An article in the Science section of the N.Y. Times reports on research conducted by psychologists at Stanford University on the effects of executions on prison staff. After interviewing nearly 250 prison staff members from three states, the researchers concluded that those who participate in execution teams exhibit high levels of “moral disengagement,” which one of the researchers described as the “ability to selectively engage and disengage our moral standards.” The study found that the closer staff members are to the execution, the higher their level of disengagement goes. According to the study, moral disengagement provides individuals with a buffer from their own consciences so that they can commit acts that their own moral character would otherwise find unpalatable. Members of the execution team were found to be far more likely than guards not on the team to agree that the inmates had lost important human qualities and to favor religious support for the sentence: “an eye for an eye.” The study was published last year in the journal of Law and Human Behavior. (New York Times, February 7, 2006). See Resources.

Citation Guide