Motives in Mass Killings

Semelin examines the motives of the individual for participating in mass killings and notes that there are many reasons, but most revolve around prestige, and looking good in the eyes of ones neighbors, friends, and coworkers (Semelin, 2003). He looks at the killing of the Jews in World War II, often by neighbors or friends, or at least fellow countrymen, like the Poles, and notes that people went along with the tide of what was happening. They justified what they did by believing they were obeying their superiors, or obeying the law, and didn't internalize the acts they were perpetrating. He notes an ex-soldier from the Khmer army in Cambodia who talks of killing 400 men, who believed he was fulfilling his allegiance to the Khmer dynasty, and did not dwell on the right or wrong of his act, but merely followed orders.

Others kill in revenge for age-old disputes, such as many of the killings in the Bosnian conflict, where feuds had raged for centuries (Semelin, 2003). Many of the killers are young people without responsibilities or families to worry about. In other situations it is the looting which offers rich rewards. Militias often release violent prisoners to help in their mission, men who have nothing to lose. The first killing in any of these situations is the hardest, but after that it becomes routine, all in a days work, something everyone else is doing so why not join in? Cultural beliefs and codes of honor are often a motif for participation in mass killin

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s (Houston, Texas, and Washington, DC), Estonia (Tartu), Finland (Helsinki), Romania (Satu Mare), and the Russian Federation (St. Petersburg). Study groups were chosen to reflect diverse populations of students. The Estonian students included Estonians and ethnic Russians; the Romanian students included Romanians and ethnic Hungarians; in the United States, the students included Anglo- Americans, African-Americans and Hispanics (Alister et al, 2001). Additional data was collected in the United States from 18 to 35-year-old adults by telephone survey in Austin, Texas and Houston, Texas. The questionnaires used for the students and the young adults asked for agreement with seven attitude statements related to moral disengagement and the justification of violence. Three statements dealt with international aggression, three dealt with the justification for killing, and one asked if physical punishment was necessary in raising a child. Students in the United States were much more likely than European students to approve of attitudes arising from moral disengagement (Alister, 2001). Females were much less likely across all nations to justify fatal violence compared with males, particularly in Europe. The acceptance of fatal

Category: Psychology - M