Reframing executions as skilled craftsmanship lets executioners suspend moral self-censure

Evidence

The depersonalization of executions through pride in operational proficiency is illustrated by the last British hangman. (Great Britain permanently abolished the death penalty in 1969.) Hooding the offenders helped neutralize the execution process by stripping them of any personhood. “He was a crafts-man, like a carpenter,” the hangman’s widow explained to reporters. “He took pride in his job but he wasn’t a callous man” (Associated Press, 1994). … His self-esteem was linked to the speed he brought to his task: “Nobody suffered, he was very quick,” his widow explained. Indeed, he took special pride in achieving the fastest execution time, seven seconds. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2017

Categorization

• CANDY: The pride-in-fastest-7-second-execution detail is light, quotable conversation material.
• SHARE: Would delight anyone interested in the psychology of executioners or death-penalty practice.
• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 2017