Authority, Compliance and Defiance
I found an interesting article on why why torture doesn't work as a tool for gaining information. It's been long known that brutality can actually harden the will to resist -- I'm most familiar with the stories of the early Christian martyrs, but there are stories all over the world of people refusing to yield to torture -- but what is really interesting about this material is the investigation into the psychological mechanisms behind that stiffening of the will in response to the very things intended to force it to bend.
And it suggests an explanation for why persons in positions of authority find it so difficult to de-escalate situations and instead further escalate them, even after receiving intensive training in de-escalation techniques, even when they know intellectually that backing off will produce a better outcome than bearing down harder and demanding compliance, now. And why so often the most trifling things lead to the most unpleasant blowups -- because it is not about the thing itself, but about agency and control. And many people in positions of authority cannot separate that authority from themselves, so any defiance, even as small as taking a second piece of candy after being told to have only one, becomes an intolerable affront to their dignity that must be crushed at all costs.
And it suggests an explanation for why persons in positions of authority find it so difficult to de-escalate situations and instead further escalate them, even after receiving intensive training in de-escalation techniques, even when they know intellectually that backing off will produce a better outcome than bearing down harder and demanding compliance, now. And why so often the most trifling things lead to the most unpleasant blowups -- because it is not about the thing itself, but about agency and control. And many people in positions of authority cannot separate that authority from themselves, so any defiance, even as small as taking a second piece of candy after being told to have only one, becomes an intolerable affront to their dignity that must be crushed at all costs.