strong Soviet state, 20th century American history is full of cases of usual wisdom being flawed. The â€Å"groupthink† that occurred with attack on Iraq is far from an innocent error, and critics charge that the Senate Intelligence Committee reports’ tries to couch blame as mere unclear thinking. : The fact is that this psychological experience perhaps translates to a broad failure to appreciate the reality of circumstance, the nature or implications of actions, the very disparity between right and wrong. And as a hard core of believers and leaders is characteristically central to such a phenomenon’s workings, their authority radiates broadly outward through their immediate groups and those they relate with. The attack on Iraq meets the criteria of the groupthink qualifiers as pointed out by Janis and which are evident as all the eight ndicators are present in the group think that occurred. I. Illusion of invulnerability in the unipolar world as the only superpower United States felt overly positive about taking on Saddam Hussein. II. Collective rationalization: the government and its allies refused to listen to warnings from the weapons inspectors and other world leaders in the days leading to the attack. III. Belief in inherent morality:. President Bush overlooked the ethical and moral consequences of invading another country on feeble evidence as he and his subordinates believed they were right in the attack. IV. Stereotyped views of out-groups: it is not hard to understand that Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda were linked together although there was no proof because of the stereotyping by the government and because both were view negatively. In addition racial profiling and patriot acts were also a way to stereotype suspicious people namely Muslims. V. Direct pressure on dissenters: those who did not obey or did not follow the group ideas were sidelined like Colin Powel General Schwarzkopf VI. Self-censorship: as in the classic case of group think people did not articulate any doubts about the venture and later admitted to it like Colin Powel. VII. Illusion of unanimity: all the decisions were thought to be unanimous and the country stood united on the eve of the attack. VIII. Self-appointed ‘mind guards: the leadership and government only listened to the news and information that they required to hear, likewise the American people were also fed limited and one sided story from the typical media. Thus it is evident from the above examples that in fact the attack on Iraq was a prime example of groupthink in action, and the results are significantly more then in the case of Challenger disaster as thousands have died and others are still dying because of this unjustified war which was not thought through because of groupthink. Bibliography Justin Rounds. Groupthink colostate. edu/Depts/Speech/rccs/theory16. htm Max Catros Progressive Weekly: July 2004 progresoweekly. com/index. php? progreso=Max_Castro=1089867600