Wrongdoers minimize culpability by calling crimes routine housekeeping

Evidence

Arthur Andersen was convicted of obstructing justice for shredding Enron audit documents. They trivialized their actions by portraying the shredding as “routine housekeeping.” David Duncan, who had led the Enron audit team, shifted responsibility for the shredding to institutional pressure. — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement, 1449

Categorization

• corroborated: 2 independent passages support this claim — Albert Bandura, Moral Disengagement: How People Do Harm…, 1449