Good People and Dirty Work

Author(s): Everett C. Hughes

Source: Social Problems, Vol. 10, No. 1 (Summer, 1962), pp. 3-11
Published by: Oxford University Press on behalf of the Society for the Study of Social
Problems
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 GOOD PEOPLE AND DIRTY WORK

EVERETT C. HUGHES
Brandeis University

". une secteest le noyauet le levain

Endloesung (final solution) of the
de toutefoule.... Etudierla foulec'est
jugerun dramed'apresce qu'on voitsurlaJewishproblemin orderto condemn
scene; 6tudier la secte c'est le jugertheGermans, ormakethemlookworse
thanotherpeoples,butto recallto our
d'apresce qu'on voit dans les coulisses."
Sighele,S. Psychologiedes sectes.Paris,
attentiondangerswhichlurk in our
1898. Pp. 62, 63, 65.1 midstalways.Most of what follows
was written aftermyfirst postwarvisit
The NationalSocialistGovernmentto Germany in 1948. The impressions
of Germany,with the arm of its werevivid.The factshave notdimin-
fanaticalinnersect,theS.S.,commonly ished and disappearedwith time,as
known as the Black Shirtsor Elite did the storiesof
alleged German
Guard,perpetrated and boastedof the atrocitiesin Belgiumin thefirstWorld
most colossaland dramaticpiece of War. The fullertherecord,the worse
social dirtyworkthe worldhas ever it gets.2
known.Perhapsthereare otherclaim- Severalmillionsof people werede-
ants to the title,but theycould not liveredto theconcentration camps,op-
matchthisone'scombination of mass, eratedunderthe leadershipof Hein-
speedand perversepridein the deed. richHimmlerwiththe help of Adolf
Nearlyall peopleshaveplentyofcruel- Eichmann.A few hundredthousand
tyanddeathto accountfor.How many survivedin some fashion.Still fewer
Negro Americanshave died by the came out soundof mindand body.A
handsof lynchingmobs? How many pair of examples,well attested,will
morefromunnecessary diseaseandlack show the extremeof perverse
of foodor of knowledgeof nutrition? reachedby the S.S. guardsin cruelty
How many Russians died to bring of the camps.Prisonerswere ordered charge
about collectivizationof land? And to climbtrees;guardswhippedthem
who is to blame if therebe starving to makethemclimbfaster. Once they
millionsin some partsof the world wereoutof reach,otherprisoners, also
while wheat molds in the fieldsof urgedby thewhip,wereput to shak-
otherparts? ing the trees.When the victimsfell,
I do notrevivethecase of theNazi theywerekickedto see whether
they
couldriseto theirfeet.Thosetoobadly
2 The best source easily available at that
1 ". a sect is the nucleus and the yeast time was Eugen Kogon's Der SS-Staat.
.. crowd.
of every ... To study a crowd is Das System der Deutschen Konzentration-
to judge by what one sees on the stage; slager, Berlin, 1946. Many of my data are
to studythe sect is to judge by what one from his book. Some years later H. G.
sees backstage."These are among the many Adler, afterseveral yearsof research,wrote
passages underlinedby Robert E. Park in Theresianstadt, 1941-1945. Das Antlitz
his copy,now in my possession,of Sighele's einer Zwangsgemeinschaft (Tuebingen,
classic work on political sects. There are a 1955), and still later published Die Ver-
number of referencesto this work in the heimlichte Wahrheit, Theresienstaedter
Park and Burgess Introductionto the Sci- Dokumente (Tuebingen, 1958), a book of
ence of Sociology, Chicago, 1921. In fact, documentsconcerningthat camp in which
there is more attentionpaid to fanatical Czech and other Jews were concentrated,
political and religiousbehavior in Park and demoralizedand destroyed.Kogon, a Cath-
Burgess than in any later sociological work olic intellectual, and Adler, a Bohemian
in this country.Sighele's discussion relates Jew, both wroteout of personal experience
chieflyto the anarchistmovement of his in the ConcentrationCamps. Both con-
time. There have been fanaticalmovements sideredit theirdutyto presentthe phenom-
since. The Secret Army Organization in enon objectively to the public. None of
Algeria is but the latest. their statementshas ever been challenged.

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4 SOCIAL PROBLEMS

injuredto get up wereshotto death, who did it? How, once freedfromthe
as uselessforwork.A not inconsider-regime that did it, could they be ap-
able number of prisoners were parentlyso little concerned about it,
drownedin pits fullof humanexcre- so toughlysilent about it, not only in
ment.These examplesare so horrible talking with outsiders-which is easy
thatyourmindswill run away from to understand-but among themselves?
them.You will not,as whenyouread How and where could there be found
a slightlysalaciousnovel,imaginethe in a modern civilized countrythe sev-
rest.I therefore thrusttheseexamples eral hundredthousandmen and wom-
upon you and insistthat the people en capable of such work? How were
who thoughtthemup could,and did, these people so far released from the
improviseotherslike them,and even inhibitions of civilized life as to be
worse,fromday to day over several able to imagine, let alone perform,
years.Many of the victimsof the the ferocious,obscene and perverseac-
Campsgaveup theghost(thisBiblical tions which theydid imagine and per-
phraseis themostapt) froma combi- form? How could they be kept at
nationof humiliation, fa- such a heightof furythroughyearsof
starvation,
tigueandphysical abuse.In duetime,a having to see daily at close range the
policyof mass liquidationin the gas human wrecks they made and being
chamber was addedto individualvirtu- often literallyspatteredwith the filth
osityin cruelty. produced and accumulated by their
This program-forit was a pro- own actions?
gram-of cruelty and murderwas car- You will see thatthereare here two
riedoutin thenameofracialsuperiori- orders of questions. One set concerns
ty and racial purity.It was directed the good people who did not them-
mainly,althoughby no meansexclu- selves do this work. The other con-
sively,againstJews,Slavsand Gypsies. cernsthose who did do it. But the two
It was thorough. Thereare few Jews sets are not really separate; for the
in the territories which were under crucial question concerningthe good
thecontrolof theThirdGermanReich people is their relation to the people
-the twoGermanies, Holland,Czech- who did the dirtywork,with a related
oslavakia,Poland, Austria,Hungary. one which asks under what circum-
Many Jewish Frenchmenwere de- stancesgood people let the othersget
stroyed.There were concentrationaway with such actions.
campsevenin TunisiaandAlgiersun- An easy answerconcerningthe Ger-
dertheGermanoccupation. mans is that they were not so good
When,duringmy1948 visitto Ger- after all. We can attribute to them
many,I becamemoreawareof there- some special inborn or ingrainedrace
actionsof ordinaryGermansto the consciousness,combined with a pen-
horrorsof the concentration camps,I chant for sadistic crueltyand unques-
found myselfasking not the usual tioningacceptanceof whateveris done
question,"How did racialhatredrise by those who happen to be in authori-
to such a high level?",but this one, ty. Pushed to its extreme,this answer
"How could suchdirtyworkbe done simplymakes us, ratherthan the Ger-
amongand,in a sense,bythemillions mans, the superiorrace. It is the Nazi
of ordinary,civilizedGermanpeople?" tune, put to words of our own.
Along withthiscamerelatedquestions. Now there are deep and stubborn
How could thesemillionsof ordinary differences betweenpeoples. Their his-
peoplelive in themidstof suchcruel- tory and culture may make the Ger-
ty and murderwithouta generalup- mans especiallysusceptibleto the doc-
risingagainstit and againstthepeople trine of their own racial superiority

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 Good People and DirtyWork
and especially acquiescent to the ac-
tions of whoever is in power over
them. These are mattersdeserving of
the best studythat can be given them.
But to say thatthese thingscould hap-
pen in Germany simply because Ger-
mans are different-fromus-buttress-
es their own excuses and lets us off
too easily from blame for what hap-
pened there and from the question
whetherit could happen here.
Certainlyin theirdaily practice and
expression before the Hitler regime,
the Germans showed no more, if as
much, hatred of other racial or cul-
turalgroups than we did and do. Resi-
dential segregation was not marked.
Intermarriagewas common, and the
families of such marriages had an
easier social existence than they gen-
erally have in America. The racially
exclusive club, school and hotel were
much less in evidence than here. And
I well rememberan evening in 1933
when a Montrealbusinessman-a very
nice man, too-said in our living
room,"Why don't we admitthatHitler
is doing to the Jews just what we
ought to be doing?" That was not an
uncommon sentiment,althoughit may
be said in defense of the people who
expressed it, that they probably did
not know and would not have believed
the full truthabout the Nazi program
of destroyingJews. The essential un-
derlyingsentimentson racial matters
in Germany were not differentin
kind fromthose prevailingthroughout
the western,and especiallythe Anglo-
Saxon, countries.But I do not wish to
over-emphasizethis point. I only want
to close one easy way out of serious
considerationof the problem of good
people and dirtywork,by demonstrat-
ing that the Germans were and are
about as good and about as bad as the
restof us on thismatterof racial senti-
ments and, let us add, their notions
of decent human behaviour.
But what was the reaction of ordi-
nary Germans to the persecution of
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5
the Jewsand to the concentrationcamp
mass tortureand murder?A conversa-
tion between a German school-teacher,
a German architectand myselfgives
the essentialsin a vivid form.It was
in the studio of the architect,and the
occasion was a rathercasual visit, in
Frankfurtam Main in 1948.
The architect:"I am ashamed for my
people whenever I think of it. But we
didn't know about it. We only learned
about all that later. You must remember
the pressurewe were under; we had to
join the party. We had to keep our
mouths shut and do as we were told.
It was a terrible pressure. Still, I am
ashamed. But you see, we had lost our
colonies, and our national honour was
hurt. And these Nazis exploited that
feeling. And the Jews, they were a
problem. They came fromthe east. You
should see them in Poland; the lowest
class of people, full of lice, dirty and
poor, runningabout in their Ghettos in
filthycaftans.They came here, and got
rich by unbelievable methods after the
first war. They occupied all the good
places. Why, theywere in the proportion
of ten to one in medicine and law and
governmentposts!"
At this point the architecthesitated
and looked confused. He continued:
"Where was I? It is the poor food. You
see what misery we are in here, Herr
Professor.It often happens that I forget
what I was talking about. Where was
I now? I have completelyforgotten."
(His confusionwas, I believe, not at
all feigned. Many Germans said they
sufferedlosses of memorysuch as this,
and laid it to theirlack of food.)
I said firmly:"You were talkingabout
loss of national honour and how the
Jews had got hold of everything."
The architect:"Oh, yes! That was it!
Well, of course thatwas no way to settle
the Jewish problem. But there was a
problem and it had to be settled some
way."
The school-teacher:"Of course, they
have Palestine now."
I protestedthat Palestinewould hardly
hold them.
The architect:"The professoris right.
Palestine can't hold all the Jews. And
it was a terriblethingto murderpeople.
But we didn't know it at the time. But
I am glad I am alive now. It is an in-
teresting time in men's history. You
know, when the Americanscame it was
like a great release. I really want to see
a new ideal in Germany.I like the free-
6 SOCIAL PROBLEMS

dom thatlets me talk to you like this. people do feel deeply guilty,but that
But,unfortunatelythatis notthegeneral it is
talked about at all.
opinion.Mostof myfriends reallyhang
on to the old ideas.Theycan'tsee any In order to understand this phe-
hope,so theyhangon to theold ideas." nomenon we would have to find out
who talks about the concentration
This scrap of talk gives, I believe, camp atrocities,in what situations,in
what mood, and with what stimulus.
the essential elements as well as the
On these points I know only my own
flavor of the German reaction. It
limited experiences.One of the most
checks well with formalstudies which
moving of these was my firstpost-war
have been made, and it varies only in
with an elderly professor
detail fromother conversationswhich meeting
whom I had known before the Nazi
I myselfrecordedin 1948.
he is an heroic soul who did not
One of the most obvious points in time;
bow his head during the Nazi time
it is unwillingnessto think about the
and who keeps it erect now. His first
dirtywork done. In this case-perhaps
words, spoken with tears in his eyes,
by chance,perhapsnot-the good man were:
sufferedan actual lapse of memoryin
the middle of this statement.This "How hard it is to believe thatmen
seems a simple point. But the psychi- will be as bad as they say they will.
atristshave shown thatit is less simple Hitler and his people said: 'Heads
than it looks. They have done a good will roll,' but how many of us-even
deal of workon the complicatedmech- of his bitterestopponents--could real-
anisms by which the individual mind ly believe that they would do it."
keeps unpleasantor intolerableknowl- This man could and did speak, in
edge from consciousness, and have 1948, not only to the likes of me, but
shown how great may, in some cases, to his students,his colleagues and to
be the consequentloss of effectiveness the public which read his articles,in
of the personality.But we have taken the most natural way about the Nazi
collective unwillingnessto know un- atrocitieswhenevertherewas occasion
pleasant factsmore or less forgranted. to do it in the course of his tireless
That people can and do keep a silence effortto reorganizeand to bring new
about things whose open discussion life into the German universities.He
would threatenthe group's conception had neitherthe compulsion to speak,
of itself,and hence its solidarity,is so that he might excuse and defend
commonknowledge.It is a mechanism himself,nor a consciousor unconscious
that operates in every family and in need to keep silent.Such people were
everygroup whichhas a sense of group rare;how manytherewere in Germany
reputation.To break such a silence is I do not know.
consideredan attackagainstthe group; Occasions of anotherkind in which
a sort of treason,if it be a member the silence was broken were those
of the group who breaks the silence. where,in class,public lectureor in in-
This common silence allows group formalmeetings with students,I my-
fictions to grow up; such as, that self had talkedfranklyof race relations
grandpawas less a scoundreland more in other parts of the world, including
romantic than he really was. And I the lynchingswhich sometimesoccur
think it demonstrablethat it operates in my own countryand the terrible
especially against any expression,ex- crueltyvisited upon natives in South
cept in ritual,of collective guilt. The Africa. This took off the lid of de-
remarkablething in present-dayGer- fensiveness, so thata fewpeople would
many is not that there is so little talk quite easily of what happened
referenceto something about which under the Nazi regime.More common

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 Good People and DirtyWork 7

weresituations likethatwiththearchi- importantquestionsI have raised,I

tect,whereI threwin some remark leave unansweredexcept as answers
about the atrocitiesin responseto maybe containedin the statement of
Germans'complaintthatthe worldis thecase.
abusingthem.In suchcases,therewas But to returnto our moderately
usuallyan expressionof shame,ac-
a of excuses good man, the architect.
(in- over and
He insisted
companiedby variety over that he did not
cludingthatof havingbeen kept in know,and we again
may suppose that he
ignorance),and followedby a quick knew as much and as littleas most
turningawayfromthe subject. Germans.But he also made it quite
Somewherein consideration of this clear thathe wantedsomething done
problemof discussionversussilence to theJews.I have similarstatements
we mustask whatthe good (that is, frompeopleofwhomI knewthatthey
ordinary) people in Germanydid had had close Jewishfriendsbefore
know about thesethings.It is clear the Nazi time.This raisesthe whole
thatthe S.S. kept the moregoryde- problemof the extentto whichthose
tailsof theconcentrationcampsa close pariahswho do the dirtyworkof so-
secret.Even highofficials of the gov- cietyare reallyactingas agentsfor
ernment, thearmyand theNazi party therestof us. To talkof thisquestion
itselfwere in some measureheld in one mustnotethat,in buildingup his
ignorance,althoughof course they case, the architectpushed the Jews
keptthecampssuppliedwithvictims. firmlyinto an out-group:theywere
The commonpeopleof Germany knew dirty, lousyand unscrupulous (an odd
that the camps existed;most knew statementfroma residentof Frank-
peoplewhohaddisappeared intothem; furt, thehomeofold Jewishmerchants
some saw the victims,walkingskele- and intellectual familieslongidentified
tons in rags, being transported in withthoseaspectsof cultureof which
trucksor trains,or being herdedon Germansare most proud). Having
the road fromstationto camp or to dissociatedhimselfclearlyfromthese
work in fieldsor factoriesnear the people, and havingdeclaredthem a
camps.Many knew people who had problem,he apparently was willingto
been released from concentrationlet someoneelse do to themthe dirty
camps;suchreleasedpersonskepttheir workwhichhe himselfwouldnot do,
counselon pain of death.But secrecy and for which he expressedshame.
was cultivatedand supportedby fear The case is perhapsanalogousto our
and terror.In the absenceof a de- attitudetoward those convictedof
termined and heroicwill to knowand crime. From time to time, we get
publishthetruth, andin theabsenceof wind of crueltypracticedupon the
all the instruments of opposition,the prisonersin penitentiariesor jails; or,
degreeof knowledgewas undoubtedlyit may be, merelya reportthatthey
low,in spiteof the factthatall knew are ill-fedor thathygienicconditions
that somethingboth stupendousand are notgood.Perhapswe do notwish
horriblewas boingon; and in spiteof that the prisonersshouldbe cruelly
the fact that Hitler's Mein Kampf treatedor badlyfed,but our reaction
and the utterancesof his aides said is probablytempered by a notionthat
thatno fatewas too horribleforthe they deserve something,because of
Jewsand otherwrong-headed or in- some dissociationof them fromthe
feriorpeople.This mustmakeus ask in-groupof good people.If whatthey
underwhatconditions thewillto know get is worse than what we like to
and to discussis strong,determinedthinkabout,it is a littlebit too bad.
and effective; this,like most of the It is a pointon whichwe are ambi-

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8 SOCIAL PROBLEMS

valent.Campaignsforreform of pris- aren'tany criminals. Almosteveryone

ons are often followedby counter- agreesthatsomething has to be done
campaignsagainsta too highstandard about them. The question concerns
of livingforprisoners andagainsthav- whatis done,whodoes it,and thena-
ing prisonsrun by softies.Now the tureof themandategivenby therest
peoplewhorunprisonsareouragents. of us to thosewho do it. Perhapswe
Justhow far theydo or could carry give theman unconscious mandateto
out our wishesis hard to say. The go beyond anythingwe ourselves
minorprisonguard,in boastfuljusti- wouldcareto do or even to acknowl-
ficationof someof his morequestion- edge. I ventureto suggestthat the
able practices,says,in effect:"If those higherand moreexpertfunctionaries
reformers and thosebig shotsupstairs who act in ourbehalfrepresent some-
had to live withthesebirdsas I do, thingof a distillation of whatwe may
they would soon change their fool considerourpublicwishes,whilesome
notionsabout runninga prison."He oftheothersshowa sortofconcentrate
is suggestingthatthegood peopleare of thoseimpulsesof whichwe are or
eithernaive or hypocritical. Further- wishto be lessaware.
more,he knowsquite well that the Now the choiceof convictedpris-
wishesof his employers, the public, oners
are by no meansunmixed.They are in bringsup anothercrucialpoint
inter-group relations.All societies
quite as likelyto put upon him for of any greatsize have in-groupsand
beingtoo nice as forbeingtoo harsh. in fact,one of the best
And if, as sometimeshappens,he is out-groups;of describing a societyis to con-
a man disposedto cruelty, ways
theremay siderit a network of smallerand larg-
be somejusticein his feelingthathe er
is onlydoingwhatotherswould like in-groupsand out-groups. And an
in-group is one onlybecausethereare
to do,if theybutdared;and whatthey When I referto my chil-
woulddo,if theywerein hisplace. out-groups.
drenI obviouslyimplythattheyare
There are plentyof examplesin closerto me thanotherpeople'schil-
our own worldwhichI mighthave drenand thatI will makegreateref-
pickedforcomparisonwiththe Ger- fortsto buyorangesand cod-liveroil
man attitudetowardtheconcentrationforthemthanforothers'children. In
camps.For instance,a newspaperin fact,it maymeanthatI willgivethem
Denver made a greatscandalout of cod-liveroil if I have to chokethem
the allegationthatour Japanesecom- to get it down.We do our own dirty
patriotsweretoowellfedin thecamps workon thoseclosestto us. The very
wheretheywere concentrated during injunction thatI love myneighboras
thewar.I mighthavementioned some myselfstartswithme; if I don'tlove
feature of thesorryhistory of thepeo- myselfand mynearest, thephrasehas
of
ple Japanesebackground in Canada. a very sour meaning.
Or it mighthave been lynching, or Each of us is a centerof a network
some aspectof racial discrimination.of in and out-groups. Now the dis-
But I purposelychose prisonerscon- tinctions betweenin and out may be
victedof crime.For convictsare for- drawnin variousways,and nothingis
mallyset aside for special handling. more important forboth the student
They constitutean out-groupin all of societyand the educatorthan to
countries.This bringstheissueclearly discoverhow theselinesare madeand
beforeus, since few people cherish how theymay be redrawnin more
theillusionthattheproblemof treat- just and sensibleways.But to believe
ing criminals can be settledby propa- thatwe can do awaywiththedistinc-
ganda designedto prove that there tion between in and out, us and them

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 Good People and DirtyWork 9

in sociallifeis completenonsense.On S.S. who operatedthe concentration

the positiveside,we generallyfeel a camps.Manyreportshave been made
greaterobligationto in-groups; hence on thesocialbackgrounds and theper-
less obligationto out-groups;and in sonalitiesof thesecruelfanatics. Those
the case of such groupsas convicted whohavestudiedthemsaythata large
criminals,the out-groupis definitelyproportion were"gescheiterte Existen-
givenoverto thehandsof our agents zen,"menor womenwitha history of
forpunishment. That is the extreme failure,of poor adaptationto the de-
case. But thereare otherout-groups mandsof workand of the classesof
towardwhichwe mayhave aggressive societyin whichtheyhad been bred.
feelingsand dislike,althoughwe give Germany betweenwarshadlargenum-
no formalmandateto anyoneto deal bers of such people.Their adherence
withthemon ourbehalf,and although to a movementwhich proclaimeda
we professto believethattheyshould doctrineof hatredwas naturalenough.
notsuffer or disadvantages.The movement offeredsomething
restrictions
The greatertheirsocialdistancefrom more.It createdan innergroupwhich
us, themorewe leave in thehandsof was to be superiorto all others,even
othersa sort of mandateby default Germans,in theiremancipation from
to dealwiththemon ourbehalf.What- the usual bourgeoismorality;people
ever effortwe put on reconstructingaboveand beyondtheordinary morali-
the lines which divide in and out- ty.I dwellon this,not as a doctrine,
groups,thereremainstheeternalprob- but as an organizational device.For,
lem of our treatment, director dele- as Eugen Kogon,authorof the most
gated, of whatevergroups are con- penetrating analysisof the S.S. and
sideredsomewhatoutside.And here theircamps,has said,theNazis came
it is thatthewholematterof ourpro- to power by creatinga state within
fessedand possibledeeperunprofesseda state;a bodywithits own counter-
wishescomesup forconsideration; and morality, and its own counter-law, its
therelatedproblemof whatwe know, courtsand its own executionof sen-
can knowand wantto knowaboutit. tenceupon thosewho did notlive up
In Germany,the agentsgot out of to its ordersand standards. Even as a
hand and createdsuch terrorthat it movement, it had innercircleswithin
was best not to know.It is also clear innercircles;each swornto secrecyas
thatit was and is easierto the con- againstthenextouterone. The strug-
scienceofmanyGermansnotto know. gle betweenthese innercirclescon-
It is, finally,
notunjustto saythatthe tinued afterHitler came to power;
agentswere at least workingin the Himmlereventually won theday.His
direction ofthewishesofmanypeople, S.S. became a statewithinthe Nazi
althoughtheymayhave gone beyond state,just as the Nazi movement had
thewishesofmost.The samequestions become a state withinthe Weimar
can be asked about our own society, state.One is reminded of theoftquot-
and withreference notonlyto prison- ed butneglected statement of Sighele:
ersbutalsoto manyothergroupsupon "At thecenterof a crowdlook forthe
whomthereis no legal or moralstig- sect."He referred, of course,to the
ma. Again I have not the answers.I politicalsect;thefanatical innergroup
leave you to searchforthem. of a movement seekingpowerbyrevo-
In considering thequestionof dirty lutionarymethods.Once the Nazis
work we have eventuallyto think were in power,thisinnersect,while
about the people who do it. In Ger- becomingnow the recognizedagent
many,thesewerethemembersof the of the stateand,hence,of the masses
S.S. and of that innergroup of the of thepeople,couldat the same time

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10 SOCIAL PROBLEMS

dissociateitselfmorecompletely from movementis positive,its conception

themin action,because of the very of humanity high and inclusive,and
factof havinga mandate.It was now its aims sound.This was not the case
beyondall dangerof interference and oftheNazi movement. As Kogonputs
investigation.For it had the instru- it: "The SS werebut thearch-type of
mentsof interference and investiga- theNazis in general."3 Butsuchpeople
tion in its own hands.These are also are sometimesattractedfor want of
theinstruments of secrecy.So theS.S. something better, to movements whose
could and did build up a powerful aimsarecontrary to thespiritof cruel-
system in whichtheyhad theresources ty and punishment. I would suggest
of the stateand of the economyof thatall of us look well at theleader-
Germany and theconqueredcountries ship and entourageof movements to
fromwhichto stealall thatwas needed whichwe attachourselvesforsignsof
to carryout theirorgyof crueltylux- a negativistic, punishingattitude.For
uriously as well as withimpunity. once sucha spiritdevelopsin a move-
of the nearestand
Now letus ask,concerning thedirty ment, punishment
easiestvictimis likelyto becomemore
workers, questionssimilarto thosecon- attractive thanstrivingforthe essen-
cerningthe good people. Is therea tialgoals.And,if theNazi movement
supplyof candidatesforsuchworkin teachesus anything at all, it is thatif
othersocieties?It would be easy to shadowof a mandatebe givento
any
say thatonlyGermanycouldproduce such people,theywill-having com-
sucha crop.The questionis answered
promisedus-make it largerand larg-
by beingput. The problemof people er. The processesby which theydo
who have run aground(gescheiterteso are the of the power
development
Existenzen)is one of themostserious and inwarddisciplineof theirown
in our modernsocieties.Any psychi- a progressivedissociationof
atristwill, I believe,testifythat we group,
themselves fromthe rules of human
have a sufficient pool or fundof per- decencyprevalent in theirculture, and
sonalitieswarpedtowardperverse pun- an ever-growing contempt forthewel-
ishmentand cruelty to do anyamount fareof themassesof
of dirtywork that the good people people.
The powerand inwarddisciplineof
may be inclinedto countenance.It the S.S. becamesuch thatthosewho
would not take a verygreatturnof once becamememberscould
eventsto increasethenumberof such get out
only by death; by suicide, murderor
people,and to bringtheirdiscontentsmentalbreakdown.Ordersfromthe
to the surface.This is not to suggest centraloffices of theS.S. werecouched
thateverymovement basedon discon- in termsas a hedgeagainst
tentwith the presentstateof things a equivocal
possibleday of judgment. When it
will be led by such people. That is became clearthatsucha day of judg-
obviously untrue;and I emphasizethe ment would come, the hedgingand
point lest my remarksgive comfort intriguebecamegreater;the urge to
to thosewho woulddamnall who ex- murderalso became
But I think greater,because
pressmilitantdiscontent. everyprisoner became a potentialwit-
studyof militantsocial movements ness.
does show that thesewarpedpeople
seeka place in them.Specifically, Again we are dealingwith a phe-
they nomenoncommonin all societies.Al-
are likelyto becometheplotting, sec- most
retpoliceofthegroup.It is one of the everygroupwhichhas a special-
problems of militant socialmovements
to keepsuchpeopleout.It is of course
easierto do this if the spiritof the 3 Op. cit. p. 316.

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 Good People and DirtyWork 11

ized social functionto performis in notof trying to get ridof all theself-
somemeasurea secretsociety, witha disciplining, protecting groupswithin
bodyof rulesdevelopedand enforced society, butone of keepingtheminte-
by themembersand withsomepower gratedwithone anotherand as sensi-
to saveitsmembersfromoutsidepun- tive as can be to a public opinion
ishment. And hereis one of thepara- whichtranscends themall. It is a mat-
doxesof socialorder.A societywith- ter of checksand balances,of what
out smaller,rule-makingand disciplin- we mightcall the social and moral
ing powerswouldbe no societyat all. constitutionof society.
Therewouldbe nothingbut law and Thosewhoare especiallydevotedto
police; and this is what the Nazis efforts to eradicatefromgood people,
strovefor,at the expenseof family, as individuals,all those sentiments
church,professionalgroups,partiesand whichseem to bringabout the great
othersuchnucleiof spontaneous con- and small dirtywork of the world,
trol.But apparently the onlyway to maythinkthatmyremarks are some-
do this,forgood as well as forevil thingof an attackon theirmethods.
ends,is to give powerintothe hands They are rightto this extent;thatI
of some fanaticalsmall groupwhich am insistingthatwe give a shareof
will have a fargreaterpowerof self- our effortto thesocialmechanisms in-
disciplineand a fargreaterimmunityvolvedas wellas to theindividualand
fromoutsidecontrolthan the tradi- thoseof his sentiments whichconcern
tionalgroups.The problemis, then, peopleof otherkinds.

SEX DIFFERENCES IN OCCUPATIONAL CHOICE PATTERNS

AMONG NEGRO ADOLESCENTS
JETSE SPREY
Franklin& MarshallCollege
The aimof thepresent paperis two- tion in which"thereis an acute dis-
fold.Patterns and edu- junctionbetweenthe culturalnorms
of occupational
cationalchoice of Negro and white and goals and the sociallystructured
public high school pupils are com- capacitiesof members of thegroupto
pared,payingspecialattention to dif- act in accordwiththem."A minority
ferencesbetween the sex categories groupsituationis thusnotnecessarily
withinthe Negro group.Further, an characterized by anomie.This occurs
attemptis made to explain the re- onlyif the groupmemberssharethe
portedfindings withinthe frameworkculturalgoals of themajority and are
of thetheory ofanomie.The datawere to a signifiant degreepreventedfrom
collectedin twostagesin twodifferentattaining thelatter.The AmericanNe-
cities in the northeasternsectionof gro minoritylives under such con-
theUnitedStates. ditions.2For thisreasonit originally
Merton1definesanomieas a situa- 1
Robert K. Merton, Social Theory and
Revised version of a paper presentedat Social Structure,Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press,
the annual meeting of the Society for the 1957, p. 162.
Study of Social Problems, St. Louis, Mo., 2 It is debatable whether or not all
August, 1961. Part of the paper is based tracesof the various Africantribal cultures
on the author's unpublished doctoral dis- that were representedby the Negro slaves
sertation,Occupational Choice among New have disappeared. This matteris irrelevant
Haven Negro High School Students,Yale here. No integratedAfrican cultural sub-
University,1960. systemever existed in this country.

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