Milgram's Justification Of Obedience To Authority
Voluminous research has been conducted in the area of obedience, more specifically how obedient individuals will be in obeying an authority figure even if the authority figure is commanding them to inflict harm or pain onto others. Ordinary people, for many years have inflicted pain onto others under the commands of an authority figure such as during the Holocaust. Probably, the most famous psychological piece of research investigating obedience was that of Milgram (1963). Milgram recruited ordinary males from different backgrounds and occupations, he then created a scenario where the participants were required to follow instructions from a perceived authority figure. These instructions insisted the participants to administer electric shocks …show more content…
Nicholson (2011) drew on valuable records from both the participants of the 1963 study and Milgram. The material drew upon by Nicholson suggested that Milgram misrepresented both the extent at which the participants were debriefed, and the risk the experiments posed, also the harm suffered by the participants. On top of those findings, the records implied that Milgram had qualms about the scientific value of the research, thus compromising his primary ethical justification for the study in the …show more content…
Justifying the My Lai disaster and the Holocaust down to the theory of obedience by subordinates simply following orders from an authority figure are far too facile. It’s shallow to think that just because an authority figure orders another person to kill another being, they will do it simply due to obedient tendencies. Individual differences will always be present and therefore obedience will constantly differ from person to person. Furthermore obedience is not a sound entity, disobedience also exists and has been shown in several psychological studies. In conclusion there is certain studies that do generally support the claim that individuals will blindly conform or obey commands from an authority figure, even when this involves inflicting harm on others, but it’s not possible to attribute the rationale of obedience to justify people inflicting harm or pain upon another being
Summary Of Opening Skinner's Box By Lauren Slater
743 Words | 3 PagesAmong multiple issues including giving misleading information, the most dominate is the lack of consent Milgram received from his subjects to participate in such a test (102). While I do see that this is immoral, there is no way that Milgram could have completed his experiments effectively if he had done it morally. The first issue is if he explains what is actually going to happen during the experiments, that would obviously hurt the integrity of his results. Also, going back to how the experiments help us, if those who participated knew what was going to happen, it wouldn’t have affected them as severely. It was the shock that the experiment gave that brought their life choices into question.
Comparing A Few Good Men And The Perils Of Obedience
1546 Words | 7 PagesMilgram’s article proves Dawson and Downey’s argument to be true that they were just doing their job. The article by Milgram also provides an explanation for obedience as one harboring their own anger, which makes following orders that hurt someone else almost easy. In A Few Good Men, Dawson is
In Cold Blood And The Milgram Experiment
1043 Words | 5 PagesThis Milgram research on respect to authority figures was a series of cultural science experiments conducted by Yale University scientist Stanley Milgram in 1961. They assessed the willingness of survey participants, men from a different variety of jobs with varying degrees of training, to obey the authority figure who taught them to do acts conflicting with their personal conscience. Participants were led to think that they were helping an unrelated research, in which they had to distribute electrical shocks to the individual. These fake electrical shocks gradually increased to grades that could have been deadly had they been true. McLeod's article about the Milgram experiment exposed the fact that a high percentage of ordinary people will
Review Of Stanley Milgram's The Perils Of Obedience
1297 Words | 6 PagesStanley Milgram, a Yale University psychologist, shares his results from an experiment he conducted in 1963 regarding the obedience to authority in “The Perils of Obedience.” His experiment illustrates that when placed under peculiar circumstances, ordinary citizens are capable of performing terrible and unexpected actions (Milgram 85). Milgram rationalizes these proceedings by concluding that the average individual will decide to please the experimenter rather than resist his authority to protect the well-being of the learner (Milgram 86). Herbert C. Kelman, a Harvard University Social Ethics professor, and V. Lee Hamilton, a former University of Maryland Sociology chair, share of a U.S. military massacre in “The My Lai Massacre: A Military
A Critical Analysis Of Opening Skinner's Box By Lauren Slater
874 Words | 4 PagesMilgram’s experiment, that tricks subjects into believing that they have killed someone of their own free will, seems to point to the fact that a situation has the larger effect on how someone acts, than their personality. Slater writes that Milgram agreed with this and that he believed that any normal person could be commanded to do any number of terrible things if put into the right situation (32). An astounding 65 percent of the people put into that said
What Does It Mean To Say Simon Say Essay
580 Words | 3 PagesObserved during the Holocaust and studied later at Yale University, authority can be used to manipulate people into doing just about anything. In a study of obedience, the Milgram Experiment tested how individuals would respond to being forced to administer high voltage shocks to a person behind a wall. Even when the unseen person would scream and beg for the shocks to end, the experiment overseer would tell the test subject to continue giving shocks. The results of the study showed that people were willing to bypass their morals in attempts to follow orders from an authoritative figure. Unfortunately, many outsiders would assess this situation and fail to realize that the terror does not lie within the people who submitted to the viscous instructions, but within the person who commanded them and watched the ordeal unfold from the
What Guideline Did They Violate?
1622 Words | 7 PagesName and describe three experiments that violated ethical guidelines. What guideline did they violate? Milgram: The Milgram experiment was an experiment that tested an individual's willingness the follow the instructions of an authority figure.
The Milgram Experiment: Obedience To Authority And Personal Conscience
273 Words | 2 PagesThe Milgram Experiment is a trial that Stanley Milgram, a psychologist at Yale University conducted. An experiment focusing on obedience to authority and personal conscience. “He examined justifications for acts of genocide offered by those accused
Why Is Milgram's Research Important?
950 Words | 4 Pages(Russell 2014) Conclusion: Despite controversy Milgram’s experiment was ground breaking. It remains relevant today and is frequently cited in demonstrating the perils of obedience.
Moral Exclusion In Stanley Milgram's Electric Shock Experiments
1072 Words | 5 PagesArguably, one of the most well-known experiments regarding the tendency of humans to inflict harm upon strangers under orders from perceived authority figures is Stanley Milgram’s electric shock experiments in 1963 (Smith, Aquino, Koleva & Graham, 2014). The experiment was based on the Nuremberg Trials, wherein the Nazi soldiers on trial claimed that they were only following orders, and as such implied a lesser role in their crimes during the Holocaust. While there are many factors that influence injustice against a people, in this paper, the role of moral exclusion will be examined in detail in order to ascertain how those excluded from powerful groups by virtue of their lineage and race could then be subjected to significant harm, and perhaps
Stanley Milgram Experiment Papers
928 Words | 4 PagesName : Muhammed Irshad Madonna ID : 250509 Subject : Medical Ethics Due Date : 8/01/2018 Paper : 1-The Milgram Experiment The Stanley Milgram Experiment is a famous study about obedience in psychology which has been carried out by a Psychologist at the Yale University named, Stanley Milgram. He conducted an experiment focusing on the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience. In July 1961 the experiment was started for researching that how long a person can harm another person by obeying an instructor.
Just Do What The Pilot Tells You Analysis
475 Words | 2 PagesIn “The Genocidal Killer in the Mirror”, Crispin Sartwell argues that the average citizen can be convinced to commit atrocious crimes under the right circumstances from the premise that the traits to become a genocidal killer are not that uncommon, using examples from recent history such as the Holocaust in Nazi Germany and the Rwandan Genocide. Sartwell clarifies that although most people delude themselves into thinking that they wouldn’t partake in genocide if they were placed in a similar situation as many have before, it would take a “moral hero” (Sartwell 118) to refuse the opportunity given the circumstances. On the other hand, in “Just Do What the Pilot Tells You”, author Theodore Dalrymple claims that people's response to authority in respect to their obedience is what leads the average man to kill countless others. While both authors address the fact that it doesn’t take a malicious person to engage in genocide, Sartwell focuses more on the qualities that people who commit genocide commonly share, Dalrymple seems more concerned on how people react to authority in
What Is The My Lai Massacre A Military Crime Of Obedience By Ian Parker
1189 Words | 5 PagesIan Parker, author of “Obedience”, provides accurate depictions of the immediate and long-term effects of Dr. Stanley Milgram’s Experiment. In addition, he includes that under complex situations, individuals are easily induced to react through a destructive manner (Parker103). Americans commonly underestimate the influences of a situation; however, Parker thoroughly delineates the consequences behind blind obedience (Parker 104). Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton, authors of “The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience” construe the atrocity of blind obedience committed by the United States Military. In March of 1968, crimes of obedience occurred due to an elusive order commanded by a higher ranked officer (Kelman&Hamilton 131).
Summary Of The Perils Of Obedience By Stanley Milgram
1205 Words | 5 PagesThe author explains that there are many philosophies about obedience but they don’t give much information about the behaviors of subjects in critical or complicated situation. Milgram sets up an experiment at Yale University to see the reaction of a citizen when ordered by the experimenter to hurt other person. The author
Argumentative Essay On Milgram's Experiment
810 Words | 4 Pages"Obedience is behavior that complies with the explicit demands of the individual in authority." (King, 448) If a store manager tells you to put a shirt on before entering the store, you're more than likely going to comply due to their request due to their authority over the store. You might fear that if you do not comply, you won't be permitted inside or even police being called. That is simple obedience, but what if an authority figure asked you to inflict pain on another person?
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