Corporate criminals must neutralize self-disapproval before engaging in illegal conduct

Evidence

The loss of corporate profits through competitive undercutting was the main justification for devising the scheme to fix prices and rig bids. Because this remedy relied on illegal methods, it had to be implemented surreptitiously to avoid legal detection. Those taking part in the scheme also had the vexing psychological problem of how to retain their self-respect while engaging in criminal conduct. This required sanitizing the illegal behavior and diminishing personal responsibility for it. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1388

Categorization

• DEFINE: Sets up the chapter’s core psychological puzzle: the conscience must be disengaged before wrongdoing, not after — the self-sanction must be pre-emptively set aside.