Dehumanization - Dehumanization in Science, Medicine, and Technology

Dehumanization in Science, Medicine, and Technology

Relatively recent history has seen the relationship between dehumanization and science result in unethical scientific research. The Tuskegee syphilis experiment and Nazi human experimentation on Jews are two such examples. In the former, Black Americans with syphilis were recruited to participate in a study about the course of the disease. Even when treatment and a cure were eventually developed, they were withheld from the Black participants so that researchers could continue their study. Similarly, Nazi scientists conducted horrific experiments on Jewish people during the Holocaust. Dehumanization of these groups justified the research. When this research came to light, efforts were made to protect participants of future research, and currently Institutional Review Boards exist to safeguard individuals from being taken advantage of by scientists.

In a medical context, the passage of time has served to make some practices more acceptable, not less. While dissections of human cadavers was seen as dehumanizing in the Dark Ages (see Medieval anatomy), the value of dissections as a training aid is such that they are now more widely accepted. Dehumanization has been associated with modern medicine generally, and specifically, has been suggested as a coping mechanism for doctors who work with patients at the end of life.

From the patient point of view, in some states in America, controversial legislation requires that a woman view the ultrasound image of her fetus before being able to have an abortion. Critics of the law argue that simply seeing an image of the fetus humanizes it, and biases women against abortion. Similarly, a recent study showed that subtle humanization of medical patients appears to improve care for these patients. Radiologists evaluating X-rays reported more details to patients and expressed more empathy when a photo of the patient’s face accompanied the X-rays. It appears that inclusion of the photos counteracts the dehumanization of the medical process.

Dehumanization has applications outside traditional social contexts. Anthropomorphism, perceiving mental and physical capacities that reflect humans in nonhuman beings, is the inverse of dehumanization, which occurs when characteristics that apply to humans are denied to other humans. Waytz, Epley, and Cacioppo suggest that the inverse of the factors that facilitate dehumanization (e.g. high status, power, and social connection) should facilitate anthropomorphism. That is, a low status, socially disconnected man without power should be more likely to attribute human qualities to pets or electronics than a high-status, high-power, socially connected woman.

Researchers have found that engaging in violent video game play diminishes perceptions of both our own humanity and the humanity of the players who are targets of the violence in the games. While the players are dehumanized, the video game characters that play them are likely anthropomorphized.