Victim-blaming harms victims more deeply than acknowledged cruelty does

Evidence

Maltreatment that is blamed on the victim can have more devastating human consequences than the cruelty that the perpetrator acknowledges. Mistreatment that is not clothed in righteousness makes the perpetrator rather than the victim blameworthy. But when victims are convincingly blamed for their plight, they may eventually come to believe the degrading characterizations of themselves. Exonerated inhumanity is more likely to instill self-dislike in victims than inhumanity that does not attempt to justify itself. Seeing victims suffer maltreatment for which they are held responsible also leads observers to derogate them (Lerner & Miller, 1978). The devaluation and indignation aroused by ascribed culpability provide further moral justification for even greater maltreatment. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 627

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: A dense, counterintuitive cascade: justified cruelty self-fulfills by degrading victims (self-belief) and observers (derogation), enabling escalation. Resists one-line summary.