Comparing victims to vermin and disease makes killing them psychologically easier

Evidence

Dehumanization is when one group treats another group as second-class citizens. Members of a persecuted group may be compared with animals, parasites, insects or diseases. When a group of people is thought of as “less than human” it is easier for the group in control to murder them. At this stage, hate propaganda in print and on hate radios is used to make the victims seem like villains. — Gregory H. Stanton, Ten Stages of Genocide, 2

Categorization

• DEFINE: Fixes the precise meaning of dehumanization — animalizing/parasitizing the victim group — as the pivotal killing-license stage.
• XREF: connects to: Comparing victims to animals makes their murder easier — Gregory H. Stanton, Ten Stages of Genocide, 14; Dehumanizing victims as animals makes killing psychologically easier for perpetrators — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2449; Dehumanizing enemies as vermin reduces the guilt of killing them — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2417 (+3 more)

Broader Connections

• Dehumanizing victims as animals makes killing psychologically easier for perpetrators #corroborates (0.97) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2449
• Dehumanizing enemies as vermin reduces the guilt of killing them #exemplifies (0.95) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2417
• Extermination stage killing requires that killers see victims as less than fully human #expands (0.90) — Gregory H. Stanton, Ten Stages of Genocide, 8
• Comparing victims to animals makes their murder easier #expands (0.88) — Gregory H. Stanton, Ten Stages of Genocide, 14
• The term extermination reflects killers’ belief victims are not fully human #corroborates (0.82) — Gregory H. Stanton, Ten Stages of Genocide, 16
• Treating enemies as vermin to be exterminated actually amplifies the terror it targets #complicates (0.78) — Mark Fisher (edited by Darren Ambrose), K-Punk, 1454