In this assignment, you will investigate concepts such as conformity, compliance, and obedience.
Heaven’s Gate
In this assignment, you will investigate concepts such as conformity, compliance, and obedience. Each of you has probably seen a story on the news about someone joining a cult, group, or gang. As you watch the news story, you may wonder why that person would conform to the strict requests made by the group, cult, or gang. For example, a cult in 1997 called Heaven’s Gate convinced all 39 members to commit suicide. A group called the Moonies (Unification Church) would convince its members to cut contact with anyone outside of the group (family and friends) and donate all of their money to the church. Why would anyone willingly join one of these groups?
400-600 words
Discuss the following in your paper:
Research a group, gang, or cult that you believe uses conformity, compliance, or obedience to have people join and stay in that particular gang. In your own words give a summary of the group, gang, or cult’s mission.
What does that group outwardly say to recruit someone into the group, gang, or cult?
Discuss how the group uses social influence such as conformity, compliance, and obedience to keep members in the group, gang, or cult.
Why would someone stay in one of these groups, gangs, or cults?
If someone in the group, gang, or cult wanted to leave, would it be an easy transition? What may prevent him or her from leaving?
Heaven’s Gate
Use a standard 10 to 12 point (10 to 12 characters per inch) typeface. Smaller or compressed type and papers with small margins or single-spacing are hard to read. It is better to let your essay run over the recommended number of pages than to try to compress it into fewer pages.
Likewise, large type, large margins, large indentations, triple-spacing, increased leading (space between lines), increased kerning (space between letters), and any other such attempts at “padding” to increase the length of a paper are unacceptable, wasteful of trees, and will not fool your professor.
The paper must be neatly formatted, double-spaced with a one-inch margin on the top, bottom, and sides of each page. When submitting hard copy, be sure to use white paper and print out using dark ink. If it is hard to read your essay, it will also be hard to follow your argument.
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