In the wrong hands

The power of deindividuation has been proven through the extent of atrocities that its victims are propelled to execute. Yet it is a process that can be initiated by man, too often for the wrong purpose.

But how do they do it?

One of the most effective methods is forming a group to promote group identity and erase self-awareness, or creating and sustaining anonymity. It can be accomplished through alienation, or persuasion.

Alienation occurs when a group of people are brought together, cut off from the outer world and forced to interact strictly within a closed circle. Gradually, these members will forsake their past, their own values, ideology, and adopt the group's belief as their own. This belief, of course, will be imposed by the very same power that has brought them together. In other words, the authority has transformed the people's perception of the norms, and of what is right and wrong into their own perception. In short, they bring people together, then plant their belief in the people's mind.

Persuasion, on the other hand, is the reverse process. It starts with the implantation of a belief. Once people have adopted the same values, they will come together voluntarily. Such was the case of the Japanese soldiers in WWII, whose nationalism brought them together. Thus, it is often accomplished most successfully by the best public speakers who can spark common trust and provoke action, like the case of Adolf Hitler and the Nazi. Once brought together, their self-identity is taken over by the group identity. They the collective awareness as their own awareness. In both cases, the same result is produced: anonymity and group pride is created.

The use of masks or other means to cover oneself has also been noted to have an important effect on creating anonymity. Once covered up, an individual feels the security of being able to blend in and not called on personally. Every member of the group is the same as one another, thus ensuring anonymity, which offers protection from personal consequences. This can be seen in the example of Ku Klux Klan and their white masks.

Deindividuation is a social process that can be created artificially. History has seen its power being used in the wrong way by the wrong hands - discriminating, mobbing, lynching, mass killing and even the wipe-out of a race.