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Abstract

Genocides happen all over the world to this day and reports for such events have been received from Ukraine and Gaza where wars are actively going on right now. Genocide is a type of crime that even though considered one of the worst, there essential information missing regarding its prevention. That is why the topic of this dissertation discusses if and how bystanders may have the power to stop genocides.
A literature review is the main research method for this dissertation. It attempts to examine if there is a way for a society to prevent such atrocities and to show it has been achieved before. The review investigates the significance of the state, the media, and the bystanders. The research argues that bystanders can have a major impact on the outcome of an atrocity. This is supported by applying theories to various examples.
Furthermore, two main cases are identified for comparison – the Holocaust in Bulgaria and the genocide in Rwanda. The aim is to determine how active public protests prevented genocide in one case, while complete inaction of all bystanders led to a disaster resulting in between 500 000 to 1 million victims in another case.
The comparison of the two cases shows that there were similar historical and social factors involved in both cases but as a whole the countries, their societies, and the underlying conditions were different. The primary difference was that in the first case, the bystanders who took a stand were citizens of the country, they were internal, while in the second, the bystanders with the power were external.
The implications show that further research must be conducted on the topic to discover if any strategies could be put together that may protect countries that are at risk of genocide. The fact that genocide still occurs shows that there are gaps in the knowledge regarding prevention which is what this research attempted to fill in.

Course: Criminology and Forensic Studies - BSc (Hons) - C2039F

Date Deposited: 2024-11-21

URI/permalink: https://library.port.ac.uk/dissert/dis14552.html