ABSTRACT
Genocide requires repeated killing. This is not true, of course, for all perpetrators, but, for genocide to be actualized, many perpetrators must kill repeatedly. For many perpetrators, this repeated act of violence necessitates coping mechanisms. Moreover, the victim must not be seen as an individual, rather they are the embodiment of the menace of the victim group. Thus, their destruction is not just permissible, but required. This chapter analyzes processes of recidivism in genocide. How does the perpetrator group overcome resistance to killing?
This chapter argues that perpetration becomes easier over time for many perpetrators due to coping mechanisms, including: habituation to killing; positive reinforcement; and the diminished cost of crossing already transgressed moral thresholds. Moreover, for some perpetrators, the moral costs of killing are eased through psychological dissociation, substance abuse, and ideological justification. Perpetrator self-identity may change to incorporate the process of perpetration into their image, to deny it altogether, and/or to sublimate the individual self into collective identities. Finally, this chapter argues that systems of denial function in genocide that seek to avoid or absolve individual and collective guilt for killing.
