THE PSYCHOLOGY OF VIGILANTISM

AS DEMONSTRATED IN “THE BOONDOCK SAINTS”

Parth Thakker

AP Psychology – Mr. Moore 4BMay 24,

2011

“Whosoever shed man's blood, by man shall his blood be shed. For in the image of God made He man.” -Il Duce

What is vigilantism?

A vigilante is “any person who takes the law into his or her own hands, as by avenging a crime”

These people often believe that they have a god-given duty to punish evil, and go to great extents to fulfill this “obligation”.

Vigilantism is usually spurred by the perception that criminal punishment is either nonexistent or insufficient for the crime. Those who believe this see their governments as ineffective in enforcing the law.

Others become vigilantes as a result of traumatic personal experiences for which they blame society (i.e. the loss of a loved one).

Although they mean well, vigilantes can unintentionally cause harm to innocent people, and hinder the police from doing their job.

The Movie

The Boondock Saints is about a pair of twins, Connor and Murphy, who set out to kill all of the truly “evil” men in their community.

All of this started after they got lucky and defeated a Russian mobster who had tried to kill them. This gave them quite a bit of publicity and they were dubbed “saints” by the press.

This event inspired the impoverished brothers to start going out on “missions” to punish evil men, and it inadvertently provided them with an extra income as well.

Intro Scene

Significance of the movie

The central theme of this movie is that although “We must all fear evil men…there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men.” (quoted from the Monsignor at the church).¹

This statement is meant to discourage the “bystander effect” in which people do not help a distressed person in the presence of other observers.

This absence of altruism in Connor & Murphy’s community made them feel obligated to “protect the innocent” and “punish the guilty”.

¹The Boondock Saints (1999)

Psychology in the movie

The most apparent effect is the “Just-World Phenomenon,” which is the belief that people ultimately get what they deserve as determined by their past actions (similar to Karma).

In the movie, Connor and Murphy think that it is their responsibility to administer this justice, but they fail to realize that the people they perceive as evil may not seem too bad to others.

Courtroom scene

Social Psychology

Groupthink and Group Polarization also played a major role in the twins’ actions, especially after their friend Rocco joined their group.

For example, the idea of “punishing bad people” got escalated to “murdering mafia bosses” through the process of polarization.

Also, none of the three guys ever voiced any concerns about getting caught or ambushed because they didn’t want to be the “party-pooper” of the group. This example of groupthink eventually led to them getting ambushed after a big kill.

Social Psychology

There is another, equally important aspect of social psych which played a factor in the movie: conformity.

This was exemplified by the detective who was tasked with finding the vigilantes. Near the climax of the movie, he confessed that he sympathized with the “saints”, and that he had always wanted to become a vigilante himself.

In essence, the detective had “cognitive dissonance” between his personal beliefs and professional desire to bring the twins to justice. He eliminated this dissonance by altering his actions, and helping the twins kill a loathed Don at the end of the film.

Extrinsic vs. Intrinsic Motivation

Intrinsic• Doing “good”

for others• Feelings of

self-worth and efficacy

• Vengeance (after Rocco’s death)

• Religious “duty”

Extrinsic• Money from

the dead mobsters

• Recognition and fame from the media

The Media

The media had a big effect on the brothers’ actions because it acted as a positive reinforcer by giving them publicity.

Their idea of becoming vigilantes was partly spurred by the media dubbing them the “saints of Boston's streets”.

Some people agreed with their actions, while others disagreed; either way, the media’s coverage made them more famous.

Courtesy of Michael A. Bozarth, Ph.D., ©2005

LimitedPhysical Attack Media

World-Wide Publicity

The “Media Magnifier”

Justifying vigilantism

It is easier for people to justify vigilante behavior using stereotypes and prejudices. ¹

For example, in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, groups of affluent white citizens banded together to “protect” their neighborhoods from looters. However, these “vigilante” groups ended up unjustly targeting black citizens, resulting in the deaths of many innocent people.²

This demonstrates the immense effect that people’s predispositions can have on their perceptions of “right” and “wrong”.¹ Vigilantism Revisited, AU Law Review (1998)

²Report: White vigilante groups in Katrina. Think Progress (2008)

“The public’s opinion” segment

Effects of watching the movie The primary phenomenon that could occur

after watching this movie is known “observational learning” (aka imitation).

Bandura’s experiments with the BoBo Doll suggested that we tend to behave in ways that we have previously observed. His theory states that observing violence in any form is bound to increase aggression.

This effect especially holds true with any kind of vigilante movie (i.e. Batman), because the characters in those movies seem like ideal, likable people, hence making us more prone to imitation.

Works Cited

The Boondock Saints. Directed by Troy Duffy. 1999; Los Angeles, CA: Franchise Pictures.

Bozarth, Michael. Terrorism and the Media. University of Buffalo: Department of Psychology, 2005.

Clark, Renee. "The Theories Behind Agression." SocyBerty. Available from http://socyberty.com/psychology/the-theories-behind-aggression. Internet; accessed 16 May 2011.

Hine, Kelly. Vigilantism Revisited: An Economic Analysis of the Law of Extra-Judicial Self-Help or Why Can't Dick Shoot Henry for Stealing Jane's Truck? AU Law Review 47.5: 1222-1238, 1998.

Khanna, Satyam. Report: White vigilante groups blockaded small town in post-Katrina New Orleans and murdered blacks. The Center for American Progress Action Fund, 2008. Available from http://thinkprogress.org/2008/12/20/the-nation-katrina/. Internet; accessed 11 May 2011.

Myers, David. Psychology, 8th Edition. Holland, MI: Worth Publishers, 2007.