Motives Behind Genocide : Genocide Negatively Affects Perpetrators By Perpetuating Distorted Thinking About The Self And Others

“How fortunate for governments that the people they administer don’t think” (Hitler, Mein Kampf). As time passed, there has been many times in history where a genocide has occurred. A genocide is a one-sided massacre from one party toward an ethnic or different group of people. As genocides occurred, questions such as “Why do people kill?” and “How can people allow these atrocities to occur?” are asked. There have been many theories made up as people researched the reason behind genocides. Throughout different centuries in history, genocides such as the Holocaust, the Rwandan genocide, and the Asian genocide, have occurred because of the negative psychological effects on the people caused by propaganda, corrupted leaders, and differences in ethnic groups.

Simultaneously, Uving (1998) mentions “violent tendencies exist in all people, and they ‘break through’ when the social norms that keep group hostility in check break down… the problem with these explanations is that they are very general and do not explain why genocide occurs at a specific time” (p. 213). This section from Uvin’s writing explains that aggressive tendencies exist in everyone, often used by psychologist, is general and does not explain why genocides occured. Subsequently, Uving (1998) writes “ Another important physiological explanation of people’s participation in violence states that, with the right justification, nearly all people would be willing to obey orders to severely harm other people… it is said that monarchist, unquestioning, obedience, or conformist nature of the Rwandan traditional mentality made Rwandans inclined to follow orders” (p. 213,214). This illustrates how psychologist believe that people are obedient and will kill if there is justification, but Uvin argues that they are not obedient but instated they have a tradition of monarchy which influenced them to follow orders to kill.

Hollie Nyseth Brehm’s article, “The Crime of Genocide”, digs deep into the violent conditions and acts that eventually cause genocides. To begin with, genocide refers to a deliberate or intentional act of committing an action that destroys the existence of an ethic, racial or religious group of

Eugenics is a complex term that has been studied and discussed internationally and throughout the eras. A basic definition of eugenics is the scientific study of race improvement. The definition is then broken up into two different aspects, positive eugenics and negative eugenics. Positive eugenics is defined as improving a race by focusing on ways to increasing the better population. Incentives are given to those superior races or populations to have children and get married. On the other hand negative eugenics is decreasing the chances of the inferior race or population from having children. This type of negatives eugenics is trying to stop those who are determined on having inferior genes from passing on their inferior traits that would corrupt the population as a whole. The whole study of eugenics is based on the theory that the gene a person is born with determines their outcome in life. Using this theory some scientists are given a way to justify categorizing groups of people into superior or inferior classes based on race. The study of eugenics was discussed around the world having the main powers being in Great Britain, Germany, and the United States.

Eugenics, derived from the Greek word eugenes meaning well born, is defined as the study or belief that by encouraging people with good genetic traits to reproduce and discourage those people with less desirable traits the human race can benefit. There were certain groups of people who were affected by these sterilization laws, including people that were mentally disabled or ill and those from socially unacceptable areas of life, that were adopted in 32 states starting in the 1930’s. These sterilizations were done on over 350,000 people in the span eleven years between 1934 and 1945 (Kaelber), leading the United States into one of the darkest parts of our history.

Before analyzing history, the term Eugenics should first be defined. The term “eugenics” was defined by Sir Francis Galton. He quoted, “EUGENICS is the science which deals with all influences that improve the inborn qualities of a race; also with those that develop them to the utmost advantage” (Galton 1904). In a simple form, he meant that Eugenics is a movement

Eugenics has been an exceptionally questionable science that has existed on the planet for a considerable length of time. Eugenics, also knows as selective breeding is characterized as the investigation of or confidence in the likelihood of enhancing the characteristics of the human species or a human populace by such means as disheartening reproduction by people having hereditary deformities or attempted to have inheritable undesirable attributes or empowering proliferation by people dared to have inheritable attractive qualities

Just think about a human race free of genetic disease where everyone is intelligent and where society and technology advance at staggering rates. This is the future that is envisioned by those who advocate eugenics. Eugenics is the study of methods to improve the human race by selection of parents based on their inherited characteristics (Hartl). The idea was first discussed by Sir Francis Galton in the 1880’s, but was widely unaccepted by people at first due to fear that it would take away their basic human rights and be misused (Hartl). In the early 20th century, eugenics was a very popular and widespread idea in the United States and there were laws created to encourage certain people to have children, while discouraging others from procreating (Morris 66). The main reason eugenics has fell into such disfavor is because the Nazis cited it as the reason for the Holocaust (Morris 66). The use of eugenics by the Nazis can be compared to the use Islam by ISIS, or the use of Christianity by the Westboro Baptist Church. It is a concept that can be misused based on interpretation and extremism. Eugenics itself is just an idea to improve the human race by selective breeding, not by killing millions. Forms of eugenics should be implemented in society because they eliminate genetic diseases and problems, spread favorable traits and attributes, create a more intelligent and less flawed society, and help advance the human race as a whole.

There is much bias and confusion surrounding the topic of eugenics. Many times the reason for this is the lack of understanding of what the term means, where it states “In 1883, Sir Francis Galton, a respected British scholar, and cousin of Charles Darwin, first used the term eugenics, meaning ‘well-born.’ (Genetics Generation, 2015).” This term has evolved to encompass more than just “well-born” as can be seen in the encyclopedia. “The eleventh edition of The Encyclopedia Britannica defines eugenics as ‘the organic betterment of the race through wise application of the laws of heredity.’ (Court, 2004).” The meaning of the word eugenics, due to the way it has been used, confuses many people.

In Francis Galton’s Eugenics: Its Definition, Scope, and Aims the purpose of eugenics is to improve the human race. Eugenicists view the undesirable qualities in a population as aspects of humanity that can be improved upon and developed through the careful regulation of breeding within a society. If the breeding of specific traits were to be controlled, the best possible offspring would be produced. The desire to improve the human race is a theme also found in Nick Bostrom’s Transhumanist Values and The Transhumanist FAQ. The purpose of transhumanism is to enhance humans through the use of technology and other means.

Another major reason for genocide is revenge. Groups have long memories. Stories are sometimes passed down for generations about real or imagined embarrassments and defeats. The hate is real between groups, and the loathing can be carried down from generation to generation. These group memories may lie behind genocidal actions when the wounded group gains enough power and ambition. Another motivation for revenge is when a group feels it’s pride is hurt through actions by the other group. When one group feels that its honor is at stake, it may commit mass murder to the other group. These genocidal actions because of revenge would generally be considered unreasonable, and would be quite hard to understand from a utilitarian perspective. The attacking

Social psychology definitely can explain the actions and thoughts of perpetrators of genocide and one-sided mass violence. Some findings of social psychology that explain the perpetrators of genocide and mass violence are the “power of the situation”, the “orientation to authority”, and social dominance. Social dominance is the most critical of theses three, as social dominance facilitates a situation of mass violence as well as authority which is obeyed. These notions of social psychology are the most helpful for understanding the perpetrator, but social dominance must be explored first.

Genocide, a dire event, has been recurring time and time again throughout history. In the past, there was the Holocaust, where Hitler exterminated over six million Jews based on his anti-semitic views. Elie Wiesel, a Jewish author, has become a very influential man in educating the world of the true events of the Holocaust due to his involvement in the disaster. Presently, a genocide is occurring in the Darfur region of southern Sudan, in which according to Cheryl Goldmark, “a systematic slaughter of non-Arab residents at the the hands of Arab militiamen called Janjaweed” has been taking place since 2003. (1) Not only is genocide a tragic historical event, it also continuously occurs today.

The roots of eugenics can be traced back to Britain in the early 1880’s when Sir Francis Galton generated the term from the Greek word for “well-born”. He defined eugenics as the science of improving stock, whether human or animal. According to the American Eugenics Movement, today’s study of eugenics has many similarities to studies done in the early 20th century. Back then, “Eugenics was, quite literally, an effort to breed better human beings – by encouraging the reproduction of people with "good" genes and discouraging those with "bad" genes.” (www.eugenicsarchive.org) According to Merriam-Webster, the modern day definition of eugenics is, a science that deals with the improvement (as by control of human mating) of

The topic of this research proposal is genocide: more precisely the origins of the Rwanda and Cambodia genocide killings, with a focus on the characteristics and psychological processes of the individuals and societies that promote this extreme violence: the motivations and how they intensify so quickly. The topic of genocide is important because it has extreme consequences. Exactly fifty years after Nazi Germany, the world experiences the Rwanda Genocide. The article “How many Perpetrators were there in the Rwanda Genocide,” estimates that there were approximately 200,000 perpetrators in the 1994 genocide in Rwanda, while in the Cambodia Genocide; the Khamer Rouge tried to exterminate Buddhism from Cambodia. Out of 70,000 monks, the Pol Pot government in the Cambodia genocide left fewer than 2,000 of them alive (Kiernan, 79). Similarly to the Jews in Nazi Germany, the Tutsi’s and Buddhist monks were dead to society because each death became more justified, as they were killed more and more (Hintjens, 241). Consequently, these genocides have raised the following research question: By focusing on psychology and sociology at an individual and societal level prior to the Rwanda and Cambodia Genocide, we can explain the behavior of their perpetrators.