Mississippi Burning 1

Studying and Gender DifferenceEugene JosephB1102169Department of PsychologyPSY 317Dr. Goh Chee LeongTotal Words: 952

Mississippi Burning Concepts in Social PsychologyThe film Mississippi Burning themed racism and the conflicts which a community faces as oppressed by another race in the same state evokes many emotions. Some incidents aroused anger, some scenes created antagonism towards the white race. Namely the Ku Klux Klan who was definitely against the black people and their discriminatory actions towards them was intolerable. However, the question it has raised to viewers would be the cause of their actions, and the extent human beings would go to obeying orders and kowtow to the beliefs of a community. Why would individuals dehumanize and degrade others even when there was no real conflict between them? Why are they willing to murder even when there has been clear evidence of no sign of threat from the other party? The theories which can be related to this film from a social psychology aspect are definitely compliance and conformity. These theories can be seen in multiple aspects of the movies.For instance, in Milgrams experiment of obedience, he concluded that a mans perceived beliefs and actions can be influenced by a direct command from a person perceived of higher authority (Wu. F and Li. L, 2012). This phenomenon occurs because the individual will assume that the responsibility of the action has been passed on to greater authority in command and accountability will no longer have to be borne by said individual. Likewise, in the movie, certain characters from the Ku Klux Klan, namely the sheriff and the barman, were doing notorious conducts towards the blacks, with the courage that the leader of the Ku Klux Clan in their locality would bear the responsibilities. On a larger and broader perspective, compliance could also be seen through many characters in the whole district. When the individuals who set fire and destroyed most of the properties in the black neighborhood were caught, the judge let them go with a slap on the wrist. The judge in this scenario could be following orders or verdicts from a greater authority, in this sense the religion which they were practicing. Many well-meaning civil and religious leaders acclaimed that segregation was a must to be practiced in all institutions, and they endorsed it in schools, churches and other areas of life (Gillesphie. R, 1954). Their system and prejudice against the blacks turned the situation into a racist society, and hence the hostility towards the blacks continued. DiscussionThe issues which were raised in the movie and the way the film was videoed emphasized a lot of loathing and hatred towards the black community. The principled view of the individuals who hated them was a mentality and mindset which was brought down from generations. For example, in one scene, the sheriffs wife mentions to the detective that since young they were taught to hate the black. The resentment grew through the years as they saw many other individuals taunting and mocking them as well as discriminating them in many ways imaginable. This was highlighted in the film when the detective walked into a restaurant and spoke to a black boy in the eatery. He went against their conformed beliefs and sat with the black man in a specific area designated for only the blacks. The detective being a white man, managed to get all the attention from the people present in the place. Conformity here can be seen in the strength of the community to adapt to beliefs passed on to them by generations, to have a clear cut view on which the out-group and the in-groups were. Their beliefs were upheld by everyone in the community, and anyone who opposes this belief was seen as a known threat. Anyone who wanted to pierce out of this in-group and try to reach out the out-group was looked upon as a hazard and possible chance of breaking their beliefs and values. This was not taken well by the white folks who strongly believed that segregation was the right thing to follow. In return, the white detectives who came to the state were harassed and ill-treated since they had fragmented the belief of the society on strong segregation. Compliance on the other hand was seen as the message of the conformed society. Most of the members in the society were forced to obey a presence of power which was brought from the conform beliefs. The conformism itself, acted as a sort of medium to send messages across everyone in the community to follow a certain set rules by the society, or else there is penalty. The message was sent across the whole society penetrating all walks of life including the blacks. The blacks believed that they were a second class race, and they refused to cooperate with the detectives against any vile action committed by the white folks. In return, the black people complied with the white orders thinking that they have a higher class citizenship compared to them. Compliance in this case, was not a direct request or order from a party of higher authority; it was in the conformed belief itself. People complied with the conformed beliefs of a society. In conclusion, the movie definitely did show many other psychological aspects, and it did bring many theories to mind. However, conformity and compliance were thus far the two most overwhelmingly appealing theories of the movie. To comprehend that man would actually hate another man because his believes differs from him, isnt something new in our world. The message sent across us via the movie was strong in sending out this particular missive, showing the viewers that conformity and compliance may sometimes not be a rational way of life however we as human beings adapt to survive.ReferencesGillespie, G.T. (1954). A Christian View On Segregation. The University of Southern Mississippi Digital Collection.Song, G., Ma. Q., Wu. F. and Li. L. (2012). The Psychological Explanation Of Conformity. Social Behaviour and Personality, 40 (8), 1365-1372.