The Role of Community Development in Reducing Extremism and Ethnic Conflict

168 Pages·2018·3.319 MB·English

by  August John Hoffman, Saul Alamilla, Belle Liang

T he Rol e of
Com mun ity D evelopment
in Re ducing Extremism
and Eth nic Conf l ict
The Evolution of Human Contact
August John Hoffman, Saul Alamilla
and Belle Liang
The Role of Community Development in Reducing
Extremism and Ethnic Conflict
August John Hoffman
Saul Alamilla • Belle Liang
The Role of
Community
Development in
Reducing Extremism
and Ethnic Conflict
The Evolution of Human Contact
August John Hoffman Saul Alamilla
Metropolitan State University Kennesaw State University
Hudson, WI, USA Kennesaw, GA, USA
Belle Liang
Boston College
Chestnut Hill, MA, USA
ISBN 978-3-319-75698-1 ISBN 978-3-319-75699-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75699-8
Library of Congress Control Number: 2018936620
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P
reface
What is the essence of human nature and how might we increase the
human capacity for tolerance, prosocial behavior, and developmental
growth? Perhaps more importantly, how might we collectively, as a society,
work to reduce the ever-increasing problems of conflict and aggression?
These are important questions that have been raised by community
members, educators, and parents in an effort to help transform our com-
munities to become more resilient, productive, and healthier places to live.
Recently, the topics of ethnic conflict, extremism, and aggression have
become important global issues given the increasing problems that have
been associated with political, economic, religious, and environmental fac-
tors. The nature of human conflict and causal factors that are associated
with extreme violence, hate crimes, and terrorism (both domestic and
global) have remained perplexing problems given their increasing preva-
lence despite recent international efforts to address these crimes (Al
Ramiah & Hewstone, 2013).
There are several reasons why this manuscript is needed today. Both
global and local issues (i.e., immigration issues, Deferred Action for
Childhood Arrivals [DACA], sanctuary campuses, human rights issues,
and climate change) and political rhetoric have recently contributed to
environments that (unfortunately) have resulted in increased conflict and
violence at unprecedented rates. Crimes against women and vulnerable
groups (i.e., human trafficking), intentional homicide, and assault are also
increasing globally despite international efforts to address these problems
v
vi PREFACE
(Harrendorf, Heiskanen, & Malby, 2010).1 Increases in racial conflict
exacerbated by perceptions of unfair police practices, acts of genocide and
ethnic conflict as well as impending nuclear war with North Korea remain
consistent themes in the media today. Because of the increased conflicts
that we are witnessing within our own communities and abroad, the need
to understand the psychological and ecological mechanisms to help resolve
these different forms of conflicts is very much needed. This manuscript
addresses not only the role of community growth and development as key
factors in understanding and reducing extremism and ethnic violence, but
also the obligation that communities now have to remain proactive in their
efforts in protecting human rights and to reduce violence. Recent research
(Ellis & Abdi, 2017) has identified a fundamental and consistent theme
among resilient communities that have been instrumental in reducing eth-
nic conflict and violence: social connection. Throughout this manuscript
we will examine the importance in providing community residents oppor-
tunities to work collaboratively and share their life experiences as a means
of reducing bias that contributes to ethnic conflict and to improve the
communication and trust that is consistently evident within a healthy
community. This manuscript will also address the role of community
development and intergroup contact, and examine how different types of
group behaviors, such as interdependency, superordinate goals, and com-
munity intervention, can help to reduce conflict and promote understand-
ing. An important scope of this manuscript is to increase our understanding
of the unique and inherent need for humans to contribute to and volun-
teer in their community as a means of understanding the importance of
diversity and achieve a sense of belonging and connectedness to their
community. Our goal in preparing this manuscript is simply to provide the
relevant framework and mechanisms in how communities may help with
the transformation of what Ervin Staub (2013) describes as a more “peace-
ful society” that promotes understanding, resiliency, and an appreciation
of diverse values. Suggestions for future research that promote community
growth, service work, and stewardship activities are also offered.
Hudson, WI August John Hoffman
2017
1 https://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Crime-statistics/International_
Statistics_on_Crime_and_Justice.pdf
PREFAC E vii
references
Al-Ramiah, A., & Hewstone, M. (2013). Intergroup contact as a tool for reduc-
ing, resolving and preventing intergroup conflict. American Psychologist, 68(7),
527–542.
Ellis, B. H., & Abdi, S. (2017). Building community resilience to violent extrem-
ism through genuine partnerships. American Psychologist, 72(3), 289–330.
Harrendorf, S., Heiskanen, M., & Malby, S. (Eds.). (2010). International statistics
on crime and justice. Retrieved, from https://www.unodc.org/documents/
data-and-analysis/Crimestatistics/International_Statistics_on_Crime_and_
Justice.pdf
Staub, E. (2013). Building a peaceful society: Origins, prevention, and reconcilia-
tion after genocide and other group violence. American Psychologist, 68(7),
576–589.
c
ontents
1 Community Development, Stewardship Activities,
and Volunteerism: The Evolution of Human
“Connectedness” and Interdependency 1
2 T he Virtues of Community Development and Stewardship:
How Communities Respond to Disasters
and Build Resilience 27
3 T he Evolutionary History of Aggression and Ethnic
Conflict: Why Polarization Fuels Hate and Violence 49
4 R acial Constructs in Youth Mentoring: Reconsidering
Race and Ethnicity 79
5 C ultural Perspectives on Ethnic Diversity and Social
Capital and Intergroup Relations in Diverse Communities 93
6 The Social Contract Theory Revisited: Examining
the Relationship Between Greed, Conflict,
and the Evolution of Cooperation 135
7 C oncluding Notes: The Virtues of Hope 155
Index 161
ix
L f
ist of igures
Fig. 1.1 The cycle of community service activities and work (CCSAW) 16
Fig. 2.1 The Sandy Hook “Victory Garden” Established October 2014 31
Fig. 2.2 The Survivor Tree (2010): Callery Pear Tree (Pyrus calleryana) 40
Fig. 3.1 Five factors associated with the origins of extreme group
violence (Staub, 2013) 58
Fig. 3.2 The altruistic personality (Bierhoff, Klein, & Kramp, 1991) 71
Fig. 6.1 The evolution of internet contact. (Amichai-Hamburger &
Katelyn McKenna, 2006) 145
Fig. 7.1 Community Participatory Student Cooperative: Inver Hills—
Metropolitan State University Community Garden
(August 2017) 158
xi
CHAPTER 1
Community Development, Stewardship
Activities, and Volunteerism: The Evolution
of Human “Connectedness”
and Interdependency
“Umunto Ngumuntu Mgabamti”
Zulu phrase as quoted by Desmond Tutu (“A person becomes a person
through engagement with others”) (Jill D. McLeigh (2015). Creating
conditions that promote trust and participation by young people … why
it matters. American Journal of Orthopsychiatry, 85(6), S67–S69).
Human nature is complicated in that it can exist and manifest itself often in
antithetical and paradoxical ways. Often a contributing factor that influ-
ences how individuals engage and communicate with each other may
depend more on their perceptions of the motivation and common goals
shared by different groups and an awareness of intergroup ideologies that
promote justice and fairness as well as bias and prejudice (Al Ramiah &
Hewstone, 2013). Different arguments historically have promoted differ-
ent etiological and motivational factors in explaining both helpful (i.e., pro-
social) and antisocial behaviors. For example, altruism (the capacity to help
others with no expectation of reciprocity) has recently been described as
having an evolutionary genesis, where these behaviors actually were shown
to be adaptive in promoting reproductive fitness and group resiliency (Buss,
2015). In some situations humans have been shown to exemplify altruistic
behaviors and make sacrifices for others if they feel that this behavior may
© The Author(s) 2018 1
A. J. Hoffman et al., The Role of Community Development
in Reducing Extremism and Ethnic Conflict,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-75699-8_1