ABSTRACT
In recent years, the international community has accelerated calls for the primary prevention of extreme, collective violence through study of its root causes, and development of anticipatory interventions. Towards this end, the study Addressing the Root Causes of Genocide (ARC-G) set out to determine whether successful public health violence prevention methods in smaller jurisdictions could be expanded to a larger population at risk for mass atrocities. Working retrospectively in Rwanda from 2005–2010, ARC-G focused on uncovering the key risk factors for participation in genocidal violence during the 1994 Rwandan genocide. Results pointed to a discrete pattern of experiential pressures underpinning the decision to attack unarmed civilians during times of severe social upheaval. ARC-G results were consistent with several independent socio-political studies conducted concurrently in Rwanda, supporting the reliability of this collective body of work. In 2010, a subsequent ARC-G violence intervention trial in West Darfur was abandoned after four days by order of the Sudanese security services. Nonetheless, our preliminary research suggested novel approaches to the prevention of catastrophic violence. This chapter reviews key findings of the study and discusses related empirical scholarship and potential preventive strategies suggested by recent studies.
