The bad-apples framing deflects blame from systemic causes

Evidence

Officials denied awareness of what was going on, absolving the upper echelon of any responsibility. Because administration officials blamed the problem on a few “bad apples,” only guards did prison time. Many of the very officials who were the architects and enablers of the costly Iraq war and the resulting abusive practices received high national honors and career advancement. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2410 (#expands, via linked claim)

In response to the Boesky case, some young traders shifted the blame to isolated “bad apples.” “It’s like knowing someone with cancer. You feel it for awhile. But say to yourself, ‘Hey, it’s not me,’ and you go on” (Martz, Powell, McCormick, Thomas, & Starr, 1986). Given the excesses on Wall Street, some of the elders in the business viewed the blurring of the line between right and wrong as pervasive. As one of the elders put it, “The ‘bad apples’ speeches are crap.” — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1431 (#expands, via linked claim)

Categorization

• XREF: connects to: The atomic threat deflects public criticism away from causes inside industrial society; Elite economists blamed poverty on the supposed deficiencies of the poor themselves — Clara E. Mattei, Escape from Capitalism, 226; Data extraction costs fall hardest on the vulnerable under a moralistic blame frame. — Nick Couldry & Ulises A. Mejias, The Costs of Connection: How Data Is…, 608 (+21 more)

Broader Connections

• Attributing systemic abuse to a few bad apples protects architects from accountability #expands (0.95) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 2410
• Perpetrators deflect systemic wrongdoing onto isolated bad apples #expands (0.93) — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1431