The aim of this study was to discover the formation process of political, social, economic, administrative, and international corruption in Iraqi public organizations. This fundamental research employed a qualitative approach based on the grounded theory strategy using Glaser's framework. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with managers and experts in Iraqi public sector organizations, selected through theoretical sampling until data saturation was achieved with 21 participants. Trustworthiness was ensured through Guba and Lincoln’s four criteria. Data analysis included both substantive and theoretical coding stages. The results revealed a six-stage process for corruption formation: accumulation of facilitating conditions, activation of the motivational corruption system, formation of deviant actions, design and institutionalization of the corruption path, structural stabilization and reproduction of corruption, and moral numbness and normalization. Ultimately, this sequence led to the emergence of five distinct types of corruption: political, social, economic, administrative, and international. The proposed model offers a conceptual framework for understanding the developmental mechanism of corruption in Iraq’s public sector and serves as a basis for designing targeted preventive and corrective strategies at each stage of corruption emergence.
Younus et al. (Wed,) studied this question.