Brutalisation May 2026

One of the most tragic aspects of brutalisation is its circular nature. Clinical psychologists note that the brutality of an offense is often deeply rooted in the brutality the offender experienced as a child. When humans are subjected to environments where their vulnerability is met with violence, they may stop being able to tolerate that vulnerability in themselves or others.

Whether on the battlefield, in broken homes, or across digital screens, brutalisation erodes our capacity for empathy and replaces it with a "politics of death". 1. From Victim to Aggressor: The Survival Strategy brutalisation

: Constant exposure to "mundane" horrors through social media can lead to a sense of hopelessness or disengagement. We scroll past tragedies because the emotional weight of truly "seeing" them is too heavy to bear. One of the most tragic aspects of brutalisation

: In contexts of occupation or systemic injustice, the "long night of collective humiliation" can turn into a "caldron of hate," leading the brutalised to seek revenge through the same violent means used against them. 2. The Normalisation of Horror Whether on the battlefield, in broken homes, or