Neuroscience of Justified Violence
نویسندگان
چکیده
Despite moral prohibitions on hurting other humans, some social contexts allow for harmful actions such as the killing of others. One example is warfare, where killing enemy soldiers is seen as morally justified. Yet, the neural underpinnings distinguishing between justified and unjustified killing are largely unknown. To improve understanding of the neural processes involved in justified and unjustified killing, participants had to imagine being the perpetrator whilst watching “first-person perspective” animated videos where they shot enemy soldiers (‘justified violence’) and innocent civilians (‘unjustified violence’). When participants imagined themselves shooting civilians compared to soldiers, greater activation was found in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex (OFC). Regression analysis revealed that the more guilt participants felt about shooting civilians, the greater the response in the lateral OFC. Effective connectivity analyses further revealed an increased coupling between lateral OFC and the tempoparietal junction (TPJ) when shooting civilians. The results show that the neural mechanisms typically implicated with harming others, such as the OFC, become less active when the violence against a particular group is seen as justified. This study therefore provides unique insight into how normal individuals can become aggressors in specific situations. by gest on N ovem er 8, 2016 http://scaordjournals.org/ D ow nladed from
منابع مشابه
The neural correlates of justified and unjustified killing: an fMRI study.
Despite moral prohibitions on hurting other humans, some social contexts allow for harmful actions such as killing of others. One example is warfare, where killing enemy soldiers is seen as morally justified. Yet, the neural underpinnings distinguishing between justified and unjustified killing are largely unknown. To improve understanding of the neural processes involved in justified and unjus...
متن کاملUnderstanding women's attitudes towards wife beating in Zimbabwe.
OBJECTIVE To investigate the factors associated with attitudes towards wife beating among women in partnerships in Zimbabwe in order to assist public health practitioners in preventing intimate partner violence (IPV). METHODS A nationally representative survey of 5907 women of reproductive age (15-49 years) was conducted in Zimbabwe. Women were asked about their attitudes towards wife beating...
متن کاملعدالت ترمیمی؛ واکنشی مناسب در حمایت از آسیبهای روانی و جسمانی زنان بزهدیده خشونت خانگی
Today, the occurrence of mental and physical injuries by domestic violence against women is among the most frequent crimes committed in any society according to available statistics. This high rate of domestic violence against women undoubtedly requires the government intervention as an institution created to ensure the safety of citizens and their protection. Therefore, the present writing hav...
متن کاملShould Health Professionals Screen All Women for Domestic Violence?
BACKGROUND TO THE DEBATE The US and Canadian task forces on preventive health recently declared that there is not enough evidence to recommend for or against routine universal screening of women for domestic violence. Yet some experts argue that routine enquiry is justified.
متن کامل