Dehumanization of Refugees in Media as a Case of Moral Disengagement
Abstract
Through an analysis of selected articles, the study demonstrates the dehumanization as a discursive strategy which may lead to moral disengagement. The presented analysis shows how particular discursive strategies in analysed text support the process of moral disengagement in the society and potentially may lead to a justification of reprehensible conduct and mass aggression against refugees. Afterwards, this is ethically evaluated through the perspectives of deontological and consequential theories and some recommendations are offered. The study follows the idea of media being a tool for the development of democratic values, such as the humanization of refugees and their personalization in individual stories which would present their lives and suffering to media percipients.
... Dehumanization, in turn, explains hostile behaviors towards various groups, especially vulnerable ones such as refugees, through negative emotions such as contempt and anger (e.g., Esses et al. 2013, Utych 2018. Dehumanization of refugees and the associated threat perceptions may justify dominant groups' willingness to protect their own privileges ( Esses et al., , 2021, supporting the process of moral disengagement in society ( Motal, 2015 ). More specifically, dehumanization has been found to relate to support for deportation and forced internal displacement, as well as rejection of refugees or immigrants (e.g., Esses et al. 2021, Haslam 2006, Haslam and Stratemeyer 2016. ...
In two studies, we investigated how positive and negative mass-mediated contact shape attitudes towards refugees and support for their rights through dehumanization. Study 1 (correlational, N = 193, community sample) demonstrated both positive and negative mass-mediated contact to predict attitudes towards Afghan refugees, as well as support for their rights, through lower and higher levels of dehumanization, respectively. Study 2 (experimental, N = 214, student sample) showed that positive mass-mediated contact directly improved attitudes towards refugees, whereas negative (but not positive) mass-mediated contact increased the dehumanization (less human view) of refugees, which was in turn related to reduced support for their rights. Findings highlight the critical role of mass-mediated contact in the formation of pro-refugee attitudes in an increasingly hostile migration context.
The article is an introductory attempt to find in the vocabulary of ethics and related disciplines such notions that would be able to become descriptive tools for the migrant crisis in Europe. The adopted perspective to tinker on the notions allows to traverse the narrow frames of theoretical ethics and reach for other resources. The paper contains a preliminary analysis of the notions of moral vertigo, moral panic, and moral disengagement, as well as an overview of potential benefits and problems stemming from using those terms.
Tato výzkumná zpráva prezentuje základní výsledky obsahové analýzy mediálního pokrytí tzv. migrační krize v online zpravodajství (Novinky, iDnes, ČT24.cz) v druhé polovině roku 2015, a konkrétně od 26. června do 31 října 2015.
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