Hostility As Distraction

“One is that the ‘us versus them’ motif can be manipulated to revive a group’s esprit de corps and to ‘divert attention from internal problems.’ That is to say, communal violence is an antidote for internal strife and the ‘civil’ or domestic violence to which it might otherwise lead. Campaigns against outsiders or evildoers revive the camaraderie jeopardized by internal conflict” (Gil Bailie, Violence Unveiled, p. 52).