An approach of the moral disengagement through the moral content judgment

ABSTRACT

The goal of the present study was the best understanding of the development of mechanisms of moral disengagement. Participants were 281 athletes (males, n = 133, and females, n = 148) all involved in competitive sport (teams and individuals). Their ages ranged from 13 to 23 years (M = 15.01, SD = 2.29), while their experience ranged from 1 to15 years (M = 5.42, SD = 3.13). The participants filled out two questionnaires: the Moral Disengagement in Sport Scale (MDSS) and the Moral Content Judgment in Sport Questionnaire (MCJSQ). Results revealed significant differences in gender and a negative correlation between the three mechanisms of moral disengagement (advantageous comparison, non-responsibility, and attribution of blame) with age. Findings also revealed that the mechanisms of moral disengagement relationship with elements of moral content judgment was positive with egoistic utilitarianism/consequences and negative with fairness.     

Perception of Aggression as a Function of Ethnic Affiliation: Moral Judgment of Violence Among Jews and Arabs in Israel

Following previous findings which showed differences between Israeli citizens of Oriental and European descent in regards to moral judgment of aggression, a recent replication studied moral judgment in 358 ordinary Israeli citizens of Oriental (132 Jews and 121 Arabs) and of European (75 Jews) descent. Each participant was individually asked to imagine a series of incidents where a stimulus person inflicted (with little, some, or much intent) physical harm (little, some, or much) on another stimulus person. The participants rated the blameworthiness of the perpetrator's behavior in each of the nine incidents included in the complete bi-factorial design (3 × 3). It was found that Israelis of European descent tended to balance the weight of intent and damage while Israelis of Oriental descent from both ethnic-national backgrounds placed a greater emphasis on the damage that occurred. A psycho-sociological conception of the findings is suggested.     

Social work students dealing with moral dilemmas in the care for children and young people: an evaluation of moral case deliberation as an educational tool

Social work professionals face moral dilemmas. Evidence-based guidelines only partly help them to deal with these dilemmas. Recently, moral case deliberation (MCD) as a bottom-up aid has been successfully introduced into Dutch health care to help strengthen professional moral competence. This research investigates whether MCD can help future professionals caring for children and young people to deal with their dilemmas. Research questions are: (1) How do students evaluate two series of four MCD sessions related to moral dilemmas in cases they experienced in practice? and (2) Does MCD contribute to students’ ability to justify their decisions? Applying a mixed-method evaluation study, we found that students consider MCD highly important. They feel supported in their ability to justify decisions ethically. Most students value the challenge of thinking critically in MCD. However, some do not appreciate the uncertainties which come with this. One-third of the students prove able to justify their decisions ethically after attending MCD sessions. Robust conclusions about MCD as the cause of these results cannot be drawn on the basis of the study design. Suggestions are made for future research regarding the contribution of MCD to the development of competence in dealing better with moral dilemmas.     

An Interview with Margaret Topham

When asked to interview Margaret Topham for the Journal, my initial resolve was to avoid the “tell me the story of your life” approach. Further reflection, however, led me to start the interview with the more traditional discussion of Margaret's early career and the story of her initial involvement in family therapy. Margaret is part of the history of family therapy in Australia and New Zealand, and the story needs to be told and recorded. To fail to do so would be unfair to Margaret and to the Antipodean family therapy movement. There are a number of ways an interview can be written up for publication. I have chosen to transcribe the tape of our discussion, and then to stick as closely as possible to a verbatim account of what Margaret had to say.     

An Interview with Maurizio Andolfi

This interview was completed in Rome, Italy, on June 12, 1986. Maurizio Andolfi has evolved into one of the most creative family therapists regarding the use of self and metaphorical objects in the therapy process. For readers familiar with his interview in the American Journal of Family Therapy, 1981, (9)2, and his book, Family Therapy: Interactional Family Therapy, (1979), New York: Plenum, and Behind the Family Mask, (1983), New York: Brunner/Mazel, this interview reflects some of these changes and should provide interesting reading.     

An Interview with Chess Master Zhu Chen

An Unforgettable Championship Interviewer (I): Before the Chinese Women'sChess Team won its first team title in the 33rd InternationalOlympic Chess Competition held in Russia in October 1998, allof you thought the competition would be stiff, didn't you?ZHU CHEN (Zh): We had scored only moderately well againstthe Lithuanian, German and Czechoslovakian teams, whichworried our coach and captain so much that they encouraged usto fight with the spirit the Chinese people had shown incombating the floods in 1998. So you can see how difficult the     

An Interview with John D. Morgan

A pioneer in the death awareness movement, Dr. John D. Morgan deals with a wide range of topics in the field of death and bereavement as an educator, author, lecturer, and program organizer. In 1997, he received an award from the Association for Death Education and Counseling for his work in death education. Born in San Francisco and holding a doctorate from the University of Southern California, Dr. Morgan has resided in Canada since 1963. He is Professor of Philosophy, King's College, University of Western Ontario, and Coordinator of the King's College Centre for Education about Death and Bereavement. Dr. Morgan introduced the formal study of death and bereavement to Canadian universities in 1967 at Loyola College in Montreal. It is believed to be the first regularly scheduled course about death taught anywhere. He has designed and coordinates what has become an extremely successful interdisciplinary program about death and bereavement at King's College. The King's College-University of Western Ontario Certificate in Palliative Care and Thanatology is one of only a handful of such programs in North America.     

Habits of the heart revisited: Autonomy,community, and divinity in adults' moral language

The intent of this article is to raise anew the question of the extent to which individualism prevails in the moral vocabulary of Americans. The present study affirms the observation of Bellah and his colleagues that a language of individualism is common among middle-class Americans. However, it departs from their conclusion that this language has become preponderant. Analyses of thirty in-depth interviews about a variety of moral issues revealed that the moral language of young middle-class adults indeed centered on the rights, interests, and feelings of the individual. However, this was not the language of midlife and older adults. They spoke of community and divinity considerations as much as individualistic considerations.     

Hearts and Minds and Morality: Analyzing Moral Vocabularies in Qualitative Studies

A strategy of analyzing the moral vocabulary of a social movement or subculture is proposed by which ethnographies and other qualitative works may place the moral and ethical concepts used by respondents into a broader sociological context. Through examining the moral resources, the status hierarchy which the specific moral resources within a given moral vocabulary form, and the historical and cultural contexts within which these moral resources exist, it is argued that it becomes possible to analyze and anticipate the moral claims and form of discourse which will be produced by a specific movement and/or subculture. It is also argued that this method may be used to predict how the opposition to a movement and/or subculture is perceived through the formation of an antithetical moral vocabulary.     

Developing intercultural understanding and skills: models and approaches

Researchers from a range of disciplines have been theorising and empirically examining intercultural competence and intercultural education for decades. This review article synthesises the research literature about these concepts around three questions: What is intercultural competence? How can it be developed? And how can it be measured? Our aim is to provide an overview of current theories and empirical findings, as well as to show gaps in the literature.     

Editor's Choice: An Interview with Hans Joas

The interview explores multiple aspects of social theory, most of them directly related to Joas's theory and others to symbolic interactionism and Goffman. The first part delves into Joas's theory in three respects. First, a clarifying note on a common misunderstanding about his book The Creativity of Action. Second, a clarification on the scope of his theoretical endeavor, and third, a look into his coming books to have a better grasp of the course that his theory is taking. The second part is dedicated to symbolic interactionism and Goffman. Firstly, Joas's opinion about the theoretical relationship between symbolic interactionism and macrosociology is emphasized, secondly, his opinion about the pertinence of locating Goffman within symbolic interactionism is stated, and thirdly, a brief commentary about the relationship between Joas's theory and Goffman's is introduced.