Studying Rwanda’s Genocide to Explain the Working of the Human Mind

The targeted mass killings in Rwanda in the 20th century are a source of great pain for the people living in the country. Scientists are trying to understand why the certain members of the Hutu population in Rwanda tried to eliminate the Tutsi minority in an attempt to stop such massacres in the future. With over hundreds of thousands people dead as a result of such mass scale slaughters, it is worth the time and money poured into understanding the reasoning behind such atrocious acts by human beings.

The Rwandan government is also keen on putting a stop to these mass scale slaughters and have as a result collected extensive data on the suspected perpetrators and genocide victims through a national survey. This data has been shared with scientists in an attempt to get to the truth behind these killings. Genocide studies often split the offenders into two categories, namely the organizers and the ordinary men. However, in Rwanda, this does not stand true as several other factors come into play like personal and social factors as to how an individual will participate or act during a genocide. Hopefully, the scientists can get to the bottom of this particular mystery and find a solution to prevent any more mass scale slaughters.

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