Police violence during citizens’ protests: dehumanization processes, legitimation of violence, and hostility

Abstract

Police forces, being representative of the state, have the monopoly on violence in society, but also need to legitimize their use of force. So, what are the psychosocial underpinnings of police use of force and its legitimation, particularly, when this violence is directed against citizens who exercise their democratic right to protest? We explored this issue by studying legitimation of violence and feelings of hostility together with the processes of dehumanization, meta-dehumanization, and self-dehumanization among members of riot police squads who operated during the deterrence of the pro-independence referendum in Catalonia, Spain. We found that police officers dehumanized protesting citizens to a considerable extent. Animalistic dehumanization was especially relevant since it was associated with legitimation of violence, the hostility felt toward the protesters, and also with the degree of self-dehumanization of policemen as unfeeling machines. We also evidenced that, reflecting the interactive nature of the situation, animalistic dehumanization was associated with meta-dehumanization. We link our results to previous research on the legitimation of violence, and also on the facets of dehumanization. The discussion highlights the inextricable link between the perpetrators’ own and the others’ humanity, dehumanizing and self-dehumanizing effects of violence, and also broader socio-political implications of our findings.