The Escalation of Violence through Legitimation

Abstract

Listen

Translate article

A review of the way extreme forms of violence develop reveals that it involves a three-stage process of escala tion from initial support by the public for mild violence by a special group, through support for this special group for extreme forms of violence, to the actual practice of the ex treme forms by a small number of people who enjoy it. This paradigm of the development of violence is applied to crowds, to the police, and to the concentration camp.