VIOLENCE AND THE CAPITAL JURY - MECHANISMS OF MORAL DISENGAGEMENT ANDTHE IMPULSE TO CONDEMN TO DEATH

Unique social psychological conditions exist that enable capital juror s to contemplate, discuss, and take actions to bring about the death o f another. This article discusses Jive methods of moral disengagement in the context of existing capital trial procedures: the dehumanizatio n of the victim, the exaggeration of difference, the perception that o ne's actions are compelled by self-protection or self-defense, the min imization of the human consequences of one's actions, and the diffusio n of personal responsibility through reliance on instructional authori zation These mechanisms are essential to any system of democratically administered capital punishment that depends on ordinary citizens to o vercome deep-seated prohibitions against violence and assist in taking the life of a fellow citizen.