Events such as the My Lai massacre, Nazi persecution of the Jews, attacks against blacks and students, frontiersmen's actions against Indians, etc., are discussed in an attempt "to understand how and why such things happen, how they might be prevented, and . . . what is implied concerning ourselves as a nation." These events are considered "the legitimation of evil" which is defined as those
... [Show full abstract] processes by which nations or powerful political groups persuade their citizens or members that wars, indiscriminate killing, or torture of opponents are right and just or at least necessary. Also discussed are the actions and behavior of different kinds of groups. Destructiveness refers to actions against humanity which deny people the right to live or be human. Dehumanization is considered a cause and an effect of destructiveness. The trend of the American ethos is seen to be "related dynamically to the psychological tendency to deny . . . various natural impulses that are felt to be bad. Resistance to collective destructiveness must, therefore, take the form of promoting universalism in the human community and wholeness in the individual personality." (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)