Moral disengagement operates even within institutions that sanction morality

Evidence

Moral disengagement in the cover-up of these sex crimes is analyzed in some detail because litigation yielded a large body of church documents for analysis. Moreover, moral disengagement by major religious institutions that are considered arbiters of morality is an astonishing paradox that defies explanation. The widespread sexual transgressions by clergy testify to the power of moral disengagement to override the sanctions of conscience. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 491

Categorization

• XREF: Parallels the vault’s claims about how institutions claiming moral authority (Cooper’s social conservatism, religious respectability politics) enable harmful policy toward out-groups.
• DEEPTHINKING: The paradox that arbiters of morality are themselves moral disengagers undermines the assumption that moral authority protects against rationalization.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 491