'They deserve it for what they're doing': dehumanising rhetoric as a facilitator of the recourse to violence against the defenceless

Torture has been with us for all of recorded history, often assuming an important role in juridical and legal systems. Despite a decades-long campaign, torture persists within many nations today, and is sometimes considered, or even implemented, as a policy and practice option in nations that otherwise would abjure its use. Here, we consider the possible relationships between the willingness to employ torture and psychological processes related to dehumanisation. There are multiple strands of evidence linking the use of dehumanising language against out-groups leading to violence against that outgroup. Dehumanising persons through language and policy can cause a ripple effect feeding through acts of violence and torture committed by state actors in the service of attaining and maintaining power and coercive control over minority out-groups.