What does it mean to be demoralized?

Demoralization occurs when you have grown to have specific beliefs and standards. To be demoralized is to suddenly be influenced by an outside source which can alter your beliefs and/or standards. It may also be a term for those who have been put-down.
Question 1.) Compare your standards towards others and see for yourself. Q2.) Yes, that happens when you are being influenced in a way that you do not recognize. Q3.) My belief: You can only work on yourself and be an example towards others.

To be demoralized is to allow yourself to become overwhelmed by either circumstances or by the negative comments of others to the point where you are willing to surrender.

@CaptainHarley “allow yourself to become overwhelmed”

Doesn’t that imply that being overwhelmed is a choice, and that you don’t have to be demoralized unless you want to be?

@fancyfeast Welcome to Fluther. What do you mean by “influenced”?

A person is demoralized when either (a) their own sense of worth or (b) the perceived meaningfulness of life as they experience falls to zero.

The first is associated with severe depression in which the person feels worthless, useless and views this situation as permanent and unchangable.

The second occurs when social norms are perceived to have broken down such that the person’s life seems to have no value and that situation seems unlikely to change.

The first is a psychological definition whereas the second is more social psychological or sociological.

reorganizatione is needed.If

I do not know what to do for other people who are demoralized because I do not know their personality or situation.

I am deeply demoralized to the point where I am cynical, run towards bitterness, etc.

I gave up long ago thinking that life was fair but did, and do, from time to time think that life should be fair. When it repeatedly proves that it is not, I become more cynical. I am in a state of kind of continuous demoralization as I am proven right again and again. This is just a fact of life.

It can either stop me or I can continue with my life, getting enjoyment out of things, with this chronic demoralization. I choose the latter. When I am unusually demoralized, when things have been going just rotten for me, I try to hold onto the good stuff, even when it is very small.

I have learned to live with it, live around it, and go on. It is like depression (I am clinically depressed, no meds work): I am not going to get rid of it, the innate unfairness of life that caused it is not going away, so I have to accept it as part of my life and carry on with my life around it.

@Zuma

Indeed it does imply a degree of decsionmaking. Except in very extreme circumstancs, we can in fact decide how to face things.

@CaptainHarley How extreme is extreme?

I’m not sure what you are getting at in in the first paragraph of your discussion. I think this can manifest in any number of ways: depression, burnout, grief, breakdown or any/all of these. To some extent there may be choice involved, but those experiencing it don’t make any conscious choice to be this way. Some people may have conditions that predispose them to this state.
Too many things going wrong in a short time frame is my best guess. I have no idea how or if this can be reversed. It’s like being at the bottom of a deep well, not caring if rescuers show up and not even being interested in grabbing a rope if dropped to you. Where even suicide is too much of an effort.

I think a person is de-moralized by another when that others violates something that the person considers invaluable – like rape can be demoralizing.

In one of the classic sociological studies of demoralization, “The Derelicts of Company K,” Tamotsu Shibutani describes how soldiers in WW II were mismanaged by their leadership. The leadership would issue orders without explanation and do things for no particular reason that inconvenienced and seemed to disrespect the men, like muster the men in the rain without their rain gear. Once the men began to realize that their leaders didn’t have their best interest in mind, they lost interest in being good soldiers and began to screw up individually, first in minor ways, and then deliberately screw things up as a group (like marching out of step where they would be seen) in order to make their leaders look bad.

The situation was greatly exacerbated by the white officers showing blatant favoritism to members of their own race by giving the white soldiers the plum jobs and the Japanese-American soldiers more than their fair share of the shit details, and subjecting them to more surprise inspections and disciplinary measures. Morale went down the toilet; absenteeism increased; causing even more arbitrary and heavy-handed discipline—and even group punishments—to rain down from above; which, of course, only alienated the men further. Insubordination became commonplace, discipline broke down entirely, and the group fractured into factions that began to brawl dangerously amongst themselves.

The situation only turned around when they got new leadership that began treating the men more reasonably and respectfully. And they went on to become a crack unit when they were finally deployed.

So, a lot of demoralization comes from being mismanaged in ways that make the individual feel at odds with the group and its leadership and, hence, cut off from the rest of society and its norms. When organizations are managed in such a way that people are unable to perform their roles well, and they are blamed and punished for it, they tend to become sullen and withdrawn and begin to feel the symptoms of burnout. Demoralization is a contagious condition that can be spread by bad management, and especially by placing already demoralized people in badly managed situations. Whenever you see a sign like “The beatings will continue until morale improves.” you have a demoralized group.

You see a lot of demoralization among disenfranchised and outcast groups, like mental patients, prisoners and racial minorities. Blaming demoralization on the demoralized person only makes things worse and can result in severe rage and blowback, since it is essentially adding humiliation and insult to injury.

Rape can be demoralizing if it makes the person feel like an outcast and it is insinuated that it is their fault when it isn’t. So, in essence, demoralization is caused by betrayal and treating people in bad faith. And it is repaired (with difficulty) by repairing that betrayal and by treating people reasonably, with dignity, and in scrupulously good faith.

In the context that I think you are getting at “de-moralization” (anomie) means when societies or individuals experience instability because of a breakdown of standards and values. Or from a rigid application of someone else’s standards that exclude your own.

The first could be characterized by the story told in the “Lord of the Flies”. In the total absence of societal norms and codes the boys made their own as a group.

The second could be characterized by what occurred in the group “Branch Davidians or the Jones-town cult. In those situations it wasn’t an absence of “norms” or “codes”. It was the rigid application of many rules. Rules that with repetition and
harsh punishment for deviation became the code by which these people lived. And died.

The cure, imo, it to teach children never to supplant their own judgment with someone else’s. You can “supplement with it but don’t allow it to replace your own.

To help those who have already fallen under it’s influence would be to remove them from that sphere of influence and to show them the broader picture to widen their tunnel vision.

@Zuma Superb example, one that I tried always to follow as a troop commander. +GA

If you keep trying to do something, and you never get anywhere—that’s where demoralization comes from. It’s a feedback loop that teaches you that it doesn’t matter what you do. Nothing ever gets any better. You accomplish nothing. It breeds cynicism and mistrust of whatever system one is trying to make a difference in.

Demoralized people learn to do nothing. Nothing makes a difference, so why bother? You see the system (say of government) as unresponsive and ineffective, and it is so entrenched you can never dislodge what you need to dislodge in order to break free the can-do spirit.

Having worked in progressive politics most of my life, I have seen a lot of demoralization. Although, perhaps you wouldn’t call it full demoralization. For some reason, the people who work in politics still have hope of making a difference. It’s the ones who never vote and never step out the door to try to do anything that are truly demoralized. They no longer feel a part of anything that matters. They have given up hoping for change (never mind that most of them would go for the wrong change if they were to become activists).

I would say that this kind of demoralization we’ve been talking about, whether amongst the electorate, or in the army, or in a malfunctioning bureaucracy is structural demoralization. It is created through a lack of responsiveness, and a lack of seeing any useful result from one’s efforts. It happens all over the place.

What can we do? We need to teach people how to empower themselves—at work and in families and schools and in government and in political policy. When I was growing up, the slogan “Question Authority” could be seen everywhere. That is the attitude that is a start, but slogans, of course, are never enough. Training in how to be effective, whether you are a manager or the managed, is crucial. Managers have an active interest in empowering their employees. However many do not see that. They can learn it, though.

Politicians have to see how empowering the electorate works to their advantage. Back room deals and reluctance to put public data on the internet must be thrown out, and openness brought in. Bureaucrats and other managers must do the same with their employees. They have to communicate goals clearly; show how employees efforts help achieve those goals, and constantly give useful feedback to help employees work more effectively. Good training is also very important. Employees need to be given all the assistance they need in order to be successful at their work.

As a manager, I see myself as a resource. If an employee has a problem, I help them fix it. I train them to do their work and then I let them do it. I want them to make as many decisions as they can. I want them to be creative in problem solving and in improving our product (analytical skills training). Empowerment, I believe, is the antidote to demoralization.

@daloon GA! It really is a big social problem, but one which is largely hidden. When people feel that everyone is out for himself and they don’t feel any connection or common purpose, that’s demoralization.

@zuma

That would depend upon circumstances and upon the resilience of the individual. Some people go to pieces when their car gets a scratch. Others survive being cut off and alone in combat without any major side effects.