Brigadier General Sha'afiq Masa is the commander of Branch 215 of Syria's military intelligence division. Although that might sound like a benign information-gathering bureaucracy, the unit's nickname—“the Hell branch”—suggests otherwise. Masa's unit has the highest number of torture-related deaths in Syria: by most estimates, more than 3,000 people since 2011. According to Human Rights Watch, the victims were often arbitrarily arrested and detained, or were suspected of opposing the Syrian regime, perhaps solely in their thoughts. Human rights organizations have documented 45 different torture methods used by Masa and his squad, including electrocution, hanging by the wrists for days, or simply being beaten to death with clubs. The International Criminal Court and United Nations investigators are assembling evidence against Masa and Syrian President Bashar al-Assad for crimes against humanity.

In 1994 in Rwanda, members of the Hutu tribe shot or hacked to death nearly one million people from the minority Tutsi, a rival tribe. At one point, thousands of Tutsi took refuge in a Benedictine convent, believing the nuns there would shelter them. Instead, the mother superior, Sister Gertrude, and another nun, Sister Maria Kisito—both of them Hutu—reported the refugees to the Hutu militia. More than 7,000 Tutsi were killed in the ensuing massacre. When the two nuns were brought to trial in Belgium, where they had fled after the war, observers testified that when 500 Tutsi fled to the convent's garage, the two nuns brought the militiamen gasoline. The garage was set afire, and anyone trying to escape the flames was hacked to death. The women were sentenced to 15- and 12-year terms, respectively, for crimes against humanity.

In 1961, Adolf Eichmann, who had been a high-ranking officer of the Nazi elite, was sentenced to death for his part in the deportation and killing of millions of Jews during World War II. He was proud of his efficiency at his work and his ability to resist feeling pity for his victims. But when the Israelis captured him, he insisted that he was not anti-Semitic. Shortly before his execution, Eichmann said, “I am not the monster I am made out to be. I am the victim of a fallacy” (Brown, 1986).

The fallacy to which Eichmann referred was the widespread belief that a person who does monstrous deeds must be a monster. Sha'afiq Masa, Sisters Gertrude and Maria Kisito, and Adolf Eichmann all committed terrible deeds. Were they all deranged? Or evil? There does seem to be so much evil and cruelty in the world, and yet so much kindness, sacrifice, and heroism too. How can we even begin to explain either side of human nature?

Evil People or Evil Circumstances?

The fields of social psychology and cultural psychology approach this question by examining the powerful influence of the social and cultural environment on the actions of individuals and groups. In this chapter, we will focus on the foundations of social psychology, basic principles that can help us understand why some people who are not “crazy” or “monstrous” nonetheless do unspeakably evil things, and, conversely, why otherwise ordinary people may reach heights of heroism when the occasion demands. We will look at the influence of roles and attitudes, how people's behavior is affected by the groups and situations they are in, and the conditions under which people conform or dissent. Finally, we will consider some of the social and cultural reasons for prejudice and conflict between groups.