Negotiated Harms in Moralized Policies: The Case of Duterte’s War on Drugs

Abstract: Viewing a policy as harmful can lead to its moral condemnation. However, this harmfulness can be constructed and negotiated to lead to different moral positions by building upon available, accessible, and relevant discourses. This study examined how individuals constructed and negotiated harm in moral reasoning about a contentious policy, Philippine President Duterte’s war on drugs, locally known as tokhang. We conducted thematic analysis with attention to discourse to analyze interviews with 12 Filipino young adults, using the Theory of Dyadic Morality as a starting point to make sense of constructions of harm. Reasoning about tokhang showed different constructions of intentional agents and vulnerable victims serving as the basis for moral positions. Moral condemnation of the war on drugs emphasized the vulnerability of its victims and the intentionality of the government and police as agents. On the other hand, moral justification of the policy constructed drug war victims as age.... https://jspp.psychopen.eu/index.php/jspp/article/view/5623

Object Details

• Location: Deutsche Nationalbibliothek Frankfurt am Main
• Extent: Online-Ressource
• Language: Englisch

References and Relationships

• Bibliographic citation: Negotiated Harms in Moralized Policies: The Case of Duterte’s War on Drugs ; volume:10 ; number:2 ; day:12 ; month:10 ; year:2022 ; Journal of social and political psychology ; 10, Heft 2 (12.10.2022)

Contributors, Places and Time

• Creator: Ochoa, Danielle P. ; Ong, Michelle G.

Further information

• DOI: 10.5964/jspp.5623
• URN: urn:nbn:de:101:1-2022102905113535307135
• Rights: Open Access; Der Zugriff auf das Objekt ist unbeschränkt möglich.
• Last update: 15.08.2025, 7:31 AM CEST