RT Article
T1 Violent Extremism and Moral Disengagement: A Study of Colombian Armed Groups
JF Journal of interpersonal violence
VO 37
IS 1/2
SP 423
OP 448
A1 Blanco Abarca, Amalio
A2 Davies-Rubio, Amanda
A2 De la Corte, Luis
A2 Mirón, Lourdes
LA English
YR 2022
UL https://krimdok.uni-tuebingen.de/Record/1783530103
AB Violent extremism is commonly conditioned by a variety of psychological processes and mechanisms that when activated or deactivated aid implication in extreme behavior, including destructive actions with a large dose of cruelty against people and groups. One of those processes is moral disengagement, which was originally postulated by Bandura. To test this relationship, the present research focused on studying these mechanisms in members of Colombian illegal armed groups. Total sample size was 18 (14 males and four females) demobilized members of the Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia [AUC]) and guerrilla organizations (Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia [FARC], National Liberation Army [ELN], among others), which had participated directly or indirectly in violent actions against people and groups, which included murders, tortures, and massacres. Qualitative methodology was used, specifically in-depth interviews and content analysis. This analysis led to the verification in the narratives of the participants of the use of all the mechanisms of moral disengagement described by Bandura aiming to justify their behavior within the armed group. The most noteworthy mechanisms were those that minimized participation (especially, attributing behavior to obeying orders: displacement of responsibility) and moral justification, especially, the context of confrontation. Moral disengagement processes are found in armed group members (such as insurgency, terrorist organizations, or militias). These mechanisms cancel ordinary psychological reactions of rejection, fear, and moral controls that oppose the carrying out of cruelty and extreme violence.
K1 Violent offenders
K1 Homicide
K1 Hate crimes
K1 community violence
K1 War
DO 10.1177/0886260520913643