Assessing the well-being of partners of people found guilty of perpetrating genocide in Rwanda

Abstract

This article draws upon 89 in-person surveys with Rwandan women (ages 26–75) whose partners were incarcerated for genocide and examines how these women explain participation in the violence. We first engage in exploratory factor analysis of reasons cited for perpetrating genocide, which reveals (1) a factor comprised of internal reasons for participation, including greed and hatred; (2) a factor of external reasons, such as peer pressure or coercion, and (3) a factor driven by alcohol use. Next, we analyze how these factors are associated with the women’s psychosocial wellbeing as measured by the World Health Organization’s Self-Reporting Questionnaire. This quantitative analysis finds that, net of relevant control variables, accounts of participation in genocide that emphasize external reasons for participation are associated with better psychosocial wellbeing, while accounts of participation that emphasize internal reasons are associated with worse psychosocial wellbeing. We conclude by addressing the link between explanations for actions and wellbeing.