A Critical Analysis of "Why We Hate" by Rush W. Dozier, Jr.
A critical analysis of
Why We Hate: Understanding, Curbing, and Eliminating Hate in Ourselves and Our World
By: Rush W. Dozier, Jr.
In the world today, young teenagers are bringing guns to school, people are flying airplanes into buildings, and riots are erupting in the city streets. Frighteningly enough, these actions find their origins deep within the regions of the human mind, the amygdala (Dozier, 2002, p.5). When this part of the body perceives a particular object as a threat to its survival or chances of reproduction, it commands the body the react aggressively in order to eliminate the threat. This extreme form of aggression, this emotion that drives terrorists to kill perfect strangers and which allows the ex-husband to think that killing his estranged wife and kids is the only way out has another name: hatred. These feelings of hatred that drive these individuals to perform such heinous acts usually go undetected by the general populace, and when the truth is revealed, all we can do is shake our heads and ask, “How did we miss this?” In Rush W. Dozier, Jr.’s book Why We Hate, possible answers to such questions are provided. This book gives solutions to the issue of eliminating hate in modern society and seeks to explain why we hate, why are these feelings so strong, and how they become so destructive. In his book, Dozier describes hate as a powerful, yet controllable force which originates deep within the primitive brain. He describes hate as an emotion which emphasized an “us versus them” mentality, which allows one to dehumanize his opponent enough to put him on a level that a carnivore would put his prey (Dozier, 2002, p.41). Another reason for such violent outbursts of hate arises from the fact oftentimes, the person either feels physically or mentally trapped by his enemy. Humans are creatures of control, and when one feels trapped, he is experiencing a loss of control. When this happens, his “fight or flight” response kicks in, and,
Why We Hate: Understanding, Curbing, and Eliminating Hate in Ourselves and Our World
By: Rush W. Dozier, Jr.
In the world today, young teenagers are bringing guns to school, people are flying airplanes into buildings, and riots are erupting in the city streets. Frighteningly enough, these actions find their origins deep within the regions of the human mind, the amygdala (Dozier, 2002, p.5). When this part of the body perceives a particular object as a threat to its survival or chances of reproduction, it commands the body the react aggressively in order to eliminate the threat. This extreme form of aggression, this emotion that drives terrorists to kill perfect strangers and which allows the ex-husband to think that killing his estranged wife and kids is the only way out has another name: hatred. These feelings of hatred that drive these individuals to perform such heinous acts usually go undetected by the general populace, and when the truth is revealed, all we can do is shake our heads and ask, “How did we miss this?” In Rush W. Dozier, Jr.’s book Why We Hate, possible answers to such questions are provided. This book gives solutions to the issue of eliminating hate in modern society and seeks to explain why we hate, why are these feelings so strong, and how they become so destructive. In his book, Dozier describes hate as a powerful, yet controllable force which originates deep within the primitive brain. He describes hate as an emotion which emphasized an “us versus them” mentality, which allows one to dehumanize his opponent enough to put him on a level that a carnivore would put his prey (Dozier, 2002, p.41). Another reason for such violent outbursts of hate arises from the fact oftentimes, the person either feels physically or mentally trapped by his enemy. Humans are creatures of control, and when one feels trapped, he is experiencing a loss of control. When this happens, his “fight or flight” response kicks in, and,
References: Dozier, R. (2002). Why We Hate. New York: Contemporary Books. Frey, Karin S., Hirschstein, Miriam K., & Guzzo. (2000). Second Step: Preventing Aggression by promoting social competence Journal of Emotional and Behavioral Disorders [1063-4266], 18, 102. Dale, Nan, Danko, Roman, Breen, & Markham. (2001). Confronting adolescent bias and intolerance through cross-cultural immersion: An American-Croatian collaboration Child Welfare [009-4021], 80, 623. Ronan G., Dreer L., Dollard K., & Ronan D. (2004). Violent couples: Coping with Communication skills Journal of Family Violence [0885-7482, 19, 131.