Repeated violence gradually erases moral discomfort, escalating terrorist aggression.

Evidence

A further consequence of group interaction, which may explain the escalation of terrorist violence, is the possibility of brutalization, or “graduated desensitization” (Bandura, 1973, p. 241), as the performance of acts of terrorism progressively extinguishes discomfort and self-censure. Dicks (1972, pp. 253–256) saw Nazi violence emerging over time from a triggering process shared by fellow Nazis in a facilitating group setting. This conditioning process, through which the individual comes to seek destructive power, is termed brutalization, a result of succumbing to group pressures and conforming to a new ethos. Even individuals who had at first shown anxiety and reluctance gave in to the group in the end. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology, 4153

Categorization

• DEFINE: Defines ‘brutalization’ or ‘graduated desensitization’ as a conditioning process toward destructive power.
• XREF: Parallels Milgram’s obedience experiments and ordinary soldiers’ desensitization in combat. — connects to: Repeated violent acts progressively extinguish moral discomfort within a supportive group. — John T. Jost and Jim Sidanius, Political Psychology: Key Readings, 4153