Yes, Sir!

[Disclaimer: I wasn't sure whether it would be okay to post about this topic (that being, a closer examination on how uniforms and being part of a larger organization/group shapes the thoughts/minds of those involved) , but allow me to explain myself before this entry is judged 'not relevant.' One of the criteria that we're allowed to use is the 'Definition of Genocide'. I consider my topic a subset of 'Defining Genocide' because it talks about those that actually carry out the genocide (perhaps adding a reason for why they would do so.) Genocide is certainly illustrated in part by those that actually commit it. So please, take this idea into consideration when relevance is decided. Well, and without further adieu...]

When someone puts on a uniform, what happens? It was made clear by Philip Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment that the students involved (either as guards, or prisoners) changed drastically when set into their respective roles. Several of the students posing as guards adopted an almost sadistic approach to disciplining those that were in reality, their equals.

So what caused the change?

Philip Zimbardo and other colleagues involved argued that the instant those students put on their guard uniforms, certain facets of self-perception were molded. Everything that the students knew about the role of a 'guard' (perhaps with knowledge derived from movies, novels, police dramas...) came into play in deciding their behavior. Ignoring for the moment about the few students that remained passive, this leaves the question- how does a uniform invoke feelings of (to be redundant) uniformity?

The way that I delved deeper into this question was by investigating the idea of the effects of wearing school uniforms on students. Ironically, uniforms in this case were used to help solve the problem of rising numbers of cases of school violence. This tactic worked very well in decreasing school violence. As a result, to the chagrin of many students across the country, more uniform policies are being instigated in schools across the country with every passing day.

So- uniforms do not merely bring about violence, they can also encourage good behavior as well. This brings us back to the real questions at hand: why do uniforms encourage any form behavior at all? Where do our conceptions attached to different uniforms come from? And these same questions are very much relevant to the perpetrators of genocide as well.

For the students in their uniforms to the Nazi's involved the Holocaust killings, and the regular citizens registering themselves under the political Nazi mindset-- the answer for why uniforms manifest in any kind of behavior is the same. Uniforms create a sense of belonging.

According to Arnold Goldstein, Ph.D, the way uniforms work is that they "allow for troubled individuals to feel a part of a more supportive whole." In a sense, the uniforms are a mechanism for the vulnerable to find some measure of inner 'peace' (even at the extent of the lives of other humans.)