Instrumental violence driven by expected gain bypasses moral restraint via deliberate strategy

Evidence

People do not have to be emotionally distressed to resort to violent means (Bandura, 1973). Many instances of human violence are motivated by the expected benefits of such behavior. For example, many homicides result from disputes over locality rights to lucrative drug dealerships. Self-efficacy in plying criminal trades supports the use of premeditated murder to maintain and expand control over profitable activities. Those who plan to commit murder devote their time to devising strategies to avoid getting caught rather than weighing possible legal consequences of their actions. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1961

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 1961