Browsing by Subject "nuoruusikä"

Purpose of the study. Moral disengagement is a cognitive ante hoc process which as a part of moral reasoning enables the individual to disengage self-sanctions (such as feelings of guilt and shame) from immoral conduct. Mechanisms of moral disengagement are activated selectively and it's presumed there are individual differences in the disposition to morally disengage. Dispositional moral engagement has been connected to a variety of immoral and antisocial behaviors, e.g. criminal behavior. Reciprocial connections between immoral conduct and moral disengagement have been previously hypothesized but so far the question has been mostly ignored. Purpose of this study is to extend current research and to test whether criminal behavior has an effect on subsequent moral disengagement. The effect of two different crime types is also examined. Design. The sample (n=1289) is a part of the longitudinal Pathways to Desistance study conducted in United States in which adjudicated youth (14-17 years old at baseline) were followed for seven years. Moral disengagement was measured with Mechanisms of Moral Disengagement scale and criminal behavior with SRO scale (Self-Report of Offending) in baseline and 10 follow-up points with a 6/12 month interval. The effects of criminal behavior on subsequent moral disengagement were modeled with multilevel models. The effects of two different crime types (aggressive vs. property) were examined separately. Results and conclusions. Criminal behavior predicted subsequent moral disengagement. Both aggressive crimes and property crimes predicted moral disengagement to the same degree. The results support the importance of studying the reciprocal relationships between immoral conduct and moral disengagement. It is pointed out that both the definition of moral disengagement and the presumed causal sequence in which repeated moral disengagement practices lead to individual disposition to morally disengage, and further to morally disengaged attitudes, needs to be subjected to scrutiny. The conclusion that immoral, namely criminal, behavior leads to moral disengagement is an important one and highlights the significance of early intervention.