This tends to get progressively worse in the wizarding world as Voldemort regains power. You have the two warring sides, the Order and the Death Eaters, and then everyone else is caught in between milling about. They might as well be helping the Death Eaters, since large amounts of them are swallowing the Prophet whole and would turn on friends, neighbors, etc. to help themselves out.

Umbridge takes it a step further and starts to believe that her own ends (which she confuses with the Ministry's ends) justify any means necessary. This is what disguts me so much about her. She, unsanctioned, sent dementors after a child in suburban London because he represented a contradictory viewpoint to the Ministry and it had to be stopped. Nearly kills a muggle and the wizard child. She then interjects herself into the school and proceeds to torture children by cutting into them for ink to teach them a true and valuable lesson. Force feeds potions to students to get them to inform on friends. I never get the impression that she thinks she's even crossed a moral line somewhere along the way. Oh, I love to hate her. ' />