Harm-doing notoriously expands its circle of victims and target classes over time

Evidence

Even when torture was part of the legal process in Europe, in the Middle Ages, over time the circle of its victims enlarged. First it was used only with lower-class defendants, later also with upper-class defendants, and then even with witnesses, in order to obtain information from them (Peters, 1985). — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide, 132

Categorization

• recurring: this claim recurs 2 times within its source
• XREF: connects to: Mass violence evolves progressively from lesser harms rather than erupting suddenly; Practiced violence systematically widens to ever-larger victim circles. — Leonard S. Newman and Ralph Erber (eds.), Understanding Genocide: The Social…, 132