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by Shalazar Buffy s3e11 Kindly donated by Jade's BtVS Theories
Gingerbread Misconceptions - Joyce discovers the two dead children. This physiological and psychological arousal creates a context in which she is now open to an external influential factor. Feeling guilty, powerless and alone in a town turning a blind eye, and subservient to a daughter who is doing the work Joyce feels she should as a Sunnydale denizen and mother, she fulfills the final two criteria for deindividuation (anonymity and diffused responsibility). At this point, the old Joyce takes a back seat to one more open to chance, ignorant to secrecy, one who will say what's on her mind, act on impulse, regardless of social ramifications. Now the children appear to her. Most likely viewing them as a manifestation of her own guilt for not being able to save them, she prioritizes their needs above all else, most notable avengence. In a deindividuated state, Joyce does not question their appearance nor criticize their antisocial inclinations, and they become a powerful authority figure to her sensitive and single state of mind. Joyce mindlessly complies with their commands - bringing together small groups of people at first (as small groups carry the most influence over single, possibly deviant, members) to whom the children reveal themselves. With the double authority figure, the children and now Joyce (whom the townsfolk respect for taking up this cause), are able to convert more and more town members in these small contexts by playing off the same cues which originally opened her to the H&G influence. Joyce now calls the town meeting. With a massive amount of deindividuation occuring by this point - contributing factors of fear, darkness, diffused responsibility, and lack of identity in a large mob - the rash Joyce speaks her mind, revealing damning information about the town and those trying to protect it. We already have a group polarization around the idea of avenging the children's death, but with Joyce achieving high status for crystallizing this movement, we inevitably get groupthink. Three factors contribute to the mob's breakdown of mental efficiency, reality testing and moral cogniscence which lead to the value of speed of decision over its accuracy and rationality: High Cohesiveness - The group has crystallized around the issue of avenging the childrens' deaths and correcting the supernatural wrong in Sunnydale. Threatening Situational Context - All those things that went bump in the night that these citizens rationalized away are manifested in their entirety in the death of the two children. Structural & Procedural faults - The lack of systematic procedures for reviewing such decisions allow for the perpetuation of the moral breakdown, compounded by lack of objection from the Slayerettes and the seeming acceptance of the actions by the Mayor (a third influential figure). This sequence of events ultimately causes a deterioration of moral responsbility on behalf of all involved. Under the influencing factors of the children, Joyce, and group pressures, the citizens attempt to burn their own children to fulfill community interest. Your opinion Or you can
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