In search of a genocidal frame: Preliminary evidence from the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide

Abstract

Research on genocide has provided a rich background of common structural, ideological and psychological antecedents that culminate in the attempted annihilation of a specific ethnic or religious group. Integrating the literature on framing, genocide, emotions and social psychology, this article first presents the concept of a master ‘genocidal frame’ and preliminary evidence from two modern-day genocides, Rwanda and Nazi Germany, where it located common themes in genocidal communication. Secondly, it suggests that the genocidal frame’s five themes together are used as an effort to persuade the countries’ ‘own’ people that annihilating ‘the others’ is necessary for the ‘greater good’. Finally, the author embeds this framing into three bodies of literature to preliminarily theorize how a genocidal frame, whether communicated interpersonally or institutionally, may interact with other conditions to help shape the psychological antecedents of genocide – negative emotions, cognitions and group psychology.