Table 2.

Moral disengagement strategies

Disengagement strategy	Description
Moral justification	The behaviour has a higher moral purpose
Euphemistic labelling	The behaviour is redefined to liberate perpetrators from guilt
Advantageous comparison	The behaviour is absolved from fault by comparison to a worse outcome
Displacement of responsibility	Blaming another party
Diffusion of responsibility	Spreading the blame
Disregarding injurious consequences	–
Dehumanisation	The victim is no longer seen as human and is morally excluded

*Moral disengagement strategies used to justify inhumane behaviour (adapted from Bandura 1999)