Slovic et al.: Psychic Numbing and Mass Atrocity

Paul Slovic (Decision Research; Univ. of Oregon - Psychology), David Zionts (Harvard Univ. - Law), Andrew K. Woods (Harvard Univ. - Law), Ryan Goodman (New York Univ. - Law), & Derek Jinks (Univ. of Texas - Law) has posted Psychic Numbing and Mass Atrocity (in The Behavioral Foundations of Policy, E. Shafir ed., forthcoming). Here's the abstract:

The 20th Century is often said to be the bloodiest century in recorded history. In addition to its wars, the century witnessed many grave and widespread human rights abuses. But what stands out in historical accounts of those abuses, perhaps even more than the cruelty of their perpetration, is the inaction of bystanders. Why do people and their governments repeatedly fail to react to genocide and other mass scale human rights violations?