An Introduction to the Criminology of Genocide

194 Pages·2021·4.074 MB·English

by  William R. Pruitt

AN
INTRODUCTION
TO THE
CRIMINOLOGY
OF GENOCIDE
WILLIAM R. PRUITT
An Introduction to the Criminology
of Genocide
William R. Pruitt
An Introduction to the
Criminology of Genocide
William R. Pruitt
Endicott College
Beverly, MA, USA
ISBN 978-3-030-65210-4 ISBN 978-3-030-65211-1 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-65211-1
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I dedicate this book to all those who have
suffered through genocide,
the most heinous crime on earth—those
who survived,
those who we lost, their friends and their
families.
It is my hope and desire that one day
we may eradicate this scourge from the
world.
Preface
This project began over a decade ago. I have long wondered about genocide as a
crime and what we can do about it. As a graduate student I created a course on the
criminology of genocide not only to educate others about genocide but also to help
myself deal with what seemed like an insurmountable problem. That first class
turned into teaching that course several times over the years.
Each time I taught this course I would learn something new to add to my ex-
panding understanding of genocide. I was able to combine much of that informa-
tion into this book. I have little doubt that once I submit this manuscript I will learn
something new and desire to add more to what is already here. But I do believe
what is in this book is a good start to processing genocide as a crime.
While genocide cannot be limited to one category like crime, it has been called
the “crime of crimes” and we cannot address it fully without an understanding of
the act as a crime. I hope this book can serve to fill in the gap in knowledge about
criminology and genocide. I make no claim that this is all there is to the criminol-
ogy of genocide and any errors are mine.
Chapter 1 explains the evolution of the concept of genocide and the definitional
issues that exist in determining what acts qualify as genocide. A discussion of the
work of Raphael Lemkin includes highlighting his early work on the subject, his
development of the word, and his original definition of the crime. This includes
exploring Lemkin’s methodology of genocide—how genocide could occur.
After exploring Lemkin’s original definition of genocide, there is a discussion
of how the concept of genocide was officially codified by the United Nations. After
exploring the UN official definition of genocide, it can be compared with Lemkin’s
original concept for similarities and differences. Then alternative definitions of
genocide will be explored.
vII
vIII Preface
In Chap. 2, it is shown that understanding why genocide occurs is crucial to a
full understanding of the crime and hopefully its prevention. There is no single
reason why genocide might occur; there are many reasons and many possible ex-
planations for it. This chapter looks at the different academic explanations for
genocide from a variety of disciplines. Ideally, after exploring the myriad theories
one can look for common factors among the disciplines that might help explain
how we understand genocide.
These understandings come from different disciplines but feed into the recent
criminological theories of genocide. Since criminology is an interdisciplinary field
it is easy to connect these diverse fields to criminology and explain what aspects of
these fields could be incorporated into a general criminological theory of genocide.
Chapter 3 recognizes that genocide is a topic crossing many academic disci-
plines and that there is no single theoretical explanation for why genocide occurs.
The many different disciplines examining genocide have offered many different
theories of genocide. These theories though can be categorized and grouped to-
gether in certain ways.
The purpose of this chapter is to explore in more depth specific theories that
explain why genocide might occur. Tying these theories back to the previous chap-
ter will allow students to make connections between the material in Chap. 2 and
how they are used in theoretical work.
Then Chap. 4 explores the question of who commits genocide. It may not seem
obvious that the “state” in many cases is committing the act. To understand this
concept, it is presented by showing that the “state” does not exist by itself, it is a
collection of individuals. When their work turns to crime or genocide, the state is
responsible for the action.
Essentially, this chapter is looking at how perpetrators can be at the macro-level
(state) and the micro-level (individuals). At the micro-level, there are many reasons
people commit genocide from ideology to fear to duress. These motivations also
affect their personal liability for the crime. Who commits genocide is more than
just “crazy” murderers; it includes the state itself and otherwise rational individu-
als.
Chapter 5 is designed to be a brief history of the concept of genocide. This
chapter is designed to introduce students to critical thinking about cases of geno-
cide that might have occurred before the word/crime existed.
Case studies include the Herero genocide, the Armenian genocide, the Bangla-
desh genocide, Darfur, and the Rohingya genocide. The case studies are designed
to explore the history that led to the genocide. In this way similarities and differ-
ences can be analyzed in order to create potential warning signs of impending
genocide.
Preface Ix
The next chapter is designed to explain the methods available to respond to
genocide. This can include military or political intervention during an ongoing
genocide or a legal response after a genocide has occurred. By exploring the Rwan-
dan and Kosovo situations we understand that the UN response to genocide is not
enough to prevent its occurrence. Following the disastrous response to the Rwan-
dan genocide much work was put into what became known as R2P—the responsi-
bility to protect.
A discussion of how individuals can respond to genocide includes simple ac-
tions one can take when confronted with genocide. The goal of this chapter is to
explore how to respond to genocide and not whether we should respond.
The final chapter deals with genocide denial. Denial is a way in to diminish the
atrocities that have occurred and forget about the victims. This behavior has been
hypothesized to lead to reoccurrence of genocide. Denial permits people to forget
and when no survivors are left all that remains is memory. When memory is at-
tacked and denied, the possibility of reoccurrence emerges.
As a criminal aspect, many European countries have criminalized genocide de-
nial. The reasoning for this is to protect memory and honor the victims. These
reasons counteract the goal of denial which is usually to forget. As such these laws
have a place in our understanding of genocide denial.
Throughout the book, readers should see and make connections among the var-
ious chapters. The purpose of using thematic questions is to recognize that all of
these questions are intertwined.
Beverly, MA William R. Pruitt
September 2020
Acknowledgments
There are many people to thank for getting me to this place. No man is an island,
and writing a book is no better place to discover the truth of that statement. This
project has undergone many changes in both direction and structure, all for the bet-
ter I believe. This would not have been possible without the wonderful advice and
contributions from many people including the early reviewers.
A manuscript is nothing if not an exercise in mental strength and ability, but it
takes a strain on much more than the mind. I would not be where I am today with-
out my amazing family and their undying support. I cannot thank them enough for
their understanding and compassion throughout this project and throughout my
life.
A thank you is not enough, but I must say thank you, thank you, thank you to
my amazing parents—my mother, Patricia Pruitt, and my father, William Pruitt. I
only wish they were here with us now to see this completed project. I must thank
my wonderful sister, Jennifer Roberts, for all she has given and sacrificed so that I
might be where I am today.
Finally, there are many others who lent an ear and a pat on the back when
needed, especially my dear friends Drs Emme and LaToya Colm, Brian Roberts,
and Dr. Taryn Myers. Thank you to all the terrific people who have lifted me up
when I was down and showed me the way to succeed. As trite as it may sound, I
would not be here today without your support and kind words. To anyone I forgot
to thank, I ask for your forgiveness and say thank you.
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Contents
1 What Is Genocide? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
2 How Can We Understand Genocide? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
3 Why Does Genocide Occur? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51
4 Who Commits Genocide? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5 When and Where Does Genocide Occur? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
6 How Do We Respond to Genocide? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .129
7 What Happens When Genocide Is Denied? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .153
Bibliography . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .175
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .185
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