I think that socialization played a big part in the My Lai Massacre. Socialization is defined as the process of learning the culture. During the Vietnam War, the majority of men who were fighting had been drafted. They didn’t choose to be a part of this war, they were required to be. I’m sure these men were concerned about surviving than fighting for their country’s cause. These drafted men were taught in a short time what was expected of them and were trained for combat. Even though they were told what to expect, it is unlikely that this training really prepared them for what they were about to face.
When these men were sent over to Vietnam, they had to learn to function in a completely different culture. Which is exactly what socialization is defined as: learning the culture. They had to learn what was expected of them by their si
In the article it said, “A military commission investigating the My Lai Massacre found widespread failures of leadership, discipline, and morale among the Army’s fighting units.” I think that the fighting units were probably operating on the conflict model of society. The parts of the fighting units were loosely integrated, obviously if there was a lack of leadership and discipline and were the result of force and coercion of being there in the first place. It was a very unstable culture.
In Chapter Five of our book it says that each society has it’s own unique way of perceiving, interpreting, and evaluating reality. It also says that people are a product of their culture. These troops had their lives threatened on a daily basis. The Vietcong would place hidden bombs on their own civilians and send them into the troops’ camps
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