Criminology and the Holocaust: Xenophobia, evolution, and genocide

Modern theories of crime and delinquency tend to be individualistic in their level of analysis and tend to focus on consensus crimes. The phenomenon of ethnic genocide is virtually impossible to examine within such parameters. Recent histories of the Holocaust by Browning and Goldhagen suggest that it was carried out by ordinary citizens who supported its objectives, not by dysfunctional psychopaths. Nor was it carried out by individuals intimidated by powerful authority structures. This article reviews the evidence from the new historiographies and proposes a theory of genocide based on xenophobia developed in recent accounts of evolutionary psychology.