The Psychology of Genocide and Violent Oppression


Book Description

The twentieth century was one of the most violent in all of human history, with more than 100 million people killed in acts of war and persecution ranging from the Herero and Namaqua genocide in present-day Namibia during the early 1900s to the ongoing conflict in Darfur. This book explores the root causes of genocide, looking into the underlying psychology of violence and oppression. Genocide does not simply occur at the hands of tyrannical despots, but rather at the hands of ordinary citizens whose unresolved pain and oppression forces them to follow a leader whose demagogy best expresses their own long-developed prejudices and fears. The book explains how birth trauma, childhood trauma, and authoritarian education can be seen as the true causes of genocidal periods in recent history.




The Psychology of Genocide, Massacres, and Extreme Violence


Book Description

Chronicling horrific events that brought the 20th century to witness the largest number of systematic slaughters of human beings in any century across history, this work goes beyond historic details and examines contemporary psychological means that leaders use to convince individuals to commit horrific acts in the name of a politial or military cause. Massacres in Nanking, Rwanda, El Salvador, Vietnam, and other countries are reviewed in chilling detail. But the core issue is what psychological forces are behind large- scale killing; what psychology can be used to indoctrinate normal people with a Groupthink that moves individuals to mass murder brutally and without regret, even when the victims are innocent children. Dutton shows us how individuals are convinced to commit such sadistic acts, often preceded by torture, after being indoctrinated with beliefs that the target victims are unjust, inhuman or viral, like a virus that must be destroyed or it will destroy society.




Genocides by the Oppressed


Book Description

In the last two decades, the field of comparative genocide studies has produced an increasingly rich literature on the targeting of various groups for extermination and other atrocities, throughout history and around the contemporary world. However, the phenomenon of "genocides by the oppressed," that is, retributive genocidal actions carried out by subaltern actors, has received almost no attention. The prominence in such genocides of non-state actors, combined with the perceived moral ambiguities of retributive genocide that arise in analyzing genocidal acts "from below," have so far eluded serious investigation. Genocides by the Oppressed addresses this oversight, opening the subject of subaltern genocide for exploration by scholars of genocide, ethnic conflict, and human rights. Focusing on case studies of such genocide, the contributors explore its sociological, anthropological, psychological, symbolic, and normative dimensions.




Understanding Genocide


Book Description

When and why do groups target each other for extermination? How do seemingly normal people become participants in genocide? In these essays, social psychologists use the principles derived from contemporary research in their field to try to shed light on the behaviour of perpetrators of genocide.




The Roots of Evil


Book Description

Explores the psychological, cultural, and societal roots of group aggression, violence, and genocide.




Overcoming Evil


Book Description

Overcoming Evil describes the origins of genocide, violent conflict and terrorism, principles and practices of prevention, and avenues to reconciliation. It considers societal conditions, culture and insitutions, and the psychology of individuals and groups.




Confronting Humanity at Its Worst


Book Description

How do otherwise ordinary people become perpetrators of genocide? Why are groups targeted for mass killing? How do groups justify these terrible acts? While there are no easy answers to these questions, social psychologists are especially well positioned to contribute to our understanding of genocide and mass killing. With research targeting key questions -such as how negative impressions of outgroups develop and how social influence can lead people to violate their moral principles and other norms - social psychologists have much to teach us about why groups of people attempt to exterminate other groups, why people participate in such atrocious projects, and how they live with themselves afterwards. By bringing together research previously available only to readers of academic journals, this volume sheds crucial light on human behavior at the extremes and in doing so, helps us take one more step towards preventing future tragedies.




Genocide, Collective Violence, and Popular Memory


Book Description

The twentieth century has been scarred by political violence and genocide, reaching its extreme in the Holocaust. Yet, at the same time, the century has been marked by a growing commitment to human rights. This volume highlights the importance of history-of socially processed memory-in resolving the wounds left by massive state-sponsored political violence and in preventing future episodes of violence. In Genocide, Collective Violence, and Popular Memory: The Politics of Remembrance in the Twentieth Century, the editors present and discuss the many different social responses to the challenge of coming to terms with past reigns of terror and collective violence. Designed for undergraduate courses in political violence and revolution, this volume treats a wide variety of incidents of collective violence-from decades-long genocide to short-lived massacres. The selection of essays provides a broad range of thought-provoking case studies from Latin America, Africa, Europe, and Asia. This provocative collection of readings from around the world will spur debate and discussion of this timely and important topic in the classroom and beyond.




The Oppression of Women


Book Description

What fuels the cruelty of humankind, which has oppressed and exploited enemies and fellow countrymen alike since the beginning of recorded history? Why are the oppressed victims, without power and rights, most notably women? Have the countless historically warranted violent acts left us as unimpaired as patriarchs and militants want us to believe, or are they rather the source of increasing mental issues?40 years ago, while working as a young psychologist in child psychiatry, the author was puzzled by the misery of many children and their families, even though they often did not have a lack of material goods. 25 years ago he discovered that mental disorders can be traced back to the second world war and other traumas originating in violence. He has since discovered similar violent traumas worldwide and in all eras of time. This discovery may sound incredible given the historical misrepresentation perpetuated by historiography and the sciences, a practice which has been perfected and enforced by the Catholic church since the Constantinian shift (313 AD). The widespread preoccupation with national socialism nowadays is a good thing. Still, it is not a singular operational accident caused by a lunatic, as portrayed by the mainstream. Genocide has been the foundation of power for the patriarchal warrior caste since the Indo-Europeans first developed superior military technology by domesticating the horse 6000 years ago. Past genocides perpetrated by the militant patriarchy follow us like a perpetual boomerang. The extenuation of violence of the powerful leads to confusion, suffering, anguish, and anger. Inclusion of women and their wisdom of life is the essential step towards a happier world.




The Psychology of Genocide


Book Description

Genocide has tragically claimed the lives of over 262 million victims in the last century. Jews, Armenians, Cambodians, Darfurians, Kosovons, Rwandans, the list seems endless. Clinical psychologist Steven K. Baum sets out to examine the psychological patterns to these atrocities. Building on trait theory as well as social psychology he reanalyzes key conformity studies (including the famous experiments of Ash, Millgram and Zimbardo) to bring forth an understanding of identity and emotional development during genocide. Baum presents a model that demonstrates how people's actions during genocide actually mirror their behaviour in everyday life: there are those who destruct (perpetrators), those who help (rescuers) and those who remain uninvolved, positioning themselves between the two extremes (bystanders). Combining eyewitness accounts with Baum's own analysis, this book reveals the common mental and emotional traits among perpetrators, bystanders and rescuers and how a war between personal and social identity accounts for these divisions.