psychology
War Hysteria and Post-Dobbs Reactions
by Rachel MacNair The backlash to the overturn of Roe was predictable. I wrote a piece on the psychology behind Explaining Belligerency awhile back, and that’s a major way of explaining it on this issue and many others. That helps account for not just what we’re going through now, but the bits of belligerency…
Post-Roe Stats: the Natural Experiment
by Rachel MacNair In a post-Roe world, predictions (hypotheses) can be made to test claims of differing perspectives. What’s coming is a huge “natural experiment.” A natural experiment, unlike a lab experiment, wasn’t arranged in advance. An 1854 London cholera outbreak had differing patterns of water sources – cholera could be caused by contaminated water….
Explaining Belligerency
by Rachel MacNair Why did U.S. slaveholders insist on expanding slavery into new territories, despite existing political wisdom that keeping the practice out of places where it might encounter stronger opposition would be more practical? Why are there advocates for war, or for abortion and euthanasia, who can’t stand the idea of conscientious objection, even…
Healing for the Perpetrators: The Psychological Damage from Different Types of Killing
by Sarah Terzo Violence harms not only its victims but in some cases also harms its perpetrators. Consistent Life Network Vice President Rachel MacNair has written extensively on how those who kill (in war, in abortion clinics, in execution chambers) are psychologically damaged by their actions, a situation she calls “Perpetration-Induced Traumatic Stress (PITS).” Recent…
The Mind’s Drive for Consistency
by Rachel MacNair Editor’s Note: This is the sixth in the series of blog posts based on presentations at our 30th Anniversary conference, held August 4-6, 2017. The presentation this post is based on was given at the session of the Consistent Life Network’s research arm, The Institute for Integrated Social Analysis. Any bit…
The Creativity of the Foreclosed Option
by Rachel MacNair In an episode of Star Trek, The Next Generation, the Klingon Worf was in an accident leaving him paralyzed. According to Klingon tradition, this meant he should commit ritual suicide. He was intent on doing so. The doctor was appalled. She tried to research Klingon physiology to find treatment, but Klingons had…
Excerpt – Peace Psychology Perspectives on Abortion
Excerpt from the Introduction to Peace Psychology Perspectives on Abortion by Rachel M. MacNair Understanding Perspectives Back when I was in college, pursuing a major in Peace and Conflict Studies at Earlham (a Quaker college, I being a Quaker), several of us activists put together a program to educate about what was wrong…
Violence Bolstered by Professional Contradictions
by Rachel M. MacNair, Ph.D. Director of CL’s research arm, The Institute for Integrated Social Analysis I’d like to regale you with my adventures in what ought to be a stuffy professional organization but is actually a prime field for countering the push for some kinds of violence. In his classic…