Collective behaviour can be separated into two divisions, crowds and masses, which can be further subdivided, one of the most dangerous being an acting crowd. During World War II, an acting crowd known as the Nazi party brought forward the massacre of millions. After the war, in 1943 Raphael Lemkin, a Jewish-Polish lawyer, created the term genocide to describe the mass extermination of various groups. He combined Latin word “genos” (race or tribe) with another Latin term “cide” (to kill). After the holocaust, Dr. Lemkin fought for the recognition of genocide under international law. Thanks to his efforts, the UN Convention of Genocide was created. (Analysis: Defining Genocide 2) Today, genocide is seen as one of the most heinous crimes against humanity. This essay will discuss the essential elements needed for all genocides by first exploring the role of instigators in violent behaviour and how it connects to psychology. Next, a detailed overview of how human behaviour is impacted during havoc will be discussed relating to the ideas of a group ideology. By doing so the correlation between instigators and group visions will be clear. Finally, the importance of an identifiable minority will then be discussed. It will be clear from this that all components in this criteria must be met in order for genocide take place.
Mass crime like, self-driven crime has instigators. Turmoil in the form of war, poverty, politics, economics, societal change and diminishing life conditions are common instigators. (Staub 305) When these factors are placed between basic survival and psychological needs such as food, shelter, and security the individual or in this case, a group feels threatened. For instance the situation in Darfur, the Sudanese gove...
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The first stage classification it is when people are distinguished by nationality, ethnicity, race, or religion. The second stage of genocide is symbolization, which is when people are given certain a symbol or item which helps them identify their ethnicity, race, religion, etc. The third stage of genocide is Dehumanization which is when a group of people deny the humanity of another group which makes them seem like inferiors. The fourth stage is organization which is how the genocide is planned. The fifth stage is polarization which is when everyone is separated depending on their classification. The sixth stage is is preparation which is when the perpetrators begin death lists. The seventh stage is extermination which is when the victims are being killed. The eighth stage of genocide is denial which is what causes the continuation of the intent to destroy the certain group. A stage that was used is stage one, the “us” vs “them” was created because the perpetrator is the Sudanese government and the Darfuri residents are the victims. The fourth stage was also used because the government organized themselves by creating the “scorched-earth” strategy, which is a plan on how to defeat the rebels. In addition, the fifth stage was created because the government starts off by first making a campaign. Finally, stage seven was also used because there were mass killing of Darfuri when the genocide
Throughout history mass murder has not been a problem to the same level and in the same sense as it is today. A related occurrence that is seen in history, which can be studied for its similar preparation and organization, is genocide. Genocide, an international crime, is a large-scale form of mass murder, in which many people are killed in a string of independent events because of prejudices or war (Reisman, 2008). Killing a large group of people takes a high level of organization. The logistics of how to do it, where to do it, where to dispose of the bodies, among other things must be examined before killing begins (Reisman, 2008). The only similarity to the 21st century version of mass murder is the predatory violence involving extensive planning and little to no emotion involved in the killing (Meloy et al., 2004). However aside from that it is difficult to compare the two events because genocide has many killers and can take place over extended periods of time. For example, during the Holocaust Nazi Germany systematically exterminated millions of Jew over a period of three years (Reisman, 2008). This trend is relevant due to the death of more than three p...
Something that is common between all of these genocides is the bystander effect. In psychology, the bystander effect “occurs when the presence of others discourages an individual from intervening in an emergency situation” (“Psychology”). From the German and Polish people not intervening in holocaust to the Indonesian gangsters rallying against the communists, without the mass number of psychosomatic people, none of this would have occurred like it
...he human depravity one can imagine. Even though Genocide did not begin with the Holocaust, Germany and Adolf Hitlers’ heartless desire for “Aryanization” came at the high cost of human violence, suffering and humiliation towards the Jewish race. These warning signs during the Holocaust, such as Anti-Semitism, Hitler Youth, Racial profiling, the Ghettos, Lodz, Crystal Night, Pogroms, and Deportation unraveled too late for the world to figure out what was going on and help prevent the horrors that came to pass. The lessons learned from all of this provide a better understanding of all the scars genocide leaves behind past and present. In spite the ongoing research in all of these areas today, we continue to learn new details and accounts. By exploring the various warning signs that pointed toward genocide, valuable knowledge was gained on how not to let it happen again.
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To start off with, what is genocide? Genocide is the killing of a massive number of people of in a group. Genocide has not only been practices in the present day, but it has been practiced for m...
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Crime exists everywhere. It is exists in our country, in the big cities, the small towns, schools, and even in homes. Crime is defined as “any action that is a violation of law”. These violations may be pending, but in order to at least lower the crime rate, an understanding of why the crimes are committed must first be sought. There are many theories that are able to explain crimes, but three very important ones are rational choice theory, social disorganization theory and strain theory.
Genocide is the destruction of a cultural, racial or political group through the use of “..one-sided mass killings..(Hintjens 267).” The April of 1994, “Rwandan subjects and citizens were the main actors in the genocide (Hintjens 244).” The establishment of colonial rule by the Europeans impacted the conflict in Rwanda due to the creation of ethnic boundaries between the Tutsis and the Hutus. Hierarchies were established based upon European racial theories. Throughout the colonization and independence of Rwanda, the tension generated by European intervention only magnified thus leading to quotas and ineffective regulations. Aside from the assassination of the Rwandan President Habyarimana, propaganda through the news and media openly broadcasted the planned genocide as an open secret (Hintjens 246).
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