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closePacific Graduate School of Psychology Professors to Participate in International Conference on Genocide Prevention in Auschwitz
Renowned Psychologists William Froming, Philip G. Zimbardo and James N. Breckenridge to Address Topic to Government Officials From Around the Globe
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. — The Pacific Graduate School of Psychology (PGSP), a private, independent professional school educating undergraduate and graduate students in the greater Bay Area announced today three of its professors will present at the inaugural 'Raphael Lemkin' Seminar for Genocide Prevention. The seminar is being held under the auspices of the Auschwitz Institute for Peace and Reconciliation (AIPR) in Auschwitz, Poland May 12-19, 2008. PGSP professors and genocide prevention experts William Froming, Ph.D., Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D., and James N. Breckenridge, Ph.D. have been invited to address the seminar's attendees, which will be comprised of government officials from around the world.
Raphael Lemkin, a lawyer of Polish-Jewish descent best known for his work against genocide, coined the term "genocide" in 1943 from the root words "genos" which is Greek for race and "cide" which is Latin for killing. This seminar, which has been named in his honor, will bring together scholars and NGOs to address government officials on warning signs, causes and impacts of genocide in an effort to prevent future genocides from occurring.
Drs. Froming, Zimbardo and Breckenridge will present May 13 and 14 on "The Psychological Components of Genocide," and on "The Social Psychology and Social Mechanics of Genocide." Their two presentations will explore similarities between the Holocaust and the Rwandan genocide.
"The first segment of our session will draw parallels between the two genocides in terms of the social and economic environment, the existence of prior humiliation for the aggressors, and the ability of extremists to seize control and propagate messages of hate and terror," said William Froming, Vice President for Academic Affairs, PGSP. The professors will examine propaganda in publications, radio and film, dehumanization of the victim, appeals to racial/ethnic purity and fear of the others. Their first segment will also address preparations of the genocidaires by the leaders.
The second portion of the Froming, Zimbardo, and Breckenridge presentation will address how social psychology is able to provide insight into the genocidal acts. "We will discuss a range of studies for their ability to expose the social mechanics of genocide," continues Froming. "In particular, we will look at Dr. Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment and how it is central to understanding how normally good people can commit genocide."
In addition to their two presentations, Drs. Froming and Zimbardo along with two other professors in attendance will address Jagiellonian University students and academics at the university on May 15 in a panel to address the psychology of genocide, its perpetrators and responders. They have been invited for this special panel as a result of the widespread circulation of their work on genocide prevention in Krakow, which is where the university is located.
Other topics that will be covered during the week long seminar include military strategies for genocide prevention and response; the relationship between group discrimination and genocide; negotiation skills for genocide prevention; genocide and mental illness and the short and long term impacts; the making of perpetrators; and how over the past century how people have repeatedly ignored mass murders and genocide.
For more background information on Drs. Froming, Zimbardo and Breckenridge, please go to: http://pgsp.edu/faculty/froming.html, http://pgsp.edu/faculty/zimbardo.html and http://pgsp.edu/faculty/breckenridge.html respectively.
For more information on the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology, please visit http://pgsp.edu/ or call 800-818-6136.
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