Conspiracy of silence (expression)

The expression conspiracy of silence, or culture of silence, relates to a condition or matter which is known to exist, but by tacit communal unspoken consensus is not talked about or acknowledged. Commonly such matters are considered culturally shameful.

Examples of conspiracies of silence

The following are examples which at various times have been the subject of a culture (or conspiracy) of silence:

• Child abuse in the Church or in social services accommodation.
• Affairs
• Acknowledgement of war crimes
• Breaches of human rights, such as vanishing persons and torture
• Social conditions - gang crime, drugs or other unlawful or disparaged activity. Omerta, the Cosa Nostra (Mafia) cultural code of Sicily, is a significant example of an entire culture built upon silence. Stop Snitchin' is a recent example.
• Personal problems - for example the increasing alcoholism of a significant individual in some context may become the subject of a culture of silence, whereby attention is averted by the relevant group.
• Conditions considered shameful by the culture at large - for example erectile dysfunction and yeast infections
• Avoidance of recognition of some problem - for example gulf war syndrome or the like - in order to officially bury (hide) a possible problem and thus avoid accusations, investigations or liability.
• Members of the Charlestown community in Massachusetts were unwilling to share information that would facilitate homicide investigations because of their reliance on vigilante justice, fear of retaliation by criminals, and anti-police sentiment according to the Dept. of Justice.

A number of controversial matters are considered by some to be buried under a refusal to discuss, or not treated with appropriate seriousness, similar to a conspiracy of silence. Examples include UFOs, assassinations, military incidents, and more generally, various events where it is felt by a significant minority that the truth has been covered up. A proven example is the Watergate cover-up of the early 1970s, exposed by the Washington Post and the New York Times.

Another example is the Third Secret Controversy relative to the Secret of Fatima. On November 22, 2006, the Italian author Antonio Socci published Il Quarto Segreto di Fatima (The Fourth Secret of Fatima) in Italian, which argues that the Vatican has not formally released the entire Third Secret.

Effects of a conspiracy of silence

A conspiracy of silence in some field, has effects at many levels:

• Those who are directly suffering, or causing others to suffer, perpetuate their cycle of harm and suffering
• Those who have suffered have their suffering extended by being having their condition ignored or minimized, and are not considered seriously or redressed appropriately
• Lessons that might be learned for future are not learned

References

See also

• See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil
• Conspiracy theory
• Social control
• Crowd psychology
• Fear mongering
• Risk Society