Avoiding crimes of obedience: A comparative study of the autobiographies of M. K. Gandhi, Nelson Mandela, and Martin Luther King, Jr.

This research aims to contribute to an understanding of how and why certain people are able to display prosocial disobedience behaviors, overcome unjust situations, and withstand persecutions deployed by authority. This article presents a hermeneutic content analysis of the autobiographical speeches and texts of Gandhi, M. L. King, and Mandela. The results show that the importance given to parents' value orientation, experiences of injustice during childhood, and exploration of alternative viewpoints during adolescence plays a crucial role in structuring prosocial disobedience. The findings also show that social responsibility and ingroup communication are important conditions for facing persecution without forsaking original goals.