Moral Disengagement

Contents

TOC o “1-3” h z u Behavioral theories PAGEREF _Toc378180673 h 1Albert Bandura’s model of moral disengagement PAGEREF _Toc378180674 h 2

Within the society today there are different people with their own different behaviors. Some might turn out to be meaningful people but others end up being a bother to the society. This paper will look out moral disengagement in the society.it will explain using behavioral theories why a person is more likely to drop out of the society to become a terrorist as opposed to dropping out to become a hermit or monk.it will also focus on Albert Bandura’s model of moral disengagement and explain some techniques that might be used to justify the use of violence by individuals.

Behavioral theoriesWhen we look at the society today more and more people are getting involved in terrorist behavior as opposed to becoming monks or hermits. The likely hood of an individual becoming a terrorist is high compared to the same individual becoming a monk or hermit. This can be explained using behavioral theories. Behavioral theories give a demonstration of how conditioning can be used in learning new behaviors or information. Behaviorism is a learning theory that is based on the fact that all behaviors are got through conditioning.one of the behavioral theories that can be used to explain why more people are becoming terrorists is operant conditioning. This is also referred to as instrumental conditioning which is a learning method that takes place through punishments and rewards for behaviors. Through operant conditioning there is an association between a particular behavior and consequence for that behavior (Cherry, 2012).

Individuals are likely to develop a behavior of being terrorist due to the rewards they associate it with. For instance terrorists might get money through when they execute their acts of terrorism. When one is hired as a terrorist they are promised large sums of money.it is this reward that most of the people who get involved with terrorist activities that attracts them into this behavior and hence they end up developing it. There are very few rewards if any of being a monk or hermit. Therefore people are less attracted to this and are less likely to become monks or hermits.

Albert Bandura’s model of moral disengagementThis is a theory developed by Albert Bandura that seeks to make an analysis of the means by which people rationalize their unjust or unethical actions. This can be achieved through various justifications such as euphemistic labeling, moral justification, and attribution to blame or advantageous comparison (Kathiemm, 2010).All these are the techniques that people use when it comes to justifying their violence.

One of the mechanisms used to justify violence is moral justification. Through this technique those that engage in violent or injurious conduct justify their actions using morality.to this people any act of violence they perform is considered as service to humanity or for the general good of the society. For instance people catch a thief and engage in violence through mob justice claiming that they are helping the society deal with thieves. But in the real sense they are justifying their violence through morality. Violence might also be made palatable through the euphemistic labeling technique. Here the violence perpetrators use euphemistic terms which appear and sound less negative or might be taken as positive in order for them to make their actions look less harmful. This type of labeling also acts as a limit or a way of reducing their responsibility to the particular action. When it comes to the technique of advantageous comparison, people who take part in acts that can be reprehended make it seem less objectible through making comparison with something that can be taken as being worse. An example is the justification of attacks on unarmed groups by indicating their potential threat to the society at large. This violence that is unprovoked against small groups is in most cases justified by this advantageous comparison theory (Kathiemm, 2010)

References

Kathiemm, N. (2010).Moral disengagement –introduction. Retrieved August 9, 2013 from http://engagingpeace.com/?p=31 Cherry, K. (2012).Introduction to operant conditioning. Retrieved August 9, 2013 from http://psychology.about.com/od/behavioralpsychology/a/introopcond.htm