Group-related misanthropy

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Group Focused Enmity (GMF; English group-focused enmity ) is a social science concept that settings in the racism , extremism , discrimination and social Darwinism tries to take an integrative concept. The concept is further developed into the term generalizing rejection constructions (PAKOs).

The term coined by educational scientist Wilhelm Heitmeyer (born June 28, 1945) also describes a research program for the empirical long-term study of such attitudes in Germany. The empirical research takes place primarily as part of a project of the Bielefeld Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence and a graduate college funded by the German Research Foundation , in which the Universities of Bielefeld and Marburg are involved.

Concept and research program

The term “group-related misanthropy ” is based on the Bielefeld disintegration approach and aims to capture and systematize hostile attitudes towards people of different social, religious and ethnic origins and with different lifestyles in a society by means of a wide-ranging term. An ideology of inequality is assumed to be the common core of the phenomena assigned to this term - the equivalence and integrity of specific groups in society are called into question. Open and covert enmity are included in empirical research. The lead research group does not speak of a phenomenon, but of a " syndrome ". The term “syndrome” for the discrimination complex is borrowed from medicine and expresses that the various symptoms often occur simultaneously or in correlation.

An essential characteristic of the research program "Group- related enmity " of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence (IKG) at Bielefeld University was the work on the basis of empirical social research , which worked out the typical correlations of the partial phenomena using representative long-term studies . In addition to xenophobia and racism , the devaluation of the religious was also considered, i. H. Anti-Judaism and Islamophobia . The reduction of sexual or social otherness was also included, i.e. H. the devaluation of the homeless, homosexuals and the disabled, and the demonstration of sexism and established privileges. Annually, in a representative survey of 3000 people, which was carried out in the form of telephone interviews by NFO Infratest , the distribution of these attitudes in the population of Germany was surveyed. Some of the people have been interviewed for several consecutive years in order to be able to document developments in the syndrome. The investigation of the statistical correlations between the individual elements was particularly important for the research program .

The research project took place from 2002 to 2012 and, in addition to the establishment of an international comparative study, was expanded in the autumn of 2008 to include two further research focuses on group-related enmity in East and West German communities, small towns and districts. Another project researched group-related enmity among young people with and without a migration background. This project was accompanied by doctorates as part of a DFG graduate school. The long-term study is financed by a foundation consortium led by the Volkswagen Foundation.

Results of the research project on "group-related enmity"

The syndrome of group-related misanthropy includes the following elements by definition: racism, xenophobia, anti-Semitism, homophobia, devaluation of the homeless, devaluation of the disabled, Islamophobia, sexism, established privileges, devaluation of the long-term unemployed. The results of the annual surveys are continuously reported.

Group-related results

racism

According to the researchers, the phenomenon of racism includes For example, 12.6% of respondents in 2007 believed that whites were rightly leaders in the world. (2002: 16.4%; 2004: 13.1%). The statement that repatriates should be better off than foreigners because they are of German descent was supported by 18.5% of those surveyed (2002: 22%; 2004: 21.9%).

xenophobia

According to researchers, xenophobia is expressed in the Federal Republic of Germany. a. from the fact that 54.7% of those questioned in 2007 were of the opinion that too many foreigners would live in Germany (2002: 55.4%; 2004: 60%). In addition, according to the opinion of 29.7%, it is correct to send foreigners back when jobs are scarce (2002: 27.7%; 2004: 36%).

anti-Semitism

With regard to anti-Semitism , 15.6% of those questioned in 2007 assumed too much influence from Jews in Germany (2002: 21.7%; 2004: 22%). About 17.3% were convinced that Jews were complicit in the persecution of the Jews through their own behavior (2002: 16.6%; 2004: 12.8%).

Homophobia

With regard to homophobia , 31.3% of those questioned expressed disgust in 2007 when homosexuals kiss in public (2005: 34.8%). 15.3% described homosexuality as immoral (2005: 16.6%). 35.4% were against the possibility of marriages between women and between men (2005: 40.5%)

Devaluation of the homeless

When asked about the homeless devaluation in 2007, 38.8% said that they found homeless people uncomfortable in cities (2005: 38.9%). 32.9% agreed with the statement that the homeless are work-shy (2005: 22.8%). The demand that begging homeless people should be removed from the pedestrian zones was supported by 34% of those questioned (2005: 35%).

Devaluation of the disabled

In statistical surveys on hostility towards disabled people , 7.7% of those questioned in 2007 stated that many of the demands made by disabled people were “excessive” (2005: 8.3%). Likewise, 12.7% of those questioned said that too much effort was made for disabled people in Germany (2005: 15.2%). 8% assumed that people with disabilities would receive too many discounts (2005: 7.5%).

Islamophobia

In contrast to objectively justified criticism of Islam, Islamophobia is expressed in a generally negative to hostile attitude towards Muslim people and all denominations, symbols and religious practices of Islam .

sexism

The phenomenon of “classic sexism ” relates to gender-discriminatory ideas. In the opinion of 28.5% of those questioned, women should return to the “traditional” role of wife and mother in 2007 (2002: 29.4%; 2004: 29.3%). And 18% agreed with the statement that it should be more important for a woman to help her husband with his career than to make a career of her own (2004: 15.6%).

Established privileges

Established privileges encompass the spatiotemporal priorities claimed by long-time residents, regardless of their origin, which amount to undermining equal rights and thus violate the equality of different groups. For 35.1% of those questioned in 2007, those who have always lived here should have more rights than those who moved here later (2002: 40.9%; 2004: 35.5%). And if you are new, you should first be satisfied with less; 52.8% hold this view (2002: 57.8%; 2004: 61.5%).

Devaluation of the long-term unemployed

In 2007 the form of discrimination devaluation of long-term unemployed was surveyed for the first time . “This group is brought into the focus of the devaluation from the point of view of inadequate usefulness for society.” In 2010, 47 percent of those surveyed assumed that most of the unemployed are not really interested in finding a job. 59 percent find it outrageous when long-term unemployed people make a comfortable life at the expense of society.

Devaluation of asylum seekers

This form of group-related enmity was only recorded in 2011. 25.8 percent of those questioned rejected the statement “The state should be generous when examining asylum applications”. Almost half of the respondents (46.7%) agreed with the statement “Most asylum seekers do not really fear being persecuted in their home country”.

Antigypsyism

Even numbers to Antiziganism were recorded only 2011th 40.1 percent of Germans have "[...] problems with Sinti and Roma staying in my area". 27.7 percent of those questioned think that “Sinti and Roma should be banned from the inner cities”, and 44.2 percent agree with the sentence “Sinti and Roma tend to commit crime”.

Differences between East and West Germany

In 2008, on the occasion of the 20th anniversary of the unification of West and East Germany, the results were interpreted in the anthology German States (Volume 7) under the aspect of reunification. In an article for Die Zeit , Wilhelm Heitmeyer emphasized that East and West Germany are still divided and that many East Germans feel disadvantaged. This has fatal consequences for “minorities”. Wilhelm Heitmeyer points out:

“If you look at the development of the syndrome of group-related enmity for the period from 2002 to 2008 from an east-west perspective, then differentiated courses emerge. For five of the ten elements, the values ​​in the east of 2008 are higher than in the west of Germany. In contrast, sexist attitudes are still more strongly represented in the West German population, albeit with a decreasing tendency. "

criticism

In detail, critical of the studies, it was noted that questions with positive and negative connotations (e.g. “Jews have too much influence in Germany” versus “Islam has produced an admirable culture”) are distributed differently in the various fields of study. In addition, the meaning of the formulations is vague insofar as “no differentiation of the answer z. B. according to human rights, democracy or constitutional aspects ”is possible, for example in relation to“ the item 'Muslims in Germany should have the right to live according to their own laws of faith', which was collected in the first and second wave of surveys ”” it remains open whether consent is associated with “implementation of Sharia law in Germany”, which makes “classification as an 'Islamophobe' ... extremely questionable in such cases”.

With regard to the last-mentioned item, a further analysis added that a rejection could even invoke the case law of the European Court of Human Rights , which ultimately leads science to absurdity . In the context of older studies on the integration of Muslims in Germany , Heitmeyer himself pointed out contradictions between the Koran and its interpretation represented in Germany on the one hand and the Basic Law on the other.

Other forms of group-related enmity

The following form of exclusion from groups of people was not part of the studies:

Parental Determinism

One of the focal points of discussion within the young research discipline of the culture of parenting is parental determinism , a way of thinking in which parents - especially mothers  - are accused of causing social problems through everyday educational failure.

See also

literature

The results of the research program were published annually in a series of books published by the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence in Suhrkamp Verlag under the title German Conditions .

In addition, a research report is published annually in the weekly newspaper Die Zeit .

  • Eva-Maria, Lothar Elsner: Foreigner Policy and Xenophobia in the GDR 1949–1990. In: Texts on political education. H. 13, Rosa Luxemburg-Verein, Leipzig 1994, ISBN 3-929994-14-3 (document part: laws, bilateral agreements, etc. pp. 53–90)
  • Kurt Möller: Development and extent of group-related misanthropy , in: Albert Scherr, Aladin El-Mafaalani, Gökçen Yüksel (ed.): Handbook Discrimination . Wiesbaden 2017, pp. 425–447.

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Homepage of the Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence (IKG) , accessed on May 27, 2018.
  2. ↑ Kurt Möller: Development and extent of group-related enmity . In: Albert Scherr, Aladin El-Mafaalani, Gökçen Yüksel (ed.): Handbook Discrimination . Wiesbaden 2017, p. 435 ff .
  3. ↑ uni-bielefeld.de
  4. ^ Wilhelm Heitmeyer: Foreword: German states . The seventh episode: 20 years - complicated unification processes. In: Wilhelm Heitmeyer (ed.): German conditions. Volume 7, edition suhrkamp, ​​Frankfurt a. M. 2008, p. 9.
  5. ↑ Developments in group- related enmity from 2002 to 2009 ( memento of the original from September 14, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.uni-bielefeld.de
  6. ↑ What is group-based enmity? Devaluation of the long-term unemployed , Institute for Interdisciplinary Research on Conflict and Violence at Bielefeld University ( Memento of the original from October 4, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. .  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.uni-bielefeld.de
  7. ^ Wilhelm Heitmeyer: German conditions . Episode 10. Suhrkamp, ​​Berlin 2012, p. 40.
  8. ^ Wilhelm Heitmeyer: German conditions . Episode 10. Suhrkamp, ​​Berlin 2012, pp. 39–40.
  9. ^ Wilhelm Heitmeyer: One country, two societies . In: Die Zeit , No. 50/2008.
  10. ↑ Susanne Johansson: “Group- related misanthropy ”: A review of the empirical long-term study “German Conditions”, episode 1 to 8 (Ed .: Wilhelm Heitmeyer) , Law of Youth and Education, 2011, Issue 2, pp. 261–279, doi : 10.5771 / 0034-1312-2011-2-261 , especially p. 273 f.
  11. ^ Wilhelm Heitmeyer: Tempting Fundamentalism. Turkish youth in Germany . Suhrkamp 1997, ISBN 3-518-11767-X , partial document Islamic fundamentalist orientations among Turkish youth (homepage of the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung) .
  12. ↑ Martin Ohlert: Between “Multiculturalism” and “Leitkultur”. Integration model and policy of the parties represented in the 17th German Bundestag . Springer 2015, ISBN 978-3-658-08251-2 , doi: 10.1007 / 978-3-658-08252-9 , pp. 110-112; quoting Eberhard Seidel : That is a halved explanation . In: taz , October 24, 2001; Interview with Wilhelm Heitmeyer.
  13. ↑ Understanding parenting culture - Susan Douglas. Conference lecture (video). In: youtube.com. November 15, 2012, accessed December 4, 2015 .
  14. ^ Reports from 2003 , 2005 , 2006 , 2007 and 2008 .