Diego Gambetta
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2007
- ISBN:
- 9780199276998
- eISBN:
- 9780191707735
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199276998.003.0008
- Subject:
- Political Science, International Relations and Politics
This chapter begins by reviewing the variety and uniformity of features found in suicide missions (SMs) and among their organizers. It then reviews what is known about the perpetrators, arguing that ...
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This chapter begins by reviewing the variety and uniformity of features found in suicide missions (SMs) and among their organizers. It then reviews what is known about the perpetrators, arguing that the persons who die in SMs and the conditions that promote their self-sacrifice are fairly uniform, and although they are rare they are not historically or psychologically abnormal. This raises the further question of how different suicide attackers really are from other people who sacrifice their lives for a cause. To answer it, the similarities and differences between modern SMs on the one hand, and both heroism and some cases of proto-SMs on the other are explored. It is shown that despite the diversity of their purposes, the modern progeny of SMs shares the same roots, which emerged during an extraordinarily violent period in Lebanon. Despite the rapid spread of SMs across the world since 1981, the limits to their further spread are discussed, showing among other things that religious beliefs can both encourage and discourage SMs.Less
This chapter begins by reviewing the variety and uniformity of features found in suicide missions (SMs) and among their organizers. It then reviews what is known about the perpetrators, arguing that the persons who die in SMs and the conditions that promote their self-sacrifice are fairly uniform, and although they are rare they are not historically or psychologically abnormal. This raises the further question of how different suicide attackers really are from other people who sacrifice their lives for a cause. To answer it, the similarities and differences between modern SMs on the one hand, and both heroism and some cases of proto-SMs on the other are explored. It is shown that despite the diversity of their purposes, the modern progeny of SMs shares the same roots, which emerged during an extraordinarily violent period in Lebanon. Despite the rapid spread of SMs across the world since 1981, the limits to their further spread are discussed, showing among other things that religious beliefs can both encourage and discourage SMs.
Emilie M. Hafner-Burton
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- October 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780691155357
- eISBN:
- 9781400846283
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Princeton University Press
- DOI:
- 10.23943/princeton/9780691155357.003.0003
- Subject:
- Law, EU Law
This chapter considers the rationales used by individuals when committing and justifying human rights abuses—how they calculate, to the best of their knowledge, the advantages and disadvantages of ...
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This chapter considers the rationales used by individuals when committing and justifying human rights abuses—how they calculate, to the best of their knowledge, the advantages and disadvantages of abusive behavior. It challenges the view pervasive in some accounts of crime and mass atrocity that perpetrators are insane, irrational, or psychologically (or biologically) abnormal. The chapter first examines the many ways that perpetrators rationalize their actions since nearly every account of systemic, long-term abuse includes a large role for rationalization. In particular, it discusses three ways that perpetrators rationalize their crimes: exceptional circumstances, avoidance of responsibility, and routinization. It then describes some of the perceived benefits of criminal abuse such as psychological superiority, intelligence, and monetary benefits, as well as the possible penalties for human rights abuses. The chapter concludes by addressing the issue of the credibility and effectiveness of deterrence.Less
This chapter considers the rationales used by individuals when committing and justifying human rights abuses—how they calculate, to the best of their knowledge, the advantages and disadvantages of abusive behavior. It challenges the view pervasive in some accounts of crime and mass atrocity that perpetrators are insane, irrational, or psychologically (or biologically) abnormal. The chapter first examines the many ways that perpetrators rationalize their actions since nearly every account of systemic, long-term abuse includes a large role for rationalization. In particular, it discusses three ways that perpetrators rationalize their crimes: exceptional circumstances, avoidance of responsibility, and routinization. It then describes some of the perceived benefits of criminal abuse such as psychological superiority, intelligence, and monetary benefits, as well as the possible penalties for human rights abuses. The chapter concludes by addressing the issue of the credibility and effectiveness of deterrence.
Helena Waddy
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- May 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780195371277
- eISBN:
- 9780199777341
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195371277.003.0009
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
The Conclusion explores the author’s acquired understanding of how the Nazis’ dictatorial intrusions were refracted through the special lens of Oberammergau’s Passion Play culture; both Nazis and ...
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The Conclusion explores the author’s acquired understanding of how the Nazis’ dictatorial intrusions were refracted through the special lens of Oberammergau’s Passion Play culture; both Nazis and their Catholic opponents thought from the play out. Waddy’s intensive community study led to struggles with two possible extreme reactions. Revulsion against the Holocaust could reach beyond outright condemnation of perpetrators to harsh judgments about ordinary citizens who carved out room for dissent to protect their own interests yet responded weakly to the many atrocities of the Third Reich. But apologism could also grow out of understanding locals as complex actors facing a myriad of personal and communal concerns. Waddy concludes that no true resisters like the Kreisau Circle’s von Moltke couple emerged in Oberammergau, so when even Freya von Moltke condemns her own attempts to survive, she indicts other Germans like Oberammergau’s villagers.Less
The Conclusion explores the author’s acquired understanding of how the Nazis’ dictatorial intrusions were refracted through the special lens of Oberammergau’s Passion Play culture; both Nazis and their Catholic opponents thought from the play out. Waddy’s intensive community study led to struggles with two possible extreme reactions. Revulsion against the Holocaust could reach beyond outright condemnation of perpetrators to harsh judgments about ordinary citizens who carved out room for dissent to protect their own interests yet responded weakly to the many atrocities of the Third Reich. But apologism could also grow out of understanding locals as complex actors facing a myriad of personal and communal concerns. Waddy concludes that no true resisters like the Kreisau Circle’s von Moltke couple emerged in Oberammergau, so when even Freya von Moltke condemns her own attempts to survive, she indicts other Germans like Oberammergau’s villagers.
Rami Benbenishty and Ron Avi Astor
- Published in print:
- 2005
- Published Online:
- January 2009
- ISBN:
- 9780195157802
- eISBN:
- 9780199864393
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195157802.003.0005
- Subject:
- Social Work, Children and Families, Crime and Justice
This chapter situates sexual victimization within the context of school violence. The factor structure of sexual victimization is explored, victim/perpetrator patterns are examined, and comparisons ...
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This chapter situates sexual victimization within the context of school violence. The factor structure of sexual victimization is explored, victim/perpetrator patterns are examined, and comparisons of prevalence are made across multiple groups. Key findings and implications include the following: (1) student experience a wide array of sexual victimization behaviors; (2) victimization from sexual harassment behaves differently then other forms of school victimization; (3) sexual victimization patterns fit into two distinct categories that vary on both the intent to humiliate, and also the intent for sexual contact; (4) victim/perpetrator patterns fall along expected patterns related to the two types of sexual harassment; and (5) there are multiple interactions between gender and culture with different types of sexual harassment: firstly with intent to humiliate (boys are victimized far more often than girls and Orthodox religious Jewish students and secular Jewish students have similar patterns to Arab students) and secondly with intent for sexual contact (Arab and orthodox religious Jews pattern are similar, with boys being more victimized than girls and secular Jewish students deviate from this pattern and girls report slightly more victimization than boys).Less
This chapter situates sexual victimization within the context of school violence. The factor structure of sexual victimization is explored, victim/perpetrator patterns are examined, and comparisons of prevalence are made across multiple groups. Key findings and implications include the following: (1) student experience a wide array of sexual victimization behaviors; (2) victimization from sexual harassment behaves differently then other forms of school victimization; (3) sexual victimization patterns fit into two distinct categories that vary on both the intent to humiliate, and also the intent for sexual contact; (4) victim/perpetrator patterns fall along expected patterns related to the two types of sexual harassment; and (5) there are multiple interactions between gender and culture with different types of sexual harassment: firstly with intent to humiliate (boys are victimized far more often than girls and Orthodox religious Jewish students and secular Jewish students have similar patterns to Arab students) and secondly with intent for sexual contact (Arab and orthodox religious Jews pattern are similar, with boys being more victimized than girls and secular Jewish students deviate from this pattern and girls report slightly more victimization than boys).
Maureen Duffy and Len Sperry
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195380019
- eISBN:
- 9780199932764
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195380019.003.0004
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
In this chapter, the elements of the definition of mobbing presented in Chapter 3 are discussed in relation to how they might be recognized in everyday life. Two cases that have received widespread ...
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In this chapter, the elements of the definition of mobbing presented in Chapter 3 are discussed in relation to how they might be recognized in everyday life. Two cases that have received widespread media coverage are used to illustrate elements of the definition of school mobbing; namely, those of Tatum Bass and Megan Meier. Additionally, an example of mobbing of board members of a condominium association is used to illustrate how mobbing occurs in a wide variety of organizations. Each of these exemplars is analyzed from the perspectives of perpetrator behaviors, purpose or intent, involvement of group and organizational dynamics, and consequences for victims. The conclusion drawn is that the intent of mobbing is to cast the target/victims in a negative light, destabilize them, and create suspicion about their worthiness as members of the organization, if not to eliminate them outright from the organization.Less
In this chapter, the elements of the definition of mobbing presented in Chapter 3 are discussed in relation to how they might be recognized in everyday life. Two cases that have received widespread media coverage are used to illustrate elements of the definition of school mobbing; namely, those of Tatum Bass and Megan Meier. Additionally, an example of mobbing of board members of a condominium association is used to illustrate how mobbing occurs in a wide variety of organizations. Each of these exemplars is analyzed from the perspectives of perpetrator behaviors, purpose or intent, involvement of group and organizational dynamics, and consequences for victims. The conclusion drawn is that the intent of mobbing is to cast the target/victims in a negative light, destabilize them, and create suspicion about their worthiness as members of the organization, if not to eliminate them outright from the organization.
Maureen Duffy and Len Sperry
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780195380019
- eISBN:
- 9780199932764
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195380019.003.0006
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter builds on the perspective of the previous one and incorporates a discussion of how individual and group dynamics interact with organizational dynamics in the development of the social ...
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This chapter builds on the perspective of the previous one and incorporates a discussion of how individual and group dynamics interact with organizational dynamics in the development of the social process of mobbing. Individual and group dynamics that influence and reinforce abusive organizational behavior are described. Personality of both victims and perpetrators of workplace mobbing is discussed, as is the work orientation of victims of workplace mobbing. Additionally, the individual characteristics of child and adolescent victims and offenders/perpetrators of mobbing are reviewed. The influential role of leadership style, a set of characteristics applying to individual leaders, is also analyzed in the development of mobbing-proneness. Group dynamics, in terms of group cohesiveness and formal versus informal group formation, is then reviewed and taken into account as a factor in the development of mobbing. Finally, research evidence helpful in distinguishing mobbing-prone organizations from those that are not is analyzed.Less
This chapter builds on the perspective of the previous one and incorporates a discussion of how individual and group dynamics interact with organizational dynamics in the development of the social process of mobbing. Individual and group dynamics that influence and reinforce abusive organizational behavior are described. Personality of both victims and perpetrators of workplace mobbing is discussed, as is the work orientation of victims of workplace mobbing. Additionally, the individual characteristics of child and adolescent victims and offenders/perpetrators of mobbing are reviewed. The influential role of leadership style, a set of characteristics applying to individual leaders, is also analyzed in the development of mobbing-proneness. Group dynamics, in terms of group cohesiveness and formal versus informal group formation, is then reviewed and taken into account as a factor in the development of mobbing. Finally, research evidence helpful in distinguishing mobbing-prone organizations from those that are not is analyzed.
Katharina von Kellenbach
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199937455
- eISBN:
- 9780199345861
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199937455.001.0001
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This book traces the presence of guilt and its denial in the lives of imprisoned Nazi perpetrators after 1945. Based on archival documents and the correspondence between perpetrators and prison ...
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This book traces the presence of guilt and its denial in the lives of imprisoned Nazi perpetrators after 1945. Based on archival documents and the correspondence between perpetrators and prison chaplains who provided pastoral care in Allied internment camps and military and West German prisons, the book provides intimate insights into Nazi perpetrators’ self-perception and self-reflection beyond their public postures in courtrooms and the media. The book proceeds chronologically and examines how individual convicts of Nazi crimes articulated, or more often denied, moral responsibility in the decades following their participation in atrocities. The biblical story of the mark Cain is used as a metaphor to understand the critical role of transparency and critical engagement in the moral recovery of genocidal perpetrators, who do not feel culpable for moral wrongdoing. In the aftermath of mass violence, the book argues, reconciliation and moral repair depend on memory and not its erasure. The public exposure of perpetrators in courtrooms and the media created opportunities for conversations that dislodged ideological convictions and facilitated the emergence of awareness of culpable wrongdoing, not only in the minds of individual perpetrators, but, more importantly, in their families and the wider community. The life stories that emerge from these historical portraits show that any moral recovery by agents of mass atrocities occurs gradually and in response to persistent pressure and engaged dialogues that delegitimize the persuasive power of dehumanizing ideologies.Less
This book traces the presence of guilt and its denial in the lives of imprisoned Nazi perpetrators after 1945. Based on archival documents and the correspondence between perpetrators and prison chaplains who provided pastoral care in Allied internment camps and military and West German prisons, the book provides intimate insights into Nazi perpetrators’ self-perception and self-reflection beyond their public postures in courtrooms and the media. The book proceeds chronologically and examines how individual convicts of Nazi crimes articulated, or more often denied, moral responsibility in the decades following their participation in atrocities. The biblical story of the mark Cain is used as a metaphor to understand the critical role of transparency and critical engagement in the moral recovery of genocidal perpetrators, who do not feel culpable for moral wrongdoing. In the aftermath of mass violence, the book argues, reconciliation and moral repair depend on memory and not its erasure. The public exposure of perpetrators in courtrooms and the media created opportunities for conversations that dislodged ideological convictions and facilitated the emergence of awareness of culpable wrongdoing, not only in the minds of individual perpetrators, but, more importantly, in their families and the wider community. The life stories that emerge from these historical portraits show that any moral recovery by agents of mass atrocities occurs gradually and in response to persistent pressure and engaged dialogues that delegitimize the persuasive power of dehumanizing ideologies.
Ervin Staub
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- January 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780195382044
- eISBN:
- 9780199864942
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195382044.003.0009
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter discusses the societal conditions and life experiences that may turn individuals into perpetrators of violence. Several factors appear to motivate perpetrators, including attitudes ...
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This chapter discusses the societal conditions and life experiences that may turn individuals into perpetrators of violence. Several factors appear to motivate perpetrators, including attitudes toward and devaluation of the other, ideology, learning by doing and the evolution of violence, and the mutual influence of perpetrators on each other. In some settings, such as Rwanda, respect for, fear of, and obedience to authorities that guide and order people had a significant role. While people in general are affected by external conditions and the characteristics of the culture, and the appeal of ideologies, varied personal characteristics also have a role in self-selection for entering situations in which people ultimately become perpetrators, or being selected by authorities for roles in which they are or become perpetrators. Terrorists can be classified as idealists, responders, or lost souls. Some may also be guided by pseudotranscendence.Less
This chapter discusses the societal conditions and life experiences that may turn individuals into perpetrators of violence. Several factors appear to motivate perpetrators, including attitudes toward and devaluation of the other, ideology, learning by doing and the evolution of violence, and the mutual influence of perpetrators on each other. In some settings, such as Rwanda, respect for, fear of, and obedience to authorities that guide and order people had a significant role. While people in general are affected by external conditions and the characteristics of the culture, and the appeal of ideologies, varied personal characteristics also have a role in self-selection for entering situations in which people ultimately become perpetrators, or being selected by authorities for roles in which they are or become perpetrators. Terrorists can be classified as idealists, responders, or lost souls. Some may also be guided by pseudotranscendence.
Lynne Harne
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847429179
- eISBN:
- 9781447304180
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847429179.003.0004
- Subject:
- Sociology, Marriage and the Family
This chapter begins by critically examining different theoretical approaches that aim to explain fathers' violence towards women. These are significant, since they inform different policy and ...
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This chapter begins by critically examining different theoretical approaches that aim to explain fathers' violence towards women. These are significant, since they inform different policy and professional approaches towards addressing this violence as a significant social problem and developing appropriate strategies for change. Second, the chapter looks at the research undertaken with violent perpetrators that informs some of these perspectives. It also examines the limited amount of research that specifically addresses violent fathers as carers of children, including studies where violent fathers have killed their children. These studies contrast with other research on violent fathers that has often been undertaken from a rehabilitative perspective. Third, the chapter discusses some current practice strategies in addressing violent fathering and children's safety. These include the use of risk identification and assessment, perpetrator programmes, and parenting programmes for violent fathers.Less
This chapter begins by critically examining different theoretical approaches that aim to explain fathers' violence towards women. These are significant, since they inform different policy and professional approaches towards addressing this violence as a significant social problem and developing appropriate strategies for change. Second, the chapter looks at the research undertaken with violent perpetrators that informs some of these perspectives. It also examines the limited amount of research that specifically addresses violent fathers as carers of children, including studies where violent fathers have killed their children. These studies contrast with other research on violent fathers that has often been undertaken from a rehabilitative perspective. Third, the chapter discusses some current practice strategies in addressing violent fathering and children's safety. These include the use of risk identification and assessment, perpetrator programmes, and parenting programmes for violent fathers.
Robert N. Kraft
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781479821600
- eISBN:
- 9781479870288
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479821600.001.0001
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This book presents a compelling study of how ordinary people commit extraordinary acts of violence and how perpetrators and victims manage in the aftermath. Grounded in extensive, qualitative ...
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This book presents a compelling study of how ordinary people commit extraordinary acts of violence and how perpetrators and victims manage in the aftermath. Grounded in extensive, qualitative analysis of perpetrator testimony, the book reveals the individual experiences of perpetrators as well as general patterns of influence that lead to collective violence. Drawing on public testimony from the amnesty hearings of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the book interweaves hundreds of hours of testimony from seventy-four violent perpetrators in apartheid South Africa, including twelve major cases that involved direct interactions between victims and perpetrators. The analysis of perpetrator testimony covers all tiers on the hierarchy of organized violence, from executives who translated political doctrine into general strategies, to managers who translated these general strategies into specific plans, to the staff—the foot soldiers—who carried out the destructive plans of these managers. The book transcends the particulars of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to reveal broader themes and unexpected insights about perpetrators of collective violence, the confrontations between victims and perpetrators in the aftermath of this violence, the reality of multiple truths, the complexities of reconciliation, and lessons of restorative justice.Less
This book presents a compelling study of how ordinary people commit extraordinary acts of violence and how perpetrators and victims manage in the aftermath. Grounded in extensive, qualitative analysis of perpetrator testimony, the book reveals the individual experiences of perpetrators as well as general patterns of influence that lead to collective violence. Drawing on public testimony from the amnesty hearings of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, the book interweaves hundreds of hours of testimony from seventy-four violent perpetrators in apartheid South Africa, including twelve major cases that involved direct interactions between victims and perpetrators. The analysis of perpetrator testimony covers all tiers on the hierarchy of organized violence, from executives who translated political doctrine into general strategies, to managers who translated these general strategies into specific plans, to the staff—the foot soldiers—who carried out the destructive plans of these managers. The book transcends the particulars of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to reveal broader themes and unexpected insights about perpetrators of collective violence, the confrontations between victims and perpetrators in the aftermath of this violence, the reality of multiple truths, the complexities of reconciliation, and lessons of restorative justice.
Petra Rau
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780748668649
- eISBN:
- 9780748689149
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9780748668649.001.0001
- Subject:
- Literature, 20th-century and Contemporary Literature
In the post-war imaginary of the West, ‘the Nazis’ became a cultural trope that served as a justification for defending democracy through military intervention. But in films and in fiction, the Nazis ...
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In the post-war imaginary of the West, ‘the Nazis’ became a cultural trope that served as a justification for defending democracy through military intervention. But in films and in fiction, the Nazis were also camped up, laughed at, eroticised and demonised as evil monsters. In fact, the representational rules of engagement with historical fascism have always been remarkably uncertain. This book examines why and how the penomenon of ‘fascinating Fascism’ has re-emerged once more after the end of the Cold War. What is its cultural function now, in a global era of Holocaust commemoration? How can any representation avoid the impasse of either re-evoking fascism’s original seduction or merely recycling previous fictional and cinematic clichés? This study discusses alternative history (Robert Harris’s Fatherland and Quenting Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds), the noir thrillers of Philip Kerr, perpetrator fiction (Jonathan Littell’s The Kindly Ones) and resistance (Synger’s Valkyrie and Cartwright’s The Song Before It Is Sung). Crucially it suggests that contemporary culture has instrumentalised the Nazi trope for its own agandas: ‘the Nazis’ have become ‘our Nazis’. The book also points to some of the risks and responsibilities attendant on this appropriation as one of the peculiar, late legacies of the Second World War.Less
In the post-war imaginary of the West, ‘the Nazis’ became a cultural trope that served as a justification for defending democracy through military intervention. But in films and in fiction, the Nazis were also camped up, laughed at, eroticised and demonised as evil monsters. In fact, the representational rules of engagement with historical fascism have always been remarkably uncertain. This book examines why and how the penomenon of ‘fascinating Fascism’ has re-emerged once more after the end of the Cold War. What is its cultural function now, in a global era of Holocaust commemoration? How can any representation avoid the impasse of either re-evoking fascism’s original seduction or merely recycling previous fictional and cinematic clichés? This study discusses alternative history (Robert Harris’s Fatherland and Quenting Tarantino’s Inglourious Basterds), the noir thrillers of Philip Kerr, perpetrator fiction (Jonathan Littell’s The Kindly Ones) and resistance (Synger’s Valkyrie and Cartwright’s The Song Before It Is Sung). Crucially it suggests that contemporary culture has instrumentalised the Nazi trope for its own agandas: ‘the Nazis’ have become ‘our Nazis’. The book also points to some of the risks and responsibilities attendant on this appropriation as one of the peculiar, late legacies of the Second World War.
Molly Pucci
- Published in print:
- 2020
- Published Online:
- January 2021
- ISBN:
- 9780300242577
- eISBN:
- 9780300252347
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Yale University Press
- DOI:
- 10.12987/yale/9780300242577.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 20th Century
The secret police were one of the most important institutions in the making of communist Eastern Europe. Security Empire compares the early history of secret police institutions, which were ...
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The secret police were one of the most important institutions in the making of communist Eastern Europe. Security Empire compares the early history of secret police institutions, which were responsible for foreign espionage, domestic surveillance, and political violence in communist states, in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany after the Second World War. While previous histories have assumed that these forces were copies of the Soviet model, the book delves into the ways their origins diverged due to local social conditions, languages, and interpretations of communism. It illuminates the internal tensions inside the forces, between veteran agents who had fought in wars in Spain and Germany, and the younger, more radical agents, who pushed forward the violence, arrests, and show trials inside Eastern European communist parties in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In doing so, the book traces the role of political violence, ideological belief, and surveillance in building communist institutions in Europe by the mid-1950s.Less
The secret police were one of the most important institutions in the making of communist Eastern Europe. Security Empire compares the early history of secret police institutions, which were responsible for foreign espionage, domestic surveillance, and political violence in communist states, in Poland, Czechoslovakia, and East Germany after the Second World War. While previous histories have assumed that these forces were copies of the Soviet model, the book delves into the ways their origins diverged due to local social conditions, languages, and interpretations of communism. It illuminates the internal tensions inside the forces, between veteran agents who had fought in wars in Spain and Germany, and the younger, more radical agents, who pushed forward the violence, arrests, and show trials inside Eastern European communist parties in the late 1940s and early 1950s. In doing so, the book traces the role of political violence, ideological belief, and surveillance in building communist institutions in Europe by the mid-1950s.
Laura Jockusch
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199764556
- eISBN:
- 9780199979578
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199764556.003.0000
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, Historiography
The Introduction leads into the transnational phenomenon of early Jewish Holocaust research by discussing a 1947 conference of Jewish historical commissions and documentation centers in Paris. Most ...
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The Introduction leads into the transnational phenomenon of early Jewish Holocaust research by discussing a 1947 conference of Jewish historical commissions and documentation centers in Paris. Most of the book’s protagonists were present at this meeting and discussed the major issues relating to the documentation work, all of which will reappear in the book’s subsequent chapters: the purpose and usage of Holocaust documentation, the value of victim and perpetrator sources, research methods and audience, and the question of whether, given their traumatic experience, survivors were capable of historical “objectivity.” Surveying the existing scholarly literature on the topic, the introduction then situates the book within the larger fields of post-1945 European and Jewish histories and Holocaust studies which in recent years began to focus on the aftermath of the Second World War. It elaborates on this study’s innovative take and lays out its method of comparative history, its sources, and research questions.Less
The Introduction leads into the transnational phenomenon of early Jewish Holocaust research by discussing a 1947 conference of Jewish historical commissions and documentation centers in Paris. Most of the book’s protagonists were present at this meeting and discussed the major issues relating to the documentation work, all of which will reappear in the book’s subsequent chapters: the purpose and usage of Holocaust documentation, the value of victim and perpetrator sources, research methods and audience, and the question of whether, given their traumatic experience, survivors were capable of historical “objectivity.” Surveying the existing scholarly literature on the topic, the introduction then situates the book within the larger fields of post-1945 European and Jewish histories and Holocaust studies which in recent years began to focus on the aftermath of the Second World War. It elaborates on this study’s innovative take and lays out its method of comparative history, its sources, and research questions.
Laura Jockusch
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- January 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199764556
- eISBN:
- 9780199979578
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199764556.003.0006
- Subject:
- History, European Modern History, Historiography
The conclusion examines similarities and differences among the featured commissions and documentation centers and evaluates their importance for Holocaust studies. It argues that part of the reason ...
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The conclusion examines similarities and differences among the featured commissions and documentation centers and evaluates their importance for Holocaust studies. It argues that part of the reason why the early postwar documentation initiatives did not receive the attention of historians who were not survivors themselves was that their methods at the time were anathema to the rules of academic history writing which came to dominate the study of the Holocaust. For decades, the latter remained perpetrator-focused and regime-centered, taking a “top-down” perspective on the Jewish catastrophe. By contrast, the survivors’ popular and interdisciplinary approach relied on testimony and memory and focused on writing the history of everyday life and death of European Jews under Nazi rule from the bottom up. Only in the past two decades did similar approaches enter the academic study of the Holocaust and historians begin to consider both victim and perpetrator source to write an integrated history of the Holocaust.Less
The conclusion examines similarities and differences among the featured commissions and documentation centers and evaluates their importance for Holocaust studies. It argues that part of the reason why the early postwar documentation initiatives did not receive the attention of historians who were not survivors themselves was that their methods at the time were anathema to the rules of academic history writing which came to dominate the study of the Holocaust. For decades, the latter remained perpetrator-focused and regime-centered, taking a “top-down” perspective on the Jewish catastrophe. By contrast, the survivors’ popular and interdisciplinary approach relied on testimony and memory and focused on writing the history of everyday life and death of European Jews under Nazi rule from the bottom up. Only in the past two decades did similar approaches enter the academic study of the Holocaust and historians begin to consider both victim and perpetrator source to write an integrated history of the Holocaust.
Claudia Card
- Published in print:
- 2002
- Published Online:
- November 2003
- ISBN:
- 9780195145083
- eISBN:
- 9780199833115
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/0195145089.003.0009
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Aesthetics
Perpetrators of atrocities carry burdens of guilt and incur obligations to apologize and repair harm. Mercy from victims is not only a power to relieve punishment or blame but also a compassionate ...
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Perpetrators of atrocities carry burdens of guilt and incur obligations to apologize and repair harm. Mercy from victims is not only a power to relieve punishment or blame but also a compassionate response that allows perpetrators to carry out responsibilities of reparation and apology, which in turn enable them to manifest goodwill and develop trustworthiness. Mercy and the gratitude that it naturally evokes thus have the potential to substitute mutually reinforcing goodwill for past ill will, provided that mercy can be shown compatibly with justice and self‐respect. As a response to one's own evildoing, guilt has an advantage over shame in that although shame can motivate achievements that restore self‐esteem, guilt can also motivate rectification of wrongs to others, which not only supports the rectifier's self‐esteem but also can alleviate victims’ resentment. Contrary to the popular view of guilt as simply negative (and thereby perverse), guilt can manifest itself in such constructive responses as confession, contrition, apology, restitution, and reparation, which actually relieve negative self‐judgment.Less
Perpetrators of atrocities carry burdens of guilt and incur obligations to apologize and repair harm. Mercy from victims is not only a power to relieve punishment or blame but also a compassionate response that allows perpetrators to carry out responsibilities of reparation and apology, which in turn enable them to manifest goodwill and develop trustworthiness. Mercy and the gratitude that it naturally evokes thus have the potential to substitute mutually reinforcing goodwill for past ill will, provided that mercy can be shown compatibly with justice and self‐respect. As a response to one's own evildoing, guilt has an advantage over shame in that although shame can motivate achievements that restore self‐esteem, guilt can also motivate rectification of wrongs to others, which not only supports the rectifier's self‐esteem but also can alleviate victims’ resentment. Contrary to the popular view of guilt as simply negative (and thereby perverse), guilt can manifest itself in such constructive responses as confession, contrition, apology, restitution, and reparation, which actually relieve negative self‐judgment.
Sarah Deer
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9780816696314
- eISBN:
- 9781452952338
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of Minnesota Press
- DOI:
- 10.5749/minnesota/9780816696314.003.0009
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Native American Studies
After examining the potential foundation for indigenous theories of rape, this chapter critiques some purported “indigenous” responses to rape. This chapter in particular notes that an oversimplistic ...
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After examining the potential foundation for indigenous theories of rape, this chapter critiques some purported “indigenous” responses to rape. This chapter in particular notes that an oversimplistic and potentially dangerous response to rape can emerge from a male-dominated approach to peacemaking and other restorative practices. In particular, the use of a peacemaking system can dismiss legitimate fear for rape survivors. Peacemaking practices make victims of sexual assault feel coerced into participating and ashamed of what they have been made to suffer. It also reduces the accountability of the perpetrators of sexual assault.Less
After examining the potential foundation for indigenous theories of rape, this chapter critiques some purported “indigenous” responses to rape. This chapter in particular notes that an oversimplistic and potentially dangerous response to rape can emerge from a male-dominated approach to peacemaking and other restorative practices. In particular, the use of a peacemaking system can dismiss legitimate fear for rape survivors. Peacemaking practices make victims of sexual assault feel coerced into participating and ashamed of what they have been made to suffer. It also reduces the accountability of the perpetrators of sexual assault.
Susan Eva Eckstein and Timothy P. Wickham-Crowley
- Published in print:
- 2003
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520237445
- eISBN:
- 9780520936980
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520237445.003.0006
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Latin American Cultural Anthropology
Truth-finding mechanisms have become popular instruments for redressing injustices perpetuated by erstwhile repressive regimes in Latin America. This chapter focuses on an extremely contentious part ...
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Truth-finding mechanisms have become popular instruments for redressing injustices perpetuated by erstwhile repressive regimes in Latin America. This chapter focuses on an extremely contentious part of this process, and perpetrators' confession and its effect on the progress of the truth-finding projects. Confessions contribute to restorative justice, that is, restoring wholeness to the lives and relationships of victims of criminal offenses. By exposing the truth through perpetrators' confessions, governments publicly acknowledge past wrongs, and sometimes even accept responsibility for crimes committed by past regimes. In addition, perpetrators' confessions may provide the only conclusive evidence that makes it possible for governments to issue legal death certificates and to expunge criminal records fabricated by past authoritarian regimes. Four instances of Argentine confessions constitute the database of this inquiry. Exposing state terrorism in retrospection relegates the difficult times to history and hence accelerates societal healing at present.Less
Truth-finding mechanisms have become popular instruments for redressing injustices perpetuated by erstwhile repressive regimes in Latin America. This chapter focuses on an extremely contentious part of this process, and perpetrators' confession and its effect on the progress of the truth-finding projects. Confessions contribute to restorative justice, that is, restoring wholeness to the lives and relationships of victims of criminal offenses. By exposing the truth through perpetrators' confessions, governments publicly acknowledge past wrongs, and sometimes even accept responsibility for crimes committed by past regimes. In addition, perpetrators' confessions may provide the only conclusive evidence that makes it possible for governments to issue legal death certificates and to expunge criminal records fabricated by past authoritarian regimes. Four instances of Argentine confessions constitute the database of this inquiry. Exposing state terrorism in retrospection relegates the difficult times to history and hence accelerates societal healing at present.
Nina HB Jørgensen
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- September 2011
- ISBN:
- 9780199573417
- eISBN:
- 9780191728822
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199573417.003.0009
- Subject:
- Law, Public International Law, Criminal Law and Criminology
In 2007, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) upheld the notion that the Genocide Convention provides for state as well as individual responsibility for genocide, referring to the ‘duality of ...
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In 2007, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) upheld the notion that the Genocide Convention provides for state as well as individual responsibility for genocide, referring to the ‘duality of responsibility’ under international law. According to the ICJ, the obligation on states extends to complicity in genocide. In the meantime, the ICTY considered the relationship between ‘complicity in genocide’ and ‘aiding and abetting genocide’ within the terms of its Statute, and essentially settled the law on aiding and abetting genocide. The analysis of both the ICJ and the ICTY illustrates how problematic the legal definition of complicity in genocide has proved to be both for individual and state responsibility. This chapter examines the ‘duality of responsibility’ with specific reference to complicity in genocide, exploring the extent to which the issues faced by the ICJ are analogues of issues the ICTY and the ICTR grappled with but left partially unresolved.Less
In 2007, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) upheld the notion that the Genocide Convention provides for state as well as individual responsibility for genocide, referring to the ‘duality of responsibility’ under international law. According to the ICJ, the obligation on states extends to complicity in genocide. In the meantime, the ICTY considered the relationship between ‘complicity in genocide’ and ‘aiding and abetting genocide’ within the terms of its Statute, and essentially settled the law on aiding and abetting genocide. The analysis of both the ICJ and the ICTY illustrates how problematic the legal definition of complicity in genocide has proved to be both for individual and state responsibility. This chapter examines the ‘duality of responsibility’ with specific reference to complicity in genocide, exploring the extent to which the issues faced by the ICJ are analogues of issues the ICTY and the ICTR grappled with but left partially unresolved.
Allan Young
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- May 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780520247925
- eISBN:
- 9780520939639
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520247925.003.0007
- Subject:
- Anthropology, Anthropology, Theory and Practice
This chapter discusses the concept of “transient mental illness.” It outlines the specific constellation of psychiatric, political, and social processes that are slowly leading to a new category of ...
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This chapter discusses the concept of “transient mental illness.” It outlines the specific constellation of psychiatric, political, and social processes that are slowly leading to a new category of mental illness, namely the self-traumatized perpetrator. The chapter explains how the recycling of knowledge, institutions, and claims leads to new social phenomena and affect, while creating distinct possibilities for human choice and action.Less
This chapter discusses the concept of “transient mental illness.” It outlines the specific constellation of psychiatric, political, and social processes that are slowly leading to a new category of mental illness, namely the self-traumatized perpetrator. The chapter explains how the recycling of knowledge, institutions, and claims leads to new social phenomena and affect, while creating distinct possibilities for human choice and action.
Robert N. Kraft
- Published in print:
- 2014
- Published Online:
- March 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781479821600
- eISBN:
- 9781479870288
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479821600.003.0004
- Subject:
- Psychology, Social Psychology
This chapter analyzes the testimony of violent perpetrators, arguing that when perpetrators testified about personal experiences, they referenced immediate influences and discrete events, and rarely ...
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This chapter analyzes the testimony of violent perpetrators, arguing that when perpetrators testified about personal experiences, they referenced immediate influences and discrete events, and rarely brought up more distant and general interactions in childhood and adolescence. Although these testimonies were limited, several members of the security forces independently identified a pattern of similar influences: nationalistic traditions, families with strict discipline, membership in the Afrikaans church, and so on. Thus, testimony before South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission's (TRC) Amnesty Committee revealed that the motivations and actions of perpetrators were neither so simple that they could be summarized in a few maxims nor so complicated that they could not be identified nor categorized.Less
This chapter analyzes the testimony of violent perpetrators, arguing that when perpetrators testified about personal experiences, they referenced immediate influences and discrete events, and rarely brought up more distant and general interactions in childhood and adolescence. Although these testimonies were limited, several members of the security forces independently identified a pattern of similar influences: nationalistic traditions, families with strict discipline, membership in the Afrikaans church, and so on. Thus, testimony before South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission's (TRC) Amnesty Committee revealed that the motivations and actions of perpetrators were neither so simple that they could be summarized in a few maxims nor so complicated that they could not be identified nor categorized.
