Review article

Genocide: Intent, Motivation and Types

Vahram Ayvazyan orcid.org/0000-0001-8611-6562 ; International Institute for Genocide and Human Rights Studies, Toronto, Canada

Abstract

Genocide is a complicated social, political and psychological phenomenon. Findings by a number of scholars show that all types of genocides are interdependent and cannot appear in pure types alone. This paper argues that the loser psychology is one major factor for developing a genocidal intent in society. Society, facing harsh realities, feels defeated and abandoned by international community and begins to look for ways out of psychological morass. Extremist passions and movements become prevalent in such societies which finally take people to insane beliefs which are based on the need to take revenge on others, to prove their superiority, to the illusion that they have found the solution for their problems: to kill others, to eliminate them from society. The paper also shows that the ultimate end of such a genocidal intent is the achievement of happiness. The capacity of society to provide its members with their wants (security, food, psychological recovery, etc) will make them happy, the failure to do so will spread gloomy environment over society. People’s desire to recover from major loses and immediately achieve happiness confuses them and leads them to false calculations, which, unfortunately, easily nest in the minds
of members of society, sparking an “us-them” split the in society, which would take them to genocidal intentions.

Keywords

genocide; loser psychology; happiness; international community

Hrčak ID:

97063

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/97063

Publication date:

30.12.2012.

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