The application of Group Socialisation to the case of ‘Marines under fire for ritual beating film’.
The application of Group Socialisation to the case of ‘Marines under fire for ritual beating film’.
This essay will discuss the application of group socialisation, which describes the dynamic transition of non-members in and out of a group, particularly initiation rites, as outlined by Levine and Moreland (1994) to a newspaper article entitled ‘Marines under fire for ritual beating film’ (Norton-Taylor & Morris, 2005). The article focuses on a leaked video depicting an initiation ceremony of newly trained marines forced to fight naked and one being beaten unconscious. It also continues to outline previous claims of abuse of recruits resulting in indecent assaults and death. This essay, in the context of group socialisation will discuss what purpose initiation rites serve for existing Royal Marines and for new recruits.
The Royal Marines are a group, defined by Hogg & Vaughan (2011) as a collective of people who share a common purpose, norms and behaviour. The Royal Marines are a common-identity group, in that personal goals are less salient than group goals and individual contributions serve to accomplish these. The Royal Marines group provides a point of identity for the individual members, this is visually apparent in uniforms that are worn, codes of conduct that are adhered to and the focus on performing the duty of a Royal Marine, even epitaphs list ‘soldier’ as part of the personal identity. The Royal Marine group however is also formed of many smaller groups, these battalions or squadrons operate within the overarching rules of the Royal Marines however also extend and mould these norms to suit their particular group. The Royal Marines require joining members to align to the group’s identity, be committed to the group and act in a cohesive manner in order to be effective in combat, this process can be explained by group socialisation.
The group socialisation model proposed by Levine and Moreland (1994) describes a dynamic passage, from an individual’s entry
This essay will discuss the application of group socialisation, which describes the dynamic transition of non-members in and out of a group, particularly initiation rites, as outlined by Levine and Moreland (1994) to a newspaper article entitled ‘Marines under fire for ritual beating film’ (Norton-Taylor & Morris, 2005). The article focuses on a leaked video depicting an initiation ceremony of newly trained marines forced to fight naked and one being beaten unconscious. It also continues to outline previous claims of abuse of recruits resulting in indecent assaults and death. This essay, in the context of group socialisation will discuss what purpose initiation rites serve for existing Royal Marines and for new recruits.
The Royal Marines are a group, defined by Hogg & Vaughan (2011) as a collective of people who share a common purpose, norms and behaviour. The Royal Marines are a common-identity group, in that personal goals are less salient than group goals and individual contributions serve to accomplish these. The Royal Marines group provides a point of identity for the individual members, this is visually apparent in uniforms that are worn, codes of conduct that are adhered to and the focus on performing the duty of a Royal Marine, even epitaphs list ‘soldier’ as part of the personal identity. The Royal Marine group however is also formed of many smaller groups, these battalions or squadrons operate within the overarching rules of the Royal Marines however also extend and mould these norms to suit their particular group. The Royal Marines require joining members to align to the group’s identity, be committed to the group and act in a cohesive manner in order to be effective in combat, this process can be explained by group socialisation.
The group socialisation model proposed by Levine and Moreland (1994) describes a dynamic passage, from an individual’s entry
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