The 5 steps of dehumanization (explained)

Let's see what are the steps of dehumanization that can lead to the elimination or dismissal of groups.

Dehumanization is the act and also the effect of stripping a person or group of people of their defining characteristics as human beings.

The 5 steps of dehumanization represent a process that as a whole is a tool that has served as a great help to certain groups of power throughout the history of the human race. throughout human history to contain numerous atrocities against other human beings.

Before explaining the 5 steps of dehumanization, it is convenient to reflect a little about what the word dehumanization really is.

What is dehumanization?

First we should ask ourselves the following question: what does it mean to be a human person? To answer this we could say that a human person is one who possesses a series of rights by the simple fact of being a human being. possesses a series of rights simply by virtue of the fact that he or she is a human being, and these rights, in theory, should belong to all human beings equally.and these, in theory, should belong to all human beings equally.

However, the idea that all human beings should have the same rights in practice is very different. As we will see in this article, throughout history, many people have been deprived of their rights, ceasing to be treated as human beings.

Dehumanization is a concept that involves stripping a person or a group of persons of their human characteristics and also of their rights as human beings.. In this context, it is a concept that has been widely used to explain human evil.

Throughout human history, a large part of the abuses perpetrated against certain groups of people who had been treated as if they were not human beings, it is striking that the executioners were ordinary people; although it is true that these abuses occurred in unusual circumstances.

Let us qualify this. It is true that at the head of those atrocities that took place was usually a person or group of people that we could call cruel, ruthless and many other pejorative adjectives, but it is also true that those people alone could not have committed those atrocities without the collaboration of other people who were under their command, either under a feeling of loyalty, under duress, being in a situation of desperation or out of fear.

Now, although many names come to mind because they have committed heinous and despicable acts, the intention here is not to prosecute anyone in particular for their actions, but the crux of the matter is to reflect on the fact that in certain circumstances a person with no intention of harming anyone could do so indirectly in a certain context or under coercion. in certain circumstances a person with no intention of harming anyone could do so indirectly in a certain context or under coercion, and this has been made possible by means of an indirect and indirect way.And this has been possible by means of a very powerful tool through a process divided by the 5 steps of dehumanization, as we will see below.

What are the 5 steps of dehumanization?

The crimes produced against humanity there are experts who affirm that they have been produced, in part, as a process of dehumanization, that is divided into different phases.

The 5 steps of dehumanization run in succession forming a powerful tool that allows a group of power, with a certain ideology, to coerce and condition other people, usually subordinate, to perpetrate a series of atrocities and even, although at first hand they would never believe they would be capable of doing something like that, to get them to find a justification for doing so.

In contraction we will see briefly what are the 5 steps of dehumanization that can be part of the process behind crimes against humanity.

1. The creation of fear

The first step of this dehumanization to get a group of people to exceed ethical limits would be to instilling fear in them, fear for their own lives and the lives of their loved ones..

Instilling fear in people for what could happen to them and their family is a tool that has been widely used by dictatorial regimes throughout history in various countries. By instilling fear in subordinates, they are easily turned into scapegoats and thus made responsible for the crimes committed.

In this first step would begin to forge an ideology in the society, which can be supported in preconceived ideas of racism, homophobia, etc.

2. Soft exclusion

The second of the 5 steps of the dehumanization is the soft exclusion, which consists of to get the group of subjects, who have been made scapegoats, to be excluded from some sectors of society. (for example, the Nazis began by excluding Jews from professions in public office, such as hospitals and universities).

In this second step, the ideology of the power group would gain certain solvency in society.

3. Documented justification of fear and exclusion

To carry out this third of the 5 steps of dehumanization, the power group uses the cover of fear and exclusion, the power group uses media coverage and documented research in order to provide evidence to justify the reason for the exclusion of the target group of people. of the group of people to be excluded, such as the argument that it is for the "good of society".

Once this step is accomplished, the ideology of the power group would be formally enshrined.

4. Hard exclusion

In this fourth step of the dehumanization the objective would be the hard exclusion, which consists of making the rest of the population see that "it has been consists of making the rest of the population see that "it has been demonstrated that this group is the cause of society's problems", and that they should therefore be excluded.Therefore, they must be excluded from civil society and cease to be people with rights, so that they have no voice or vote in society, being social pariahs.

After perpetrating this fourth step, the ideology of the power group would be strongly consolidated socially.

5. Extermination

Upon reaching the last of the 5 steps of dehumanization, the extermination of the oppressed group would begin, so that its members are forcibly expelled from society (in concentration camps, ghettos, prisons, etc.) in order to being treated as "non-human" and even being exterminated..

If the 4 previous steps have been successfully carried out, this last one is carried out more easily because there are fewer people left to defend them because they have lost their voice within the society in which they lived and, therefore, their rights as human beings.

An example: the case of Dražen

To better understand the 5 steps of dehumanization, let's look at the case of Dražen Erdemović is an example of how any human being in a desperate situation could go where he would never have imagined, and that is that when war broke out in war broke out in 1992 in Bosnia-Herzegovina (which was part of Yugoslavia). (which was part of Yugoslavia), Dražen, against his will, was drafted into the Yugoslavian army to fight against the Croatian army. At that time, Dražen was 21 years old and a young man like any other with dreams and plans for his future, such as having a decent job or starting a family.

A year later, Dražen was able to leave the military service to return to his wife, who had just given birth to their son, and start a new life away from the war thanks to an intermediary who had agreed with Dražen to provide them with the documents that would allow him and his family to leave the country. However, the intermediary gave no sign of life, having collected the agreed money for the help he was to provide them, so they were unable to leave the country.

The family then found themselves in a precarious and very complicated situation, as they had no home, no money and no job to earn it. So they the only option Dražen had at that moment of desperation was to accept a friend's offer to enlist in the Bosnian Serb Army.The house in which Dražen's family had been housed was the one in which Dražen's family had been staying, and he was paid a salary. The house in which Dražen's family had been staying had belonged to a Muslim family that had been forcibly evicted by the army.

Dražen, who had taken the job in order to be able to feed his family in the precarious and desperate situation they were in, told himself that everything he was doing was only temporary and that he was doing it to help his family.. So one day when he was sent on a mission ordered by his superiors, busloads of people began to arrive, including children, blindfolded and with their hands tied. Then Dražen's superiors ordered him and his companions to shoot those people in the head.

Dražen protested to the superior who gave him the order and persist in his refusal to execute those people, but he soon realized that if he did not do it, he would be the one they would end up executing. Then, at the warning and anger of his commander, he got into position, next to his companions, and began to shoot at those people.

Some time later, he could not bear the remorse for what had happened and surrendered to the authorities, being transferred to the International Criminal Court, where he confessed that, according to his estimates, he had killed around 70 people, for which he was tried and sentenced for committing crimes against humanity as a war criminal, despite having shown remorse for his actions.

Dražen's story could be one story among millions of similar ones, which gives us food for thought and makes us see that in a situation as desperate as the one Dražen lived through any ordinary person, who has no intention of harming anyone and simply wants to get ahead, could reach unsuspected limits..

In addition to having been conditioned and coerced by this 5-step system of dehumanization to commit such crimes, so were Dražen's superiors. And such atrocities did not happen overnight, but the power group, the oppressors, effectively carried out each and every one of the 5 steps of dehumanization, in order to achieve the goal of exterminating those innocent people.