Constructions of genocide

The topical question of what is construed as constituting genocide is considered from a personal construct theory perspective. Amongst the issues discussed are the construed uniqueness of the Jewish Holocaust, the permeability of the construct of genocide, and the commission of genocide by those who have experienced genocide. A pilot study is reported in which university students completed a repertory grid in which the elements could be regarded as situations involving genocide. The content of the elicited constructs was analyzed, and the construing of the situations was examined in relation to whether each participant’s group could be considered to have been involved in them, as perpetrators or victims, and the extent to which the individual’s identity was fused with this group. Examples of participants’ construing are provided, and the willingness of some of them to view particular situations of mass killing in very positive terms is highlighted. Implications for countering the processes of construing that may underlie acts of genocide are considered. However, it is contended that what are involved in these are not acceptable alternative constructions, and that condemnation of the constructions concerned is fully compatible with the values of personal construct theory.