Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement Used to Justify School Violence in Sicilian Primary School

Bibliographic Data

ID16946320
AuthorsInmaculada Méndez Mateo (0000-0001-8458-5314, Universidad de Murcia), Giuseppa Liccardi (Universidad de Murcia), Cecilia Ruiz Esteban (0000-0002-5836-331X, Universidad de Murcia, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume10
Issue3
Pages682-690
Publication date2020-06-29
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueEuropean Journal of Investigation in Health, Psychology and Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2174-8144 • E-ISSN: 2254-9625
PublisherMDPI AG (PUBLISHER • IT)
DOI10.3390/ejihpe10030050
PMID34542504
OpenAlexW3039603182
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited21

This study investigated the mechanisms of moral disengagement most commonly used to justify school violence in Sicilian primary school. The main objective of this study was to analyze the mechanisms of moral disengagement that are set in motion by those involved in situations of school violence (victims, aggressors, and bystanders) in Sicilian primary school. Likewise, the differences by gender and age are investigated. A total of 113 subjects in primary school were recruited (56.6% girls). The ages ranged from 8 to 11 (M = 9.56, SD = 0.99). The first scale used was the Bullying Inventory by Olweus (1993) in the Italian translation by Genta, Menesini, Fonzi, Costabile, and Smith (1996) and the questionnaire on moral disengagement developed by Caprara, Barbaranelli, Vicino, and Bandura (1996) is also used. The regression analysis showed that the sociodemographic variables and the mechanisms of moral disengagement are different depending on a person’s role (aggressor, victim, or bystander). Moral justification predicted the role of victim in school violence, dehumanization predicted the role of the aggressor (and gender), and the disclosure of responsibility (and dehumanization) predicted the role of the bystander in school violence. The conclusions of this study will facilitate the prevention of school violence, for example, by promoting social integration and minimizing situations of school violence (emphasizing morality, ethics, etc.), thereby establishing balanced and satisfactory interpersonal relationships

Dehumanization · Developmental psychology · Disengagement theory · Interpersonal communication · Moral disengagement · Morality · Political science · Sicilian · Sociology · Bullying, Victimization, and Aggression · Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development · Medicine · Orthoptera Research and Taxonomy · Psychology · Social Psychology

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access