221536129-Moral disengagement and Dehumanization

Acts of violence occur around the world daily. It makes us think that it is easy to commit
acts of violence towards other people even though it is hard for most of us. It is hard for
us to commit violence because a majority of the population grew up learning morals,
morals that shape our behaviors and beliefs. These morals also help us not to commit
violence. Individuals that commit violent acts tend to view their victim as not being like
them the victims are usually viewed as being part of an outgroup (DeAngelis, 2001).
There are many different reasons and why people commit violence, two ways individuals
commit violence is through moral disengagement and dehumanization.
Moral disengagement is when an individual goes against their personal morals (Alvarez
& Bachman, 2008). Some people go against their own morals because of peer pressure,
or lack of self-control, stress, and anger. The Europeans tried to conform the lifestyles of
the Natives and would treat them as if they were less than human. Dehumanization is
when an individual can view another person to be less than human (Alvarez & Bachman,
2008). For example, the European military invaded Africa, where the Natives have been
living their whole lives.
Individuals that disengage their morals do not take personal responsibility for the harm
they cause to others (Alvarez & Bachman, 2008). Moral disengagement and
dehumanization are large influences in violent behavior and they allow the perpetrator to
not empathize with their victim. People that use moral disengagement tend to justify their
violent behavior because they do not empathize with their victims (Alvarez & Buchanan,
2008). Perpertrators that dehumanize their victims think of their victims by thinking of
them as being subhuman (Marsella, 2007). Dehumanization and moral disengagement are
learned behaviors. Young children are easily influenced and they couldve learned these
behaviors from their parents, or other relatives, teachers, or peers. Those people that
commit those violent acts are most likely troubled or disturbed due to childhood
experiences of some sort of abuse (DeAngelis, 2001).
Moral disengagement and dehumanization are mostly associated with hate crimes and
war. In times of war, the soldiers abandon their normal social restraints and view the
enemy in a dehumanizing manner in order for them to kill their enemy with such ease
(Marsella, 2007). Some unjustifiable acts of violence committed by the military include
rapes, unjustified murders and stabbings, mutilations, insertions, burying people alive,
burning their victims and beheadings (Marsella, 2007). It is hard to believe that some
humans are capable of these crimes, but in times of war these behaviors are often justified
(Marsella, 2007). Individuals are motivated to commit hate crimes because they to tend
look for someone to blame after encountering a problem (DeAngelis, 2001). Hate crimes
and war are not the only violent encounters that moral disengagement and dehumanizing
are involved in.
Individuals that abuse their spouse or intimate partners also have those characteristics.
Abuse usually includes ongoing pattern of behavior, attitudes, and beliefs in which a
partner in an intimate relationship attempts to maintain power and control over the other
through the use of psychological, physical and/or sexual coercion (Harway, 2002). I
believe in order to commit any sort of violent act individuals must obtain characteristics
such as moral disengagement and dehumanization, without these there is no way a
normal individual can commit such heinous crimes against other human beings.
Real-Life Example
Soon after the September 11, 2001 terrorist bombings in New York City there was a
flood of racial hate crimes towards Arabic and Middle Eastern people spread across the
United States. Americans were very threatened by them, especially in airport situations.
And because Americans fear them so much, they commit hate crimes toward those
people. Along post 9/11 there was a CNN.com news article: Hate crime reports up in
wake of terrorist attacks, where a stream of hate crimes invaded the East Coast and
Southern States.
In order for these Americans to commit those hate crimes against people that shared the
same race, ethnicity or religious beliefs of the terrorists from the 9/11 bombings they
would have to think of those people as less than human as an unequal individual. And in
committing those acts of violence people disengage from their moral standard beliefs in
life and learn to hate. From Queens, New York to Texas to Oklahoma City there have
been hate crimes and murders spread worldwide. These are normal every day American
citizens that are being terrorized in their own home countries for things they were not a
part of and had nothing to do with all because they share similar qualities, all of that is
nothing but discrimination and hatred. Discrimination and hatred is something this
country has been battling since its existence. It started with the Europeans killing and
taking the land from Native Americans, Africans were taken from their home of Africa
and being enslaved by White European men that discovered a new country. Then the
freedom of slaves came because generations of Americans started to build up their moral
beliefs. After World War II people then came to discriminate against the Japanese
Americans or even Asians or people assumed were to be of Japanese descent. Then after
World War II, the discrimination against African Americans due to the civil rights
movement, soon after was the feminist rights movement. Then after 9/11 it was the
Middle Eastern Americans and now today in May, 2010 the Mexicans and Mexican
Americans are batting a racial profiling law that profoundly impacted the State of
Arizona and its neighboring states. We should learn from our past discriminations that
dehumanization is only a quality that leads to violence. And moral disengagement has
seriously shadowed the minds of Americans. Americans are committing crimes against
people they do not know because they are not them or they are similar to other people.
Example Columbine

Eric Harris and Dylan Klebolds personalitys both have been fabricated for years. Harris
and Klebold are best known for being the teenage students that terrorized Columbine
High School. They were sociopaths with a near to normal adolescence. There is no way
of knowing if Harris or Klebold even had morals but they didnt just wake up one day
and decide to shoot up their school, it was something that was planned for over a year.
(Toppo, 2009)
There were incorrect reports or Harris and Kelbold that claimed they were part of the
trench coat mafia. (Hate Crime Reports up in Wake of Terrorist Attacks, 2001)Harris and
Klebold were also not bullied or picked on like the public was lead to believe, they
portrayed themselves as normal teenagers that picked on freshmen, went on dates, and
worked a part-time after school job (Toppo, 2009). On the contrary, they were far from
being normal teenagers; they were most likely suffering from depression and therefore I
believe it would be easy for them to disengage from their morals.
The public was lied to by students with cell phones that didnt really know anything why
the crimes were committed and the reporters that reported these stories printed anything
they got whether it was a legitimate story or not (Chen, 2009). The public would call Eric
Harris and Dylan Klebold names like odd and weird to trying and put them in
different categories as other students. The public was actually trying to dehumanize them,
they were trying to show that only a dehumanized person would commit and think of
such heinous crimes (Chen, 2009).
As long as there is moral disengagement and dehumanization there will be violence and
crime. These qualities either one or both put people aside from the normalitys of life. It
allows people to do and think of unspeakable violent acts. How can leaders of countries
promote peace if they all engage in war? The answer is you cant have both.
References

Alvarez, A. & Bachman, R. Violence the Enduring Problem. 2008.

Chen, S. (2009). Debunking the myths of Columbine, 10 years later. Retrieved May 2010
CNN.com: http://www.cnn.com/2009/CRIME/04/20/columbine.myths/
DeAngelis, T. (2001). Understanding and Preventing Hate Crimes. Retrieved May 2010
from psycinfo.com: http://www.apa.org/monitor/nov01/hatecrimes.aspx
Harway, M., Geffner, R., Ivey, D., Koss, M., Murphy, B.C., Mio, J.S. & ONeil, J. M.
(2002). Retried May 2010 from psycinfo.com:
http://www.apa.org/pi/women/programs/violence/partner-violence.pdf
Marsella, J. (2007). The Heart of the Darkness. Retrieved May 2007 from psycinfo.com:
http://www.apa.org/pubs/books/dutton.pdf
Toppo, G. (2009). 10 year later, the real story behind Columbine. Retrieved April 2010
from usatoday.com: http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-
myths_N.htm

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