Genocide - Definitions

Steps towards genocide

Gregory Stanton, president of the organisation Genocide Watch, identified eight stages of genocide.

            1.         Classification                 Dividing people into “us and them”

            2.         Symbolisation                Using symbols to represent a group

            3.         Dehumanisation            Representing the group as “not human”

            4.         Organisation                  Organising people to commit the killings

            5.         Polarisation                   Widening the perceived gap between groups

            6.         Identification                  Identifying members of the target group

            7.         Extermination               Widespread killing of members of the group

            8.         Denial                            Denying any crime took place.

Genocide is never spontaneous.  It takes time to plan.

Stephen Smith, founder of The Holocaust Centre and Aegis Trust, described the process of genocide. He named his model the ‘Discrimination Pit’ (September 2004).  In studying how ordinary societies can become genocidal societies, he identified five levels of discrimination.  The underlying principle of this model is that genocide happens because one group pushes another out, and therefore genocidal acts are based on discriminatory attitudes.

view model in picture

Text copyright 2006 @aegistrust.org

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