Negotiating Human Rights Abuses through the Moral Foundations Theory: An Attempt to Understand the Moral Motivations behind the Male Guardianship System in Saudi Arabia, Female Genital Modification, and Child Marriage.

The idea that there are universal human rights that can, and should, be enforced has been an increasingly wide-spread and popular belief, as well as a controversial one. Concerns of cultural relativism contrasted with stances of universalism spark an impassioned debate that permeates the dialogue of human rights today in all spheres: social, academic, and even those professional spheres that are tasked with creating and enforcing the laws regarding these issues. What does psychology have to say about this? After all, if it is a universal phenomenon, it must span across time, culture, and difference, and there must be trends in our human nature or similarities in our psychology that allow us to claim universality. One psychological theory, the Moral Foundations Theory (MFT) can help shed light on this issue. MFT holds that universally, as human beings, we share five grounds of moral foundations on which we make our judgments and take action: Care/Harm, Fairness/Cheating, Authority/Submissiveness, Sanctity/Degradation, and Loyalty/Betrayal. While we are all born with the capability to act and reason on these, our cultures shape us to emphasize different foundations and it is in that shift that conflict arises. What one group sees as right, and based in moral justification, another sees as wrong and as a violation of human rights. This paper attempts to use MFT to understand the moral foundations underlying three case studies of practices internationally seen as human rights abuses, female genital modification, child marriage, and male guardianship in Saudi Arabia, and provides suggestions for methods of effective intervention based in MFT. NEGOTIATING HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES THROUGH MORAL UNDERSTANDING 3 Acknowledgements I owe a big thank you to my two thesis readers and mentors, Professor Piercarlo Valdesolo and Professor Wendy Lower. Not only have their patience, support, encouragement, and expertise been greatly helpful for guidance on this thesis, but it has also been instrumental for direction throughout my college career. I had the honor to learn from both Professors during my freshman year at Claremont McKenna College and they both inspired my path here at CMC and beyond. Professor Valdesolo’s social psychology class encouraged me to become a psychology major and Professor Lower’s Genocide and Human Rights class inspired me to add a sequence in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies and become more involved with the Mgrublian Center for Human Rights. Since then I have had the opportunity to be in class with each Professor again and I am grateful to be able to come full circle in this enriching educational experience, culminating in writing my senior thesis with them both. Professor Valdesolo and Professor Lower, you both have inspired my future direction for a career in human rights with a strong emphasis to understand others and the psychology that motivates our actions and I am so thankful for your endless support and patience. Thank you for being an influence and a mentor these past four years—I am honored to have learned from such intelligent, wise, and charismatic individuals and I hope you know how much your support has meant to me and my growth as a student and overall person. To my family, thank you for your unending support and encouragement. You are my biggest supporters and inspire me to work as hard as possible on each task I pursue. To my parents specifically, thank you for always believing in me and for helping me remember to take one day at a time when I become overwhelmed. You have taught me the value of hard work and determination and I am beyond grateful to have you both as role models. To every friend, mentor, and member of this CMC community that has leant an ear to listen to any stresses and excitements I may have felt throughout this process, or has given me advice, thank you. Your constant support, care, and presence are greatly appreciated. NEGOTIATING HUMAN RIGHTS ABUSES THROUGH MORAL UNDERSTANDING 4