People do not ordinarily engage in harmful conduct until they have justified to themselves the morality of their actions. In this process of moral justification, detrimental conduct is made personally and socially acceptable by portraying it as serving socially worthy or moral purposes. People then can act on a moral imperative and preserve their view of themselves as moral agents while inflicting harm on others.
No disease infects the mind more easily than excuses for harming others. No illness leads to as much suffering and death as excuses for harming others.
- Moral Justifications — It was done for a greater good. We were defending our values. We were protecting our society. We were purifying or improving our society.
- Comparisons to Something Worse — Other people have done worse things. They did worse things to us. Other societies treat people much worse than we do.
- Euphemistic Labels — It sounds better when it is called something else. We did not get revenge; we got justice. We did not verbally assault them; we expressed righteous anger.
- Minimized Consequences — It was not that bad. They were not killed. They only suffered for a short time. It only happened one time.
- Dehumanizing Those Who Are Harmed — It was done to one of “them.” Why care what happens to them? They are sinners. They are criminals. They are savages, monsters, and animals.
- Blaming Those Who Are Harmed — They deserved it. It is their fault. They brought it on themselves. They got what was coming to them.
- Passing Responsibility to Others — We did what we were told to do. We were just walking orders. We were just doing what our leaders told us to do.
- Spreading Responsibility — Everyone was doing it. Why single me out? I am no different than all the other people doing it. It was what people normally did.
- Normalizing Violence — This is just how the world works. Violence is an effective and legitimate form of human behavior.
Making excuses for harm has two main outcomes. First, making excuses for harm allows people to avoid feeling responsible for their actions. It lets people continue to think of themselves as caring and kind people even while they neglect or hurt others. Second, making excuses for harm others prevents people from stopping their harmful actions. They see no need to stop harming others. Both of these outcomes are unhelpful.
I therefore do not take excuses for harm lightly. Little by little a person becomes filled with harmful intentions, just as a pot is filled by drops of water.
I do my best to resist and oppose excuses for harming others. If I realize that I am making excuses for harming others, or someone points out that I am making excuses, then I stop making those excuses. I reflect on how I became caught up in making excuses for harming others. I restore my mind and renew my commitment to protecting others from harm.
- Albert Bandura (1999). Moral Disengagement in the Perpetration of Inhumanities. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 3: 193-209. Quote taken from page 194.