From the Horse&apos;s Mouth: Research on Perpetrators in Guatemala

Schirmer, Jennifer

doi:10.2307/41917769

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State Crime Journal

Volume 1, Issue 1

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From the Horse's Mouth: Research on Perpetrators in Guatemala

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research-article

Author(s): Jennifer Schirmer ¹

Publication date (Print, pub): 1 April 2012

Journal: State Crime Journal

Publisher: Pluto Journals

Keywords: perpetrators; Guatemala military; conflict

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Abstract

In our research on perpetrators, is it sufficient to know what people do, or is it equally critical to know what reasons and justifications they provide in their own words for their actions, in order to try to prevent it happening again? And if it is important to know what people understand about their actions in their own words, how do we go about getting perpetrators to speak candidly about this? Interestingly, when I began my research, a number of non-Guatemalan analysts told me not to "waste my time", that the officers would feed me "a lie to cover up their pathological actions". If we consider the logic behind such advice, it assumes that we already know who these officers are by what they do; that they are evil incarnate. But is it sufficient to look upon these officers as essentially evil? Does the epithet describe what happened? Does it explain the "why"?

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Author and article information

Journal

Journal ID (jstor): statecrime

Journal ID (doi): 10.2307/j50005552

Title: State Crime Journal

Publisher: Pluto Journals

ISSN (Print): 20466056

Publication date (Print, pub): 1 April 2012

Volume: 1

Issue: 1

Pages: 27-44

Affiliations

[1 ] London School of Economics;

Article

DOI: 10.2307/41917769

SO-VID: 0d07c571-b224-4dd2-bec6-65385e518c08

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All content is freely available without charge to users or their institutions. Users are allowed to read, download, copy, distribute, print, search, or link to the full texts of the articles in this journal without asking prior permission of the publisher or the author. Articles published in the journal are distributed under a http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.

History

Notes

Author's interview (Schirmer 1998b: 259).
Schirmer 1998b: 161
Tony Judt (2008)
"Exkaibil narra en tribunal cómo ejecutaron a víctimas", Prensa Libre, 27 July 2011; "Milenaria condena contra autores de masacre de las Dos Erres, Petén", El Periódico, 15 August 2011,
"Campo Pagado. La Asociación de Veteranos Militares de Guatemala. AVEMILGUA. Ante la opinión Nacional e Internacional MANIFIESTA", Prensa Libre, 22 July 2011.
"Qué alguién me demuestre que hubo genocidio", Entrevista con Gral ® Otto Pérez Molina por Martín Rodríguez Pellecer, Plaza Pública/El Periódico, 2 August 2011.
Collier's (2005)
The Guatemala Review, 28 June 1996, p. 20, cited in Schirmer 1998b: 184
Marta Casaus Arzú (1992, 2008 and 2010)
Schirmer 1998a

Comments

Comment on this article

[1] Author's interview (Schirmer 1998b: 259).

[2] Schirmer 1998b: 161

[3] Tony Judt (2008)

[4] "Exkaibil narra en tribunal cómo ejecutaron a víctimas", Prensa Libre, 27 July 2011; "Milenaria condena contra autores de masacre de las Dos Erres, Petén", El Periódico, 15 August 2011,

[5] "Campo Pagado. La Asociación de Veteranos Militares de Guatemala. AVEMILGUA. Ante la opinión Nacional e Internacional MANIFIESTA", Prensa Libre, 22 July 2011.

[6] "Qué alguién me demuestre que hubo genocidio", Entrevista con Gral ® Otto Pérez Molina por Martín Rodríguez Pellecer, Plaza Pública/El Periódico, 2 August 2011.

[7] Collier's (2005)

[8] The Guatemala Review, 28 June 1996, p. 20, cited in Schirmer 1998b: 184

[9] Marta Casaus Arzú (1992, 2008 and 2010)

[10] Schirmer 1998a