Perpetration as a Process: A Historical-Sociological Model

Abstract

This chapter shifts its perspective from the study of perpetrators to perpetration. Whereas the former term refers to the agency of the individuals who have perpetrated forms of mass violence against civilians, the latter concept refers to the process of collective commission of mass violence. The advantage of taking a processual view is that it caters for the complexity of the process of perpetration: different layers of authority, motives of involvement, rules of engagement, and most importantly, the changes in these factors over time. This chapter approaches perpetration as a socio-ecological model containing three distinct analytical levels: top-level (architects), mid-level (organizers), and bottom-level (killers). The heuristic device in this chapter fleshes out and discusses each level of analysis and applies theoretical insights. It develops a temporal processual model that focuses on the power relationships between groups of people, especially between perpetrators and victims, but also within the perpetrator group.