TRIBES
by
Marcia Christine Sherman, Ph. D.
Transpersonal Psychology
January, 2011
It is so convenient to blame individual violence on mental illness. Let's see…how many millions of Russians did they throw into the frigid Gulag when Stalin was in charge – on the pretext they were terrorists or mentally ill - including a few religious and political scapegoats like the Jewish people, Russian Orthodox and White Russians. Who can argue about mental illness, those who are mentally ill? How can one defend those who have no credibility? Talk about persecution; it's as bad as the notion of wearing shorts causing rape or having dark skin makes you less intelligent.
The next category to fault is free speech; and, boy, did that take a pounding! Of course anyone can get international attention these days by making any outlandish statement; it brings not only millions of narcissistic admirers but lots and lots of money! Or maybe a run for a political office or television program with inconceivable power! Until somebody shoots you. Oh, I forgot, we don't shoot the self-righteous, we just kill their targets.
I began writing about tribes at the beginning of the year because I suddenly realized there's a difference between hierarchical and tribal behavior. I've spent years studying the effects of the hierarchical system on individual thought and behavior. The purpose of my investigation was to study how that system controls human thought with the assumption that tribal behavior no longer existed in the Western world. It only just occurred to me that tribal behavior is alive and well here in the West; and, lo and behold, it became manifest with another assassination just to prove my point. And here I thought we were more civilized!
I've been studying human nature since I was a very little girl born an only child to two very physically violent and reactionary parents who couldn't understand why I didn't want to spend the rest of my life living with them and the hypocrisy of their existence. Problems arise in the tribal mentality when somebody decides to leave the group or tell their truth.. Most human beings actually want to be deceived and we become indignant and even violent when someone in the group lets the cat out of the bag. Nobody really wants to know. Look at how long it took for people to recognize alcoholism isn't a mental illness and can be cured.
In case you're wondering, most human organizations function pretty much the same; a single leader, a few people to carry out their orders like wives, bureaucrats lieutenants, administrators, secretaries; and then the largest group, who are basically followers or workers, who expect those at the top to make their decisions for them. At the bottom are the plodders, old, ill, rejects, non-functional and malcontents who the system usually makes some attempt to help. This is the reason documents like the Bill Of Rights, the U. S. Constitution and Robert's Rules Of Order were written; to instill more equality and give the leaders some feedback from the lower ranks.
The hierarchical system permeates all gatherings wherever human beings congregate, including boards, offices, classrooms and religions as well as nuclear and extended families. Most people are not aware of the profound effect this has on everyone's behavior as well as their thinking. Each group creates an insidious prejudice on how everyone is allowed think and act toward each other within the structure as well as those who do not belong. The hierarchy is pervasive in it's influence and often discourages individual members from any change in tolerance, growth or creativity.
The tribal mentality is far more destructive in it's influence because it is more secretive and often more violent to anyone who not only disagrees but dares to speak out. In fact, a tribe is very similar to a cult; often with a leader who has the stature of divinity. While a tribe is similar to a hierarchy, their rules and positions are rigid and there is rarely a discussion about anything. The general population is not allowed contact with the leader and there is no communication from the lower ranks upward. Those at the bottom have no status whatsoever, nor will they ever, and they are often treated with psychological and physical violence.
Tribal behavior and it's thought processes are primitive in its applications but far more lethal in its manifestation. I would go so far as to suggest that it may even be instinctive in its influence which may account for the fanaticism that often accompanies the intensity of its members. This behavior may have a more profound affect on tribes in other countries; but the question is, why the escalation of this behavior in the West? Or has it been in existence all the time and I have just not been aware?
Most Western sociologists and psychologists have assumed that tribal behavior still exists in some African, Middle Eastern and Asian countries, but it is now obvious that it is one of the causes for our vicious behavior along with the unspeakable practice to make a profit from it. In addition, there's the further problem with our national system of information as entertainment as well as the egotistical desire of some for self-glorification.
There is a difference in psychology between individual behavior like rage, revenge, personal or family feuds and tribal madness. People who demonstrate for political or personal causes are acting on issues perceived as doing something positive for the greater good while a tribal fanatic is convinced he or she is acting for the general good but there is a more personal need for individual retribution.. And to blame such behavior on mental illness is to dismiss the environment that the individual has lived, socialized and worked in.
Families are known to gang up against one member who dares to speak the truth of some offense by a leading person, particularly the father. Mothers are known to deliberately conceal family abuse for many reasons, such as their own personal safety or their ability to survive without an adequate income. Often shame is the cause, yet there has to be a larger barrier where something more profound is taking place; where some behavior goes past what is decent and becomes torture, especially when it comes to children. This is the difference that separates the hierarchy from the tribe.
There is knowledge of illegal group behavior in some cults, but government and social agencies have a difficult time and a major fight on their hands when it comes to prosecuting any particular family, especially when someone adds a religious connotation as a defense. And, unfortunately, children or other subservient family members who run away or report specific incidents to the authorities are often thrown in juvenile hall or humiliated by the general public as liars, difficult people, psychologically maladjusted or insane.
As a psychologist, a sociologist, a former wife of a Korean physics professor and a mother of three college graduates, I have continued in my ongoing childhood career of studying human beings from both an internal and external perspective. Being raised in the cradle of American religious Puritanism, the first Thanksgiving dinner and the real Boston Revolutionary War Tea Party as well as loving the woods and streams of the American Indian, I have always been aware that the most glaring example of the elephant in our collective living room is our intolerant treatment of those who are different: color, education, ideology, work, status, wealth, looks, religious or philosophical beliefs and nationality. And it appalls me to see those who were persecuted in former generations becoming even more intolerant of others who are different. My ongoing question has been, why? Finally, the obvious answer is tribal mentality.
I have always been aware of how the internal structure of some families operate in secret using fear, shame, guilt, physical, sexual and psychological violence, religious viewpoints, group domination, pressure, blackmail and extortion to maintain control. In fact, movies and television programs are often made upholding such behavior as a symbol of admiration.
It is obvious that tribal guilt affects every religion, nationality and cultural group in the world; it is definitely not associated just with one indigenous population. We are all affected and nobody has the right to point their finger or persecute any one group, religion or nationality as guilty.
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© 2011 – Marcia Christine Sherman
