The Pervasive Brutalisation of Society

Surveys among various occupations have brought to light a frightening phenomenon: violence against officials and public servants. This affect mayors and firefighters, but also bailiffs, staff at job centres and even referees in amateur leagues.

Wilhelm Heitmeyer has researched misanthropy and violence in a number of highly acclaimed studies. He analyses them in the context of the economisation of the social, the loss of control and an increasing sense of disorientation. In his new book, Heitmeyer traces how brutalisation and violence permeate everyday life. And he asks how such behaviour is influenced by brutalised structures in institutions.