Relationship of Obedience to Authority

Milgram show in his experiments that an authority figure is very powerful and when they give instruction their students will listen. At first they listen because they are asked for small things they continue because they feel obligated to do so. The responsibility for their action is also taken by the authority so they feel less guilty. They also do not want to offend the authority so they continue and ignore their morals. When they do try to stop the authority has four phrases that he repeats over and over until the student obeys.

In Abu Graib the soldiers were given instructions but not told how to carry them out and with they kind of liberty they were free to act as they whished. When no one from your outside person life is around to view your actions you will not worry about your actions and go farther than you might if someone disapproved. They were asked to get information and they felt that they were doing their jobs well because there was no one to limit their power over the detainees. Everyday they went a little farther until the abuse was overwhelming and they took pictures which is the only way we found out about their abuse. Their stressful environment helped them continue their abuse without guilt because they felt that the detainees deserved to be punished.

In the movie casualties of war they are confronted with this problem because the sergeant wants them to rap a girl and the others must decide what to do. Four men choose to rap the girl even though one had stated he didn't want to under pressure from the other guys he gave in and the only one who stood his ground was PFC Erickson. Erickson knew from the beginning that it was wrong to rap this innocent girl and he was the only one with the courage to say no even when the other guys were teasing him. He shows us that no matter how great the pressure is you should follow your moral values.

Environment affects ones behavior to a certain point because the person following the orders has to know when they have gone too far. In the Milgram study when the person had to physically place the hand of the student on the shock pad many of them dropped out before they reached the middle of the shock voltage. When they were not in physical contact and the person was in another room almost all of them went all the way even though they thought the person might be dead. It shows that as long as they are not in physical contact they do not feel