44 pages • 1 hour read
The Geeks Shall Inherit the Earth
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Chapters 8-9Chapter Summaries & Analyses
“Late Winter to Early Spring”
Chapter 8 Summary: “A Brief Introduction to Group Psychology”
Against her clique’s wishes, Whitney has been selected as first chair flutist in an all-county band. She had also been accepted at her first choice college. Social psychologist Henri Tajfel has discovered that groups adopt an “us versus them” mentality even when members are randomly selected. Muzafer Sherif revealed in the 1954 Robbers Cave experiment that two randomly divided groups of teenage boys turned on each-other when introduced, despite having no prior knowledge of the other group.
In the spirit of her challenge, Joy attempts to befriend some of the most aggressive girls at her school. She tutors Latrice, whose grades improve. Meanwhile, Blue has a fight with his former friend Jackson and is accepted into the Undergraduate Assistance Program at the University of Hawaii.
Danielle sits on the Summer Reading Committee. When she learns that a new friend, Emily, has died, she offers condolences to Emily’s parents at the funeral. Seventh grade was when Danielle was first bullied. The same was true for Laura, a Californian. Middle school involves moving from class to class, increasing the desire for a group identity. Conformity is deemed necessary, but its conditions are indefinite. Antagonism typically increases during these years. Psychologist David Anderegg has likened middle schoolers to “fascists” (247). High school is more likely to offer subcultures and places for authentic belonging. Studies show that students experience a drop in self-esteem in early adolescence (248).
Chapter 9 Summary: “Why Labels Stick: The Motivations of the Normal Police”
University of Pennsylvania education professor Stanton Wortham has written that people “rent” categories of social identity to help make sense of themselves and others. Social compartmentalization is known as “reputational bias,” or the “halo effect.” Whitney gets to know Dirk, a punk, and through him gains insight into another group. Contrary to her initial impression of them, the punks are just as conformist as her own group. Cheerleading and band events conflict, and she chooses the game. The popular group excludes Whitney again. Whitney offers Fern, a new girl who doesn’t have a car, a ride to the event they are both attending at the honor society. Whitney enjoys a party that the other preps were not invited to.
Danielle’s snowboarding attracts the attention of her classmates, and she starts becoming more social. Blue socializes more with the AP Gov students and feels for the first time as though he has a group of real friends. His team wins the SCH state championships. Popular students begin to pay attention to Noah’s recycling drive, which encourages him. Regan shines in her latest play but is called to the principal’s office. She is reprimanded for exposing students to a CD deemed “inappropriate” by staff. Regan doubts they have listened to the CD because it actually undermines stereotypes. The principal also tells Regan to keep her “home life private,” referring to her having come out at school. Students bully Eli at Academic Bowl practice.
Emile Durkheim theorized that society requires “deviants” to define the boundaries of normality. Stacey Horn, University of Illinois psychology professor, deduced from research that students view exclusion as a legitimate way of regulating what was perceived as deviant behavior. It is easier to group outsiders together. A significant number of freshmen surveyed agreed to punishing a group for a crime they might stereotypically commit, even without any evidence that they had done so. Although freshmen viewed racism and sexism as wrong, they were still guarded when it came to friendship and club membership. When little information is available, teenagers are more likely to rely on stereotypes.
Chapters 8-9 Analysis
Whitney’s decision to prioritize cheerleading over band is revealing. She makes the choice that affords and preserves the most power. Her decision underlines Robbins’ point from Chapter 3: Bullying behavior is designed to wrest power from others and is perpetuated by the need to guard that fragile power. The idea is that such behaviors are outgrown and left behind in middle school, yet Robbins references numerous studies to show why bullying often persists into adulthood.
One such study is the Robbers Cave experiment, which frequently features on psychology syllabuses because it offers such a clear and recognizable demonstration of group dynamics. In such a small instance as Whitney’s decision about scheduling, the same principles that govern societal power dynamics can be observed. The exertion of power and influence can become more compulsive with the more power one has and thus seeks to retain. Robbins cites Concordia University psychology professor William Bukowski: “[A]s this consensus is elusive, the struggles of the power within groups may provide nearly perfect conditions for some group members who upset a tenuous consensus to be victimized” (247).
In these chapters, a connection is made between the behavior of middle schoolers and large-scale inequalities at the societal level, for instance sexism and racism. Robbins offers a different perspective on these phenomena, showing with social science how ethically unsound decisions are perpetuated by the pursuit of power. Importantly for Robbins, bigotry is a defense mechanism against ceding power and control. Viewed through this lens, it is possible to see prejudice and inequality more objectively as the result of certain group dynamics, rather than as a value judgement placed on a particular individual or group. De-personalizing prejudice in this way may aid in its transformation into more pro-social forms. If as Robbins argues, the difference that distinguishes a “deviant” from the group is also their potential contribution (Durkheim’s terminology), it may even be possible to see social exclusion as a recognition of value. Robbins elaborates her definition of “Quirk Theory” in the following chapters.
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