CURBING EMERGING CIVIL UNREST THROUGH PSYCHOLOGICAL APPROACHES: THE ROLES OF FAMILY, COMMUNITY, RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATIONS, ETHICS, AND SOCIAL ETIQUETTE IN BUILDING A PEACEFUL SOCIETY

The increasing incidence of civil unrest, social tension, communal conflict, political polarization, religious intolerance, violent protests, hate speech, and other forms of collective disorder presents significant challenges to peaceful coexistence and sustainable national development. Although civil unrest is frequently approached from political, economic, legal, and security perspectives, its psychological and behavioural foundations deserve equally serious attention. Human behaviour develops through socialization, observational learning, group identification, emotional experiences, perceptions of injustice, interpersonal relationships, and learned responses to disagreement (Bandura, 1977, 1986; Tajfel & Turner, 1979). Consequently, sustainable prevention of civil unrest requires interventions that extend beyond security responses to address the psychological processes through which hostility, prejudice, aggression, intolerance, and social distrust develop.

Drawing upon Social Learning Theory, Social Cognitive Theory, Social Identity Theory, Frustration–Aggression perspectives, Contact Theory, Ecological Systems Theory, emotional intelligence, moral development, social capital, and procedural justice, this article examines the interconnected roles of the family, community, educational and religious institutions, political leadership, traditional institutions, entertainment, and digital media in peacebuilding. It proposes a Psychological–Ethical Social Peace Model (PESPM) and introduces the concepts of the Social Modelling Environment (SME) and Social Modelling Consistency Principle (SMCP). The article argues that sustainable peace cannot depend solely upon controlling unrest after it emerges. Rather, societies must cultivate psychologically competent, ethically responsible, socially tolerant, and institutionally supported citizens capable of managing grievances and differences without transforming them into destructive conflict.