TY - JOUR PY - 2020// TI - Mechanisms of moral disengagement used to justify school violence in Sicilian primary school JO - European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education A1 - Méndez, Inmaculada A1 - Liccardi, Giuseppa A1 - Ruiz-Esteban, Cecilia SP - 682 EP - 690 VL - 10 IS - 3 N2 - This study investigated the mechanisms of moral disengagement most commonly used to justify school violence in Sicilian primary school. The main objective of this study was to analyze the mechanisms of moral disengagement that are set in motion by those involved in situations of school violence (victims, aggressors, and bystanders) in Sicilian primary school. Likewise, the differences by gender and age are investigated. A total of 113 subjects in primary school were recruited (56.6% girls). The ages ranged from 8 to 11 (M = 9.56, SD = 0.99). The first scale used was the Bullying Inventory by Olweus (1993) in the Italian translation by Genta, Menesini, Fonzi, Costabile, and Smith (1996) and the questionnaire on moral disengagement developed by Caprara, Barbaranelli, Vicino, and Bandura (1996) is also used. The regression analysis showed that the sociodemographic variables and the mechanisms of moral disengagement are different depending on a person's role (aggressor, victim, or bystander). Moral justification predicted the role of victim in school violence, dehumanization predicted the role of the aggressor (and gender), and the disclosure of responsibility (and dehumanization) predicted the role of the bystander in school violence. The conclusions of this study will facilitate the prevention of school violence, for example, by promoting social integration and minimizing situations of school violence (emphasizing morality, ethics, etc.), thereby establishing balanced and satisfactory interpersonal relationships.

Language: en

LA - en SN - 2174-8144 UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/ejihpe10030050 ID - ref1 ER -