brutalisation
Making someone callous
Brutalisation is the British spelling of brutalization—the process of making someone brutal or treating them with extreme cruelty.
War brutalises soldiers; harsh conditions brutalise prisoners.
The word covers both the act of subjecting someone to brutality and the resulting coarsening of their humanity: The brutalisation of inmates only increases recidivism.
Decline in condition
- inhumanityExtreme cruelty toward others
- atrocityUnforgivable mass cruelty
- barbarismSavage, uncivilized behavior
- savageryExtreme, violent cruelty
cruelty · depravity · animalization · brutishness · debasement · objectification · victimization · oppression
Cruel emotional indifference
- numbnessLoss of sensation
- indifferenceLack of interest
- hardeningBecoming less soft
- inurementAdaptation through repeated exposure
insensitivity · heartlessness · pitilessness · coarsening · coldness · detachment · apathy · unfeelingness
Learned behavioral adaptation
- institutionalizationEstablishing as norm or standard
- militarizationAdapting for warfare purposes
- radicalizationShift toward extreme ideology
- indoctrinationSystematic uncritical belief instillation
training · exposure · trauma · violence · warfare · imprisonment · interrogation · hazing
degradation
Decline in condition
- inhumanityExtreme cruelty toward others
- atrocityUnforgivable mass cruelty
- barbarismSavage, uncivilized behavior
savagery · cruelty · depravity · animalization · brutishness · debasement · objectification · victimization · oppression · abuse
callousness
Cruel emotional indifference
- numbnessLoss of sensation
- indifferenceLack of interest
- hardeningBecoming less soft
inurement · insensitivity · heartlessness · pitilessness · coarsening · coldness · detachment · apathy · unfeelingness · steeling
conditioning
Learned behavioral adaptation
- institutionalizationEstablishing as norm or standard
- militarizationAdapting for warfare purposes
- radicalizationShift toward extreme ideology
indoctrination · training · exposure · trauma · violence · warfare · imprisonment · interrogation · hazing · initiation
brutalisationhumanisation
Bestowing human characteristics
civilisation · rehabilitation · sensitisation · gentling · humanizing
brutalisationrehabilitation
Recovery from injury/addiction
reform · restorative justice · reintegration · healing · redemption
brutalisationhumane treatment
Kind consideration for welfare
nurturing · kindness · benevolence · care · protection
brutal, brute, brutality, brutish, brutes, brutalised, brutalise, brutalises, brutalization