Assignment Sheet
Introduction: You have read, discussed, and engaged in many aspects of the current
ongoing national crisis around police brutality and a racially biased justice system brought to the public’s attention through the media’s coverage of Trayvon Martin, Oscar Grant, Alex Nieto, Michael Brown, and others. This is a critical time to be able to analyze the response of those involved in these incidents so that you can better understand the situation and where you might enter the national conversation.
Task:
Step 1: Write a two-page summary of Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson’s theories around the relationship between cognitive dissonance, self-justification, and the ability to commit hurtful and immoral acts.
Step 2: Research one recent incident of undue force or police brutality that has received significant news coverage. Apply Tavris and Aronson’s theories of self-justification and cognitive dissonance to the response of the law enforcement and/or the affiliates of law enforcement and their agenda.
• During this step, you should be collecting information for your annotated bibliography as you are researching. This will help you in two ways: first, it will help you to keep track of your sources and track your understanding of their arguments; second, it will force you to identify how you are going to use them in your essay.
Step 3: Once you have identified your sources and written your annotated bibliography, you should draft a rough outline with a working thesis statement. Remember, this is called a “rough” outline and a “working” thesis because it may change.
• Guide to structuring your essay:
o Introduction: Your introduction should introduce the topic in a way that
makes it relevant for the reader. This is your chance to tie in all of what we have read so far in the class: The New Jim Crow, Divide, and The Lucifer Effect. You want your reader to be clear on your topic and why it is worthy of analysis at this time.
o Beginning:The first part of your essay should summarize Tavris and Aronson’s theories. Use the summary you wrote in Step 1, adjusting it with transitions to fit smoothly into your essay.
o Middle: In the next part of your essay, you should introduce the incident of police brutality/undue force that you will be analyzing. Summarize the incident and the response of the law enforcement officers and their superiors involved as well as their affiliates.
o End:InthissectionyouwanttoapplyTavrisandAronson’stheoriestothe incident and response you are covering. You must make clear and specific connections to the theories here, using direct quotations and paraphrases. It may help in your outline to identify the specific parts of the theory you plan to analyze.
o Conclusion:Yourconclusioncandooneormoreofthefollowing:summarize your main points, issue a call to action, predict where we are headed if incidents like this continue to occur unchecked.
Step 4: Draft your essay and participate in peer review.
Step 5: Revise your essay based on the feedback you received. This is where you make global revisions to content, quotes, analysis, etc.
Step 6: Proofread your essay. These are your local revisions. You can proofread for grammar, diction, and MLA style.
The book can be read this link
https://books.google.com/books?id=vZkGNIpAsTEC&pg=PA14&lpg=PA14&dq=Carol+Tavris+and+Elliot+Aronson’s+theories&source=bl&ots=p-jwqML04f&sig=aMqvy6uLznEUWh73T2_Ia-Lmamc&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0CE8Q6AEwBjgKahUKEwiUkZvTxN3GAhWSpYgKHVQ2A04#v=onepage&q=Carol%20Tavris%20and%20Elliot%20Aronson’s%20theories&f=false
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ENGLISH
Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson’s Theories (Mistakes Were Made But Not By Me)
Introduction
There are many situations that were are faced in our lives on a daily basis. While are often right in some, we often find ourselves in the wrong in some of the situations. However, there is often a tendency not to assume responsibility for our mistakes when faced with a situation in which we wronged somebody or did something that is wrong to the public (Egan). The higher the responsibility, there higher the likelihood to justify that you were right for the wrong you did and that probably somebody else was responsible. The concept of self-justification is deeply rooted in human life and no one ever seems ready to accept the responsibility of a wrong done . The ability to deny truth and lie is attributed to the cognitive dissonance in human beings.
The Theories of Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson
In their research, Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson developed theories as to why humans do not assume responsibility for a wrong done. The asserted the mental drive that controls the self-justification has an unpleasant feeling termed as cognitive dissonance. The cognitive dissonance drives an individual into justifying his /her wrong deeds. When an individual if faced with a fact that clarifies why what they do is wrong, they often find a way of justifying their actions (Tavris and Aronson 13). The cognitive dissonance occurs when an individual holds two cognitions (opinions, ideas, beliefs or attitudes) that are psychologically inconsistent. Although dissonance has an effect of creating mental discomfort, often an individual will not rest until a solution to reduce it is achieved. The cognitive dissonance is attributed to the ability of human mind to analyse how the behaviour transcends affects the rewards and punishment and often acts to contradict them. The cognitive dissonance is powerful and is attributed to making individuals to have the ability to make unreasonable processing of information (Tavris and Aronson 20). The Tavris and Aronson theories further point that even after making the unreasonable processing of the information; dissonance makes humans to display bias. The individuals who suffer from cognitive dissonance continually continue to belief in the facts that have even been proven to be untrue. For instance if a politician undertakes an action and discovers that the actions were not worthwhile, such a politician will make all attempts…………………………………………………………….
…………………………………Carol Tavris and Elliot Aronson’s theories………………………………………………………………….
