MASS MURDER

Functionalists and Intentionalists

Functionalists and Intentionalists

Introduction

The basic difference between the approaches of functionalist school of thought and the intentionalist school of thought is the behavior and mindset of both. The functionalist school of thought highlights that the reasons of the mass murders have been because of the functioning of that particular sect responsible of committing the act. However, it is important to note that the intentionalist school of thought argues that the mass murders were directly related to the actions of the people involved in committing the act. For example in the case of Adolph Hitler, it was highlighted by the functionalists that the holocaust arose mainly as a part of the functioning of the Nazi state. In addition to that, the conflicting school of intentionalists argued that the holocaust were result of the actions of one man alone, this was Adolph Hitler. In order to develop a better understanding of the subject as well as the differences in the schools of thought, the points of views of 3 historians have been considered. This includes an intentionalist with the name of Lucy S. Dawidowicz, a functionalist with the name of Hans Mommsen as well as the creation of a neutral view by Christian Browning.

Discussion

One of the most prominent and common examples of mass murder had been under the regime of Adolph Hitler, who aimed at exterminating the race of the Jews from the face of the world. His Nazi regime's most important objective had been driving the Jews away as far as possible from the Aryan race. It is important to note that a “final solution” for the betterment of the entire world was laid out by the Nazis as killing and driving away every last Jewish person on the planet. Approximately a number of 6 million people were murdered and deported through the means of factory methods. These methods included working these people to death, starving them to death, shooting them and even gassing them so they suffocate and die. In addition to that, it is important to note that numerous authors and historians throughout history had tried making sense of these deliberate killings of millions of people and targeting a particular race.

The interpretations of the final solution mainly fall under two broad categories. These are functionalist as well as the intentionalist school of thought. The followers of the intentionalist school of thought argued that regardless of the violent nature of the acts, it was necessary for an individual to do what it did at that time to ensure that the objectives were met. Under the case of Adolph Hitler, it could be said that the mass murder of millions of people was necessary in ensuring the rue of the National socialists (Wiesel, E., & Lefkovitz, E. 1990, pp. 18). It was more than obvious that the exact same policies had been implemented by Germany before and even the war. In addition to that, a very crucial thing to consider is that the foreign policies as well as ...