siege mentality

Among the consequences of a siege mentality are black and white thinking, social conformity, and lack of trust, but also a preparedness for the worst and a strong sense of social cohesion.Christie, p. 998

Historically, siege mentalities existed in the Soviet Union, Communist People's Socialist Republic of Albania, Rhodesia, Apartheid South Africa, and Northern Ireland during The Troubles, as a result of ideological or political isolation.{{cn|date=March 2024|reason=not a neutral claim to make, requires some kind of support}}

In the present day, siege mentalities have also been described with regards to countries such as Israel{{cite news|title=Israel's siege mentality|url=http://www.economist.com/node/16274081|newspaper=The Economist|publisher=The Economist Newspaper Limited|access-date=8 October 2015}} and North Korea; in the latter it is arguably encouraged by the government to help justify their continuance in power.{{cite book|title=Understanding Korean Politics: An Introduction|author=Soong-hoom Kil, Chung-in Moon|year=2001|publisher=SUNY Press|isbn=0-7914-4890-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/understandingkor00kils/page/295 295]|url=https://archive.org/details/understandingkor00kils/page/295}} Further contemporary examples of states in which a siege mentality is prevalent may include Russia,{{Cite web |date=2020-08-31 |title=Dangerous Russian Siege Mentality |url=https://warsawinstitute.org/dangerous-russian-siege-mentality/ |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=Warsaw Institute |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |title=Siege Mentality Dominates in Moscow |url=https://jamestown.org/program/siege-mentality-dominates-in-moscow/ |access-date=2024-09-08 |website=jamestown.org |language=en-US}} Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus, Republic of China, Venezuela, and (to a lesser extent), Cuba.{{cn|date=March 2024|reason=not clear to which of the currently provided citations these should belong as they do not seem to deal with these countries at all; separating from the cited examples seems prudent, in order not to imply to casual readers that there are currently citations supporting the claim that there is a siege mentality present in these countries}}

Within the United States, the siege mentality has been used to conservative Southerners following the American Civil War, and later on the Southern Strategy and supporters of Donald Trump, especially towards the federal government.{{cite news |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/outlook/a-grand-bargain-that-secured-the-south-for-the-gop/2019/08/16/64166948-976a-11e9-830a-21b9b36b64ad_story.html |title=A 'grand bargain' that secured the South for the GOP |author=Curtis Wilkes |date=2019-08-16 |newspaper=Washington Post}}{{cite news |url=https://www.huffpost.com/entry/trump-supporters-gift-from-god_n_56d5d577e4b03260bf783783 |title=Donald Trump Is A 'Gift From God' To His Supporters |author=Arthur Delaney and Ariel Edwards-Levy |date=2016-03-01 |publisher=Huffington Post}}{{cite news |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/politics-explained/trump-fbi-mar-a-lago-new-york-b2142619.html |title=Donald Trump thrives when he can create a siege mentality |author=Andrew Feinberg |date=2022-08-10 |work=The Independent }} The politics of U.S. Evangelicals in particular were cited by the New York Times in 2017 as reflecting a siege mentality.{{cite web|title=The Siege Mentality Problem|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/11/13/opinion/roy-moore-conservative-evangelicals.html|website=The New York Times|access-date=8 July 2019}} Some police departments have also been noted to adopt a siege mentality, with officers viewing themselves as under attack by their own communities. {{cite web | last=Beauchamp | first=Zack | title=What the police really believe | website=Vox | date=2020-07-07 | url=https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2020/7/7/21293259/police-racism-violence-ideology-george-floyd | access-date=2025-06-13}}

Sociologically, the term may refer to persecution feelings by anyone in a group that views itself as a threatened minority, as with the early psychoanalysts.A. Samuels, The Father (1985) p. 8 This can be used for example in the field of sports, where coaches or managers often create a siege mentality in their players by highlighting an environment of hostility from outside the club (whether the hostility is real or exaggerated is irrelevant).

Siege mentalities are particularly common in business, the result of competition or downsizing, though here the (smaller-scale) alternative of "bunker mentality" (analogous to soldiers who have taken shelter in a bunker) may be used.C. Sargeant, From Buddy to Boss (2006) p. 366 Some religious groups may have this paradigm, particularly if they are not traditional mainstream groups.J. R. Lewis, Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements (2004) p. 151

Seamus Heaney used the phrase "Besieged within the siege"Seamus Heaney, Opened Ground (1998) p. 123, 'Whatever you say, say nothing' to describe the feeling of the beleaguered Catholic minority in Northern Ireland within the broader siege mentality of the Protestant community itself.M. Parker, Seamus Heaney (1993) p. 145

{{Columns-list|colwidth=22em|

• Amity-enmity complex
• Autarky
• Fear of crime
• Garrison mentality
• Grandiosity
• Groupthink
• Hardline
• Hostile media effect
• Isolationism
• Mass mobilization
• Nativism (politics)
• Social identity theory
• Splitting (psychology)
• State collapse
• Survivalism
• Victim mentality
• Xenophobia

}}

Related psychological behaviours:

• Defence mechanisms: can arise when one feels the need to defend oneself while being under siege.
• Persecution complex: may develop because one feels victimized or the need to defend against an outgroup.

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• {{cite book|title=Siberian frontier: the territory of fear|first=V.|last=Pesterev|year=2015|publisher=Royal Geographical Society (with IBG), London|url=https://www.academia.edu/14482632}}

Category:Sieges

Category:Paranoia

Category:Political psychology

Category:Sociological theories