Title: Genocide prevention - Wikipedia
Headings: Genocide prevention
Genocide prevention
Contents
The psychological basis of genocide
Social psychological factors
Risk factors for genocide
Early warning signs of genocide
The role of the United Nations
The Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
International criminal tribunals
The Responsibility to Protect
Criticisms of the United Nations on genocide prevention and intervention
Types of prevention
Upstream prevention
Mid-Stream prevention
Downstream prevention
Genocide prevention and public health
Ongoing prevention efforts
Genocide Watch
The Alliance Against Genocide
United Nations Office on Genocide Prevention and the Responsibility to Protect
Early warning project
Genocide task force
References
External links

Content: Social influence and social relations also constitute factors vulnerable to manipulation. Many cultures actively encourage conformity, compliance, and obedience in social relations and can have severe social "penalties" for those that do not adhere to the norms, so that group members can feel an intense pressure to engage in violence if other members are also engaging in it. This tendency for people to conform can be manipulated to induce "thoughtless behavior" in large groups of people at once. Research also shows that this pressure to conform, also known as the "conformity effect," increases when there is an authority figure present in the group, and when certain social and institutional contexts increase people's tendency to conform, like the loss of stability, as people tend to adapt to what is expected of them when stability disappears. Other tendencies of human social relationships can similarly push people towards violence, such as prejudice, altruism, and aggression. It is particularly relevant to understand the link between prejudice and violence, as prejudice is often one of the first starting points in the formation of genocidal behavior. The scapegoat theory (or practice of Scapegoating) helps to explain the relationship, as it posits that people have a tendency to lash out on out-groups when they are frustrated, for example in times of political or economic crisis. Risk factors for genocide
Main article: Risk factors for genocide
There are a variety of political and cultural factors that make states more at risk for movement down a path of mass violence, and an understanding and recognition of the existence of those factors can be crucial in genocide prevention efforts. While studies in this area find varying degrees of risk for each particular factor, there is widespread consensus on which kinds of environments present the greatest risk for the occurrence of genocide.