Abstract
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There were hundreds of mostly young, white men, from recognized hate groups, moving along UVA's campus with precision, coordination, and synchronization, holding light torches, and looking into the television cameras, jaws set, eyes and mouths wide open, chanting. The marchers looked so intense. There was no laughing, smiling, or joking. They were serious and appeared mission oriented (O'Toole 2015). According to the Southern Poverty Law Group, “the event demonstrated an unprecedented level of planning and coordination among organized hate groups from across the far-right ideological spectrum” (Hatewatch 2017).
There it was right in front of us, words of hatred and division, evidenced by hateful mantras, which ultimately morphed into violence, a transition we talk about all the time, but rarely see in such a bold, and in your face manner.
In the FBI's Behavioral Analysis Unit, “profilers” talk about “getting into someone's head.” But in reality, we cannot really do that. We assume from their behavior what is going on cognitively. But now, it is my assertion that a person's thinking styles, if correctly identified, might be able to help us determine how likely that person is to act out violently, particularly if hatred is involved.
Returning to Charlottesville, I found myself wanting to get inside the heads of the marchers to figure out how their hateful thinking started. When did it start? What does it feel like? How did they default into hate? What fuels it? Why are they so committed to the hatred of others—complete strangers? In their research on hatred, Navarro et al. found “hatred if built on a complex mix of cognitions and emotions.” The cognitive aspect of hatred is based on objectifying the person, and seeing them as a “threat.” The emotional aspect of hatred involves feelings such as anger, fear, distress, and hostility. This is a particularly frightening component of hate: “…related to hatred is a certain, sometimes crazy, sense that we are justified in acting against—or even eliminating—the object of our hate” (Navarro et al. 2013).
Social Media, Hatred, and the Radicalization Process
A radicalization process in context with the influence of social media is important to understand. I developed a (very) simplified definition for radicalization that I believe can apply to groups or the lone wolf. It needs more work, and certainly more research and testing, but let me share it with you as I have conceived it right now.
Radicalization is a dynamic process (constantly in motion), which occurs over a period of time, and involves the development of a distorted, linear, belief system premised on the objectification and hatred for specific people or groups of people. Among other things, it is fueled by an ongoing consumption of information and data that is select, cherry picked, biased, nonscientific, nonfactual, and emotional, particularly with themes of fear, anger, and hatred interwoven throughout, all of which are directed toward the object of hate. It requires continual exposure to doctrines espousing these themes and emotions to keep the flawed assumptions strong and focused. In addition, to become radicalized requires the necessary time to be able to immerse oneself in the hate-based social media, even to the exclusion of other daily activities. Radicalization also has a certain obsessive quality to it, in which evolved cognitive styles manifest apocalyptic, fatalistic, fanatical, religious zealotry, nihilism, and themes of supremacy. Radicalization, like mental and physical disorders, is more likely dimensional, with some individuals becoming more radicalized than others.
An essential component to a radicalization process is that affected individuals are likely already predisposed, because of background, education, training, upbringing, etc. to developing and stalwartly embracing distorted belief systems, which require a willingness and ability to exclude and ignore opposite points of views, and a suspension of or ignorance of analytical or critical thinking. In other words, how likely would I have been at successfully changing the minds of any of those Charlottesville marchers with logic, and facts—Not likely.
Understanding the emotions of social media material could be a very important component for radicalization. Researchers at the University of Beihang, Beijing, China, determined that followers of social media were much more likely to share sentiments containing undertones of anger rather than messages containing undertones of sadness, disgust, or joy (Fan et al. 2014). So the tone of the social media that is accessed and absorbed by someone with propensities toward radicalization and hate reinforces hate and feelings of anger, and likely not tempered by social media with other more calming emotions.
In the late 1930s and 1940s, Adolph Hitler used the historic version of social media that included lengthy speeches, flyers, and brochures in which he exploited fear, anger prejudice, and hate against the Jews. It became a constant barrage of this type of messaging. We know the outcome and we sadly know how effective it was.
Navarro et al. (2013) identified “cognitive distortions” that are applicable to haters. Some of these include catastrophic thinking, personalization of bad things happening without considering other possible causes or factors, and overgeneralization. In their book Critical Thinking: Concepts and Tools, the authors identify “essential Intellectual traits for analytical thinking.” These include “Intellectual Humility vs. Intellectual Arrogance; Intellectual Courage vs. Intellectual Cowardice; Intellectual Empathy vs. Intellectual Narrow-Mindedness; Intellectual Autonomy vs. Intellectual Conformity; Intellectual Integrity vs. Intellectual Hypocrisy; Intellectual Perseverance vs. Intellectual Laziness; Confidence n Reason vs. Distrust of Reason and Evidence; Fairmindedness vs. Intellectual Unfairness” (Paul and Elder 2003). If we are able to establish a pattern of how someone thinks analytically, or does not think analytically, and is therefore more susceptible to radicalization and beliefs that develop and cause hatred, I offer that this may provide us with indicators that not only is someone emotionally harboring hatred, the fuel for violence but cognitive indicators as well. And in this respect, we can get into their heads.
Disclaimer
These are the opinions and views of Dr. Mary Ellen O'Toole, and do not represent the views or opinions of the FBI.