War Atrocities and Dehumanization

There is an old saying which states, "murder becomes easier the second time".

What is meant by this is that taking another man's life becomes easier the more often you

do it. If it only becomes easier after already killing once, how does one manage to

succeed in committing that initial murder? By studying events in history, most historians,

psychologists, and criminologists believe it is through a process called dehumanization.

1Dehumanization is the psychological process of demonizing the enemy, making them

seem less than human and hence not worthy of humane treatments. In his novel Faces of

the Enemy, Sam Keens describes the different personas people use to demonize their

enemies. Keens believes that by refusing to acknowledge the enemy as a human being

and viewing them solely as "the rapist", "the savage", "the subhuman", etc., people are

able to commit murder, and other such crimes. This process is often used during war,

where soldiers are taught to dehumanize their enemies so that they may feel justified in

killing them and are free of guilt. Consequently, learning to dehumanize not only makes

it easier for soldiers to kill their enemies, but torture them. By feeling their actions are

justified, soldiers are free of remorse, and are motivated to exceed simple murder. This

eventually leads to whole armies being encouraged to commit war atrocities such as

violating