Humanizing the other, which is the reciprocal of Albert Bandura‘s moral disengagement mechanism known as dehumanization, probably relies greatly on perspective taking (see 11/18/2010 post by Sherri McCarthy).
Humanization involves both recognizing the human qualities of the other and responding to them in a humane way.
Many people attribute human characteristics to their pets—e.g., “my sweet little puppy understands everything I feel and gets so sad when I am feeling bad”—yet defend themselves against acknowledging the human qualities of the designated enemy.
Humanizing clearly involves the ability to put oneself in the shoes of another—a common refrain but often a difficult ability to achieve. It also requires empathy—not just anticipating the intentions and behaviors of the other but understanding how the other would feel in a particular set of circumstances.
In war time, humanizing the enemy may involve recognizing that the people who are shooting at you are doing so only because they are afraid of what will be done to them if they don’t obey orders, or because they have been convinced by their leaders that you are as inhumane and subhuman as your leaders have convinced you that they are.
BeyondIntractability.org has identified a number of strategies for increasing the ability of people to humanize their “enemies.” These strategies include:
- Teaching about stereotypes
- Promoting empathy
- Encouraging dialogue
- Focusing on commonalities
- Facilitating cooperative projects
- Providing education on the negative effects of propaganda
- Establishing media that provide alternatives to the media that justify and promote violence, and ultimately
- Helping conflicting parties build trust, work for constructive resolution of differences, apologize, and seek reconciliation.
Now that the Cold War is over, many of the mainstream media have shifted their focus from dehumanizing Communists to dehumanizing “Islamists.” How might those Beyond Intractability guidelines be translated into concrete suggestions for countering pressures toward aggression and intractability?
Kathie Malley-Morrison, Professor of Psychology