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Accused for Involvement in Collective Violence: The Discursive Reconstruction of Agency and Identity by Perpetrators of International Crimes
Author(s) -
Rauschenbach Mina,
Staerklé Christian,
Scalia Damien
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
political psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.419
H-Index - 95
eISSN - 1467-9221
pISSN - 0162-895X
DOI - 10.1111/pops.12241
Subject(s) - tribunal , blame , agency (philosophy) , criminology , identity (music) , context (archaeology) , sociology , power (physics) , perspective (graphical) , criminal justice , ethnic group , collective responsibility , political science , law , social psychology , psychology , social science , physics , acoustics , paleontology , quantum mechanics , artificial intelligence , computer science , biology
This study explores discourses about involvement in violent intergroup conflict and international crimes from the perspective of perpetrators. Through a critical discourse analysis of 12 personal interviews carried out with individuals accused by the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for crimes committed during the Yugoslav conflicts, we uncover how their discourse reveals conceptions of lacking agency and powerlessness during the conflict, how it reconstructs power relationships within and between ethnic groups, and how it reflects identity management strategies destined to elude blame and responsibility. Our findings demonstrate how discourses are tainted by the legitimizing framework in which the conflict unfolded but also how they are shaped by the particular context of the communicative situation. Findings are discussed in terms of their significance for international criminal justice and its stated objectives.