Dimensions of Genocide: The Circumplex Model Meets Violentization Theory

The purpose of this study is to examine the use of Olson's (1995, 2000) family therapy based circumplex model and Athens' (1992, 1997, 2003) violentization theory in explaining genocide. The Rwandan genocide of 1994 is used as a case study. Published texts, including interviews with perpetrators, research reports, human rights reports, and court transcripts were analyzed. The use of both theories was consistent with the data and resulted in a greater understanding of the genocide. Rwanda moved to a rigidly enmeshed society during the genocide with the perpetrators going through the violentization process. Suggestions for further research are provided. Key Words: Genocide, Circumplex Model, Violentization Theory, and Rwanda Introduction Genocides have continued to occur despite international intervention. The primary purpose of my work is to present two approaches that may be used to understand genocide. I decided to use the Rwandan genocide as a case study for several reasons: first, the Rwandan genocide is documented in professional journals, books, monographs, and court transcripts; second, the genocide occurred recently; third, intervention by other countries was absent; and fourth, the genocide occurred over a short period of time. There is a lack of research on genocide in the criminological field that makes it difficult to develop theories (Morrison, 2004). Yacoubian (2000) showed that criminologists have neglected presentations of genocides at professional conferences, in the professional journals, and in academic criminology departments leading Day and Vandiver (2000) to recommend incorporation of genocide studies into the criminal justice field. Yacoubian explained the neglect of genocide in criminological research as a result of: lack of funding, research method limitations, research focus on local events, and educational deficits about genocide. Day and Vandiver have pointed out that criminological theory does apply to genocide. My interest in developing a research area and course focusing on genocide occurred in 2001 after I recognized that there were few genocide courses available from criminal justice departments. I had primarily been teaching graduate students who worked in law enforcement and corrections, and I developed an elective graduate course called, Criminal Justice Perspectives on Genocide. The objectives of the course were to critically examine theories of genocide from multidisciplinary perspectives, to apply evidence based data to understanding the precursors of genocide, to compare and contrast several case studies of genocide, to examine critically the organizational features of genocide, to analyze the roles that criminal justice majors may play in studying and preventing genocide, and to interpret and critique the ethical and legal issues criminal justice workers face. I have taught this course several times, both in the face to face format and completely online. One frustrating aspect of teaching this course is the lack of criminal justice-related theories on genocide. I conducted qualitative content analysis (Hsieh & Shannon, 2005) on accounts of the Rwandan genocide to assess the use of the circumplex theory from family therapy (Olson, 1995, 2000) and the criminological based violentization theory (Athens, 2003). Applying these two theories to the 1994 Rwandan genocide allows both structural and agency dimensions of the genocide to be addressed. In this study, an attempt is made to focus on the structural characteristics of the society by using the circumplex model and the agency factors using the violentization theory. If the theory provides an adequate fit with the data, future research can be conducted by comparing additional genocides with the theories in order to validate this approach. Following Porter's (2006) recommendations for theoretical and contextual research, I will provide a general theory of genocide that may be refined to address similarities and differences between genocides, and approaches which may increase our ability to assess genocidal risk factors. …