Clinical psychologist Steven K. Baum uses eyewitness accounts in his book “The Psychology of Genocide,” which he will discuss and sign Friday, Oct. 10 at 4 p.m. at the UNM Bookstore, 2301 Central Ave. NE, at the intersection of Cornell and Central. Parking will be validated in the parking structure for up to one hour with purchase.
Photo: Steven K. Baum
In the last century, 262 million people have been victims of genocide, with Jews, Armenians, Cambodians, Darfurians, Kosovons and Rwandans among them. The horrors of genocide are more poignant as patterns emerge. There are those who commit brutal acts, there are those who resist genocide and help victims, and there are those who position themselves in the middle, taking neither side. Baum reveals what patterns of personality and psychology emerge during wartime that give rise to these conditions.
He also examines the complex relationship between social and personal knowledge, and how people conflate stereotype with personal experience.
In “The Psychology of Genocide: Perpetrators, Bystanders, and Rescuers” (Cambridge University Press, August 7), Baum builds on trait theory and social psychology, re-examining our understanding of conformity. Baum presents a new understanding of identity and emotional development during genocide, showing that behavior during genocide mirrors behavior in everyday life.
Despite heightened awareness of the tragic circumstances from which genocide arises, and unprecedented instant news coverage from around the world, this greatest of tragedies persists. Baum’s analysis of genocide and the human psyche help address the persistence of genocide.
Baum is a University of New Mexico lecturer in psychology and a clinical psychologist. He is a recognized expert in the psychological aspects of anti-Semitism.
For more information contact Lisa Walden 277-7494, or email lwalden@unm.edu.