Perpetrators

The following outline is drawn from the efforts of many scholars including Browning, Hirsch, Bandura, Berkowitz, Haas, Miller, Staub, etc.
Perpetrators: Some Factors in a Psychological Profile.

The following represent the thinking of many scholars in looking for ways to explain the behaviors of those who committed genocide (The Holocaust) and to begin to develop a model to help explain and understand what leads human beings to engage in individual and massive human destructiveness on other human beings. No single factor is a sufficient explanation for these behaviors, but in a variety of combinations, we may discern some of the truths of human cruelty and barbarity.
Personality:

Identity Myths-using images of the past as the frame of reference for how one should see themselves in the present and future i.e. the Tutonic, Nordic Aryan of Wagnarian opera as the true measure of Germanic identity.

Authoritarian Personality-Adorno's construct of the personality type most susceptible to in influence by and obedience to a strong leader with a propensity for group normative identification and strong prejudices.

Lack of Self-Awareness-Inability or unwillingness to recognize the true nature of one's beliefs or behaviors.

Sense of Entitlement- The belief that because of my status, superior nature or current circumstances, that one is due more then others and has the freedom or mandate to take what they believe one is owed.

Needs of Security, Positive Identity, Effectiveness, Control, Connectedness-one's behaviors towards others is dictated by and aimed at achieving the needs stated above in whatever form those needs may be self-identified or group-identified.

Independence-Autonomous freedom to act and exercise my choice consistent with my own needs.

In-Group/Out-Group Identification-A basic element in defining self and other and determining the relative values of each and behaving accordingly. A cornerstone of prejudice.

Separate Identity-Insuring that there is no question of differentiating one's self from all others and in many cases, some particular others. Aryan/Non-Aryan.

Desensitization of Harm to Others-A learned loss of compassion and empathy.

Situational:

Nationalism-A powerful historical movement for communal and state identity. One does what is necessary for love of country.

Ideology-The belief system that guides and often justifies one's behavior.

Difficult Threatening Circumstances--attack, threat-Doing what is necessary for self or national protection. Real or perceived.

Frustration of Basic Human Needs-A very powerful emotional motivator that moves one to identify the source of the frustration and take steps to alleviate or remove that source.

Self-Defense-My behavior is only for protection. from real or perceived enemies. Often a form of projection.

Fulfill Higher Ideals-The creation of a master race and all that this embodies may require eliminating that which would stand in the way of this goal. 

Creating Better World-Similar to above but on an larger and more grandiose level.

Destructive Modes of Need Fulfillment-Limited or specifically determined patterns of behavior where alternative or less destructive methods are not know or not considered. 

Legal Conditions-The law mandates and justifies one's actions as in the Racial Courts of Nazi Germany-the various Anti-Jewish laws.

Political Conditions-The nature of a Totalitarian State or any centralized dictatorship or any state that defines its government with its political ideology.

Reversal of Morality-Killing the victim becomes the right and moral thing to do, consistent with the ideological and ethical framework created in the emergent society.

Destructive Mindset-The only way all our needs and desires can be met is to eliminate those who would block or challenge our goals.

Propaganda-The power of persuasion and and coercion.

Projected Image of Others--manipulative, exploitive, dishonest, conspirators-Historic dispositions, contemporary propaganda and the delineating of a scapegoat.

Morally Different-Their values and beliefs are so different that they cannot be allowed to endure.

Leadership and Leaders-The power of charisma, persuasion and image.  

Mob Rule-The power of one's peers to collectively eliminate individual judgment.

Characteristics of Movements-The classic work of Eric Hoffer in his book the True Believer.
Antecedents:-Those enduring and immediate precursors to an event or events that are necessary and contributory to the event. The enduring antecedent of Christian Anti-Semitism and the proximal consequences of WWI to the rise of Nazism.

Prejudice-Anti-Semitism-Hate-The enduring nature of prejudice and the specific expression of a given prejudice and the driving power of hate to unite and move a person or a people to do what may be determined as necessary to remove the source or target of the prejudice and hate.

Historic Devaluation of Others-The images of others that have been passed down through history or created with the myths of history to satisfy the needs of the moment. The Jew as the other for example.

Economic Issues-The perception or reality of economic deprivation or loss and the attribution of cause to a particular group or entity- the scapegoat.

Ideology of Antagonism--any good to others inflames hostility-Give and inch and they will take a mile or also don't show kindness because it may make one look weak.
Behaviors: All the possible overt expressions and acts of individual and collective destruction and/or dehumanization. 

Intrinsic/Extrinsic Motivation-Behaving for an external reward such as money or recognition or advancement or behaving from some inner directed sense of purpose.

Functional Autonomy of Behavior-When a behavior originally developed for external reward now become the reward in itself. The Premack principle in psychology.

Lack of Concern for Others-An indifference to the consequences of one's behavior because the others do not matter.

Loss of Empathy-Inability to feel others pain, a desensitization of compassion.

Scapegoating-Identifying the enemy responsible for all one's travails-The Jews and the Non-Aryans responsible for all of Germany's and the world's problems.

Obedience to Authority-The characteristic of following orders from those perceived as legitimate authority figures. The classic work of Millgrim.

Disengagement of Moral Sanctions- Suspending one's inhibiting values for self control for the expediency of the moment and the perception that higher values are operating.

Cognitive Restructuring-The belief system and the mediational processing are modified to justify the current behaviors-a form of resolving one's cognitive dissonance.

Sanitized/Euphemistic Language-The Nazi's were masters of hiding real intent or actions or outcomes in language that was disavowed the real intent, from both the victims and the victimizers-evacuation/relocation for the deportations to the death camps.

Diffusion of Responsibility-The greater the shared responsibility the less one can be held accountable or holds themselves accountable. Some of the research by Darley and Latane on Bystander Apathy

Meaning of Effect of Behavior-Deluding or denying to oneself and other the actual consequences of one's behavior.

Attribution of Blame-The fault for my behavior lies with the victims, again a form of projection.

Dehumanization-Degradation-Humiliation-A systematic process of stripping the victims of the sense of and image of humanity and therefore making it easier to treat them as subhumans.

Advantageous Comparisons-Justifying ones behavior in comparison to other that are much worse.