Social Obedience
Social Obedience, the Average Person, and Acts of Violence
Deborah S Bowman
Grand Canyon University
Abstract
In hopes to further the research of the harmful effects obedience has on mankind, this study will look at how humans react in positions to which one is a subordinate. Considering the impact that obedience has on the average person is the focus throughout this study as well. Research will show that violence, crime, and acts of terrorism have been shown to be directly related to obedient behavior. The act of dehumanizing is a major focal point when considering these things. This study and research articles will show that one does not need to have military experience, low intelligence, nor a sociopathic tendency to commit severe acts of terror. The basis for this study; The Milgram Experiment, provides most of the research gathered and has formed theories based on this experiment. This study shows that Milgram’s experiment was accurate in that people tend to be obedient despite what harm this may cause others. The research uncovers what motivates the average man or woman to obey, even when commanded to murder millions of people.
Social Obedience, the Average Person, and Acts of Violence
It is human nature to be a leader or to be obedient. Mankind is born into a hierarchy consisting of the father and mother figures. As children, we are to obey our father and our mother and in some cultures one more than the other. The mother and father figure teach the child to obey. There are rules made and when broken; punishments. As humans grow older and become more “independent,” as people like to refer to it, one finds a job where someone is in the authority position again, thus making the employee the subordinate. In this position one is normally given a handbook that lists the rules, dress codes, etc. that he or she is to abide by. If one does not abide by this handbook, he or she will face negative consequences. When one abides by the handbook, or exceeds the expectations of the authority figure, he or she is normally rewarded. Our society is programmed from birth to understand authority and obedience. However, it is important to understand when social obedience becomes deadly. Studies show that blind social obedience can leave the average person open to follow someone like Hitler into committing mass murder, such as was done with Holocaust.
Studies have been conducted for decades working towards an answer as to how an average, stable, intelligent person(s) could be so obedient to someone such as Hitler. Milgram’s Experiment is widely recognized for opening the door to this type of research. Milgram’s research and film show how an authority figure can command something of a person and he or she will more than likely obey. However, according to a study and research done by Hollander, M.M. (2015) it was concluded that there are holes within this research in that the video shows the authority figure requesting the participant, or teacher to continue when he or she believes they are hurting the other participant, or learner. In research that was gathered from interviews after Nazi’s were arrested, many admitted that they were punished when they did not complete the task requested or demoted. However, Milgram’s research allows one to see how easily the average man or woman obeys orders, with little to no questions asked. This can show how mankind, from birth, is expected to obey a hierarchy.
To further the research on obedience, it is important to look at how the average man or woman can be placed in a situation where he or she is required to break their moral code. A study regarding young Austrian men and women conducted by Fattori, F., Curly, S., Jorchel, A., C., Pozzi, M., Mihalits, D., and Alfieri, S. (2015) showed that these young men and women defined obedience as conformity and respect. It was also shown that it could not be evaluated without social consequences in their opinions. Consequences are a large part of obedience; most individuals do not set out to disappoint or receive punishment from the authority figure. The fear of these consequences can allow people to feel as though they must obey. Returning to the example of Hitler and the Holocaust; people can be motivated by fear to obey. According to a study provided by Navarick, D.J. (2012), research stated that in the year of 1942 in Nazi Germany, soldiers were commanded to change their directives from escorting prisoners to mass murder. These soldiers were average men, most of them young with no military experience. The orders were given and from the 500 men standing only ten to twelve stepped forward claiming they could not follow this command. These men were then demoted and were required to hand in their rifles. The rest of these men who did not step forward went on to shoot 38,000 men, women, children, and infants. Some accounts were sickened after the initial round of shootings and were demoted. This, Navarick (2012) referred to as the escape from distress (p. 137). These men who walked away, it should be noted, did not try to help any of the victims, just as Milgram’s study points out regarding the fact that the ‘teacher’ did not enjoy inflicting pain, but did not stop to help the ‘learner.’
Looking further into the military and the hierarchy within, it is important to show that some acts of obedience can be done with the knowledge that one is committing a crime that may go against authority. In the military, there are ranks and each level answers to another level of authority. In a study conducted by Post, J.M., and Panis, L.K. (2011), this situation was researched. Specialist Charles Graner Jr was accused of allegedly abusing Iraqi prisoners using torture. Graner informed his accusers that he was “just following orders” and should not be held responsible for these actions because he was being obedient. While considering obedience and how it can cause the average human to commit mass murder, it is important to note that obedience can also be used to escape responsibility. Blaming the authority figure for one’s own actions is common, especially when one is trying to escape punishment. This can make it difficult to assess whether someone was truly being obedient or if they wanted to commit the act of violence and used the authority figure as an excuse. This is where more research must be compiled to understand the difference in these two areas.
Referring to the previous mentioned theory, from birth humans are predisposed to authority figures and to obey. Often intelligent military authorities take this knowledge and use it to recruit obedient soldiers. In the study conducted by Pina, E.C., Rego, A., and Clegg, S.R. (2010), it was shown that regimes such as the Khmer Rouge regime used child soldiers. Obedience as a child was easier to obtain and molding these children into obedient, violent soldiers was not as difficult as it was with adults. The Khmer Rouge regime infiltrated families, stole their children, and forced these children to reject their biological family and accept the Khmer Rouge as their true family. A specific amount of terror management and starvation helped obtain loyalty and obedience quickly. Children’s minds are easily molded, and the regime chose to replace the fear of guns and violence with a love for the two. This study was groundbreaking in that it allows one to see how easily it is to obtain obedience from a child, especially when one replaces the authority figure in their minds. Children in these cultures are raised to respect and obey the authority figure in the family. Khmer Rouge regime simply needed to replace the idea of who the child’s family was to obtain full obedience. Their minds were less corrupted by adulthood and moral reasoning.
Methods
To study the impact that social obedience has on the average person and its ability to force that person to commit acts of violence or terror, one must start in childhood. Obedience begins in childhood. As the studies have shown that are mentioned above, children are born into a life of obedience. Do these average men and women have experiences from their childhood that force them to put aside their moral judgements and follow men and women like Hitler through genocide? This is how the question, does social obedience have the power to lead an average person to acts of violence, is answered. Going back to the beginning to find out how obedience to an authority is programmed into a child’s mind. Studying how a child reacts to authority figures other than parental and how obedient a child is in certain age groups can help decipher when the act of obedience is received. It is important to conduct a study such as this with the utmost caution as children are fragile and should be treated as such. Using the previous research studies mentioned as a basis for how a child develops into a man or woman with the ability to commit violent acts is a basis for this study as it provides the ending. However, it is important to see how one gets to that point. Multiple age groups are necessary ranging from two years old until the age of ten.
Results
The data that will be collected should consist of how each age group reacts to different authority figures; for the purpose of the study these will be researchers posing as teachers, coaches, and other well-known figures of authority for this age range. How each child reacts over time with the ‘teacher’ or ‘coach’ will be the data that is collected and analyzed. This can show how susceptible children truly are to authority figures outside of parental authorities. With this information one can decipher whether we are trained to be obedient from birth thus leading us into a life of violence and possible acts of terror.
Conclusion
The importance of this study is to help find the beginning of obedience and the reason to which an average man or woman could follow someone like Hitler into committing genocide. It is important to understand whether this is something that is innate or a learned behavior, and when this behavior began. If an average person with no military experience can help murder 38,000 people for a man to which he has never met, there is a need to understand why. There is reason in which the Khmer Rouge regime chose children as soldiers and this should be studied more in depth. What occurs in adulthood can be traced back to childhood.
References
Fattori, F., Curly, S., Jörchel, A.,C., Pozzi, M., Mihalits, D., & Alfieri, S. (2015). Authority
relationship from a societal perspective: Social representations of obedience and
disobedience in austrian young adults. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 11(2), 197-213.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.5964/ejop.v11i2.883. Retrieved from: http://search.proquest.com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/psychology/docview/1685878311/EB85AD83D20D48A2PQ/1?accountid=7374
Hollander, M. M. (2015). The repertoire of resistance: Non-compliance with directives in
Milgram's 'obedience' experiments. The British Journal of Social Psychology 54(3), 425
444. doi:10.1111/bjso.12099. Retrieved from:
Navarick, D. J. (2012). HISTORICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND THE MILGRAM PARADIGM:
TESTS OF AN EXPERIMENTALLY DERIVED MODEL OF DEFIANCE USING
ACCOUNTS OF MASSACRES BY NAZI RESERVE POLICE BATTALION 101. The
Psychological Record, 62(1), 133-154. Retrieved from https://lopes.idm.oclc.org/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/docview/921618931?accountid=7374
Pina, E. C., Rego, A., & Clegg, S. R. (2010). Obedience and evil: From milgram and Kampuchea
to normal organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 97(2), 291-309.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1007/s10551-010-0510-5 Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/psychology/docview/807532789/A59BED8D3A6A4FD2PQ/4?accountid=7374
Post, J. M., & Panis, L. K. (2011). Crimes of obedience: "groupthink" at abu ghraib.
International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 61(1), 48-66.
doi:http://dx.doi.org.lopes.idm.oclc.org/10.1521/ijgp.2011.61.1.48 Retrieved from http://search.proquest.com.lopes.idm.oclc.org/psychology/docview/848842810/10CE0D2F46944509PQ/1?accountid=7374
Annotated Bibliography
Fattori, F., Curly, S., Jörchel, A.,C., Pozzi, M., Mihalits, D., & Alfieri, S. (2015). Authority
relationship from a societal perspective: Social representations of obedience and
disobedience in austrian young adults. Europe's Journal of Psychology, 11(2), 197-213.
This study can further the research related to assessing where social obedience
begins. This is possible due to the research regarding young men and women and
how they view obedience and disobedience. The study was based on family due
to the fact that these young adults have had a lot of contact with family and this
type of authority.
Hollander, M. M. (2015). The repertoire of resistance: Non-compliance with directives in
Milgram's 'obedience' experiments. The British Journal of Social Psychology 54(3), 425.
This research helps form my research because it gives me the possible holes in
previous research. Thus, allowing one to see that people may not be blindly obedient. There may be resistance in the beginning, however, does this eventually get broken down over time and consequences being doled out? This
is where my research can come in a fill some of the gaps.
Navarick, D. J. (2012). HISTORICAL PSYCHOLOGY AND THE MILGRAM PARADIGM:
TESTS OF AN EXPERIMENTALLY DERIVED MODEL OF DEFIANCE USING
ACCOUNTS OF MASSACRES BY NAZI RESERVE POLICE BATTALION 101. The
Psychological Record, 62(1), 133-154.
This research helps my research in that it allows one to see the depth to which
many will go in order to obey authority. This study also allows me to see how
people react when they feel they have been pushed too far? Do they back down
or do they help? These are important factors to consider when looking into
obedience. This can also show how an average person with no military
experience can leave their morals behind and help commit massive acts of
violence.
Pina, E. C., Rego, A., & Clegg, S. R. (2010). Obedience and evil: From milgram and Kampuchea
to normal organizations. Journal of Business Ethics, 97(2), 291-309.
This study helps further my research in that it shows that even innocent youth
can be transformed into obedient persons who commit grand acts of violence.
This research is extremely important to my study because it begins the discussion
of how obedience begins in childhood and how children can be formed to obey
not just their parental units.
Post, J. M., & Panis, L. K. (2011). Crimes of obedience: "groupthink" at abu ghraib.
International Journal of Group Psychotherapy, 61(1), 48-66.
The purpose of using this research to further my own research is the fact that
this goes deep into the discussion of dehumanization as an act of allowing
oneself to remain obedient. This is important because this is how people
can cope with what they are doing and allows them to live with their actions,
while remaining obedient.