The Human Behavior Experiments
Summary
TLDRThis script delves into the complexities of human behavior, exploring the obedience to authority through the lens of Stanley Milgram's experiments and the Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by Philip Zimbardo. It examines how ordinary people can be compelled to act against their moral compass under certain conditions, drawing parallels to real-world events like the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. The narrative challenges viewers to consider their own potential actions in extreme situations, suggesting that heroes are the exception, not the rule.
Takeaways
- ๐ง The power of situational influences: The script discusses how ordinary people can act inhumanely when placed in certain conditions, as demonstrated in the Milgram and Zimbardo experiments.
- ๐จโ๐ซ Stanley Milgram's obedience experiment: In 1962, Milgram conducted experiments to understand how ordinary people could inflict pain on others when ordered to do so, revealing the shocking obedience to authority.
- ๐ฅ Bystander effect: The script mentions the Genovese murder and how the diffusion of responsibility among bystanders can lead to inaction, even in life-threatening situations.
- ๐ Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment: This study showed how 'normal' people can quickly adopt the roles of abusive guards or humiliated prisoners when placed in a simulated prison environment.
- ๐ฎโโ๏ธ Authority and dehumanization: Both experiments highlight the dehumanizing effects of authority and the potential for cruelty when individuals see themselves as mere cogs in a system.
- ๐จ Real-world implications: The script connects the findings of these experiments to real-world events, such as the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, showing the enduring relevance of the studies.
- ๐คทโโ๏ธ The reluctance to intervene: The experiments and real-life cases illustrate the psychological barriers that prevent individuals from stepping in to stop wrongdoing, even when they have the means to do so.
- ๐ The psychological impact of compliance: Participants in these experiments and real-life scenarios often experience guilt and regret for their actions, highlighting the personal cost of compliance.
- ๐ The thin line between good and evil: The script suggests that the line separating moral behavior from immoral acts is thinner than we think and can be easily crossed under certain conditions.
- ๐ฅ Group dynamics and conformity: The power of groupthink and conformity is emphasized, showing how individuals may act against their own values when influenced by a group or authority figure.
- ๐จ The responsibility of leadership: The script implies that those in positions of power bear significant responsibility for the actions of those under their command, especially when unethical behavior is encouraged or tolerated.
Q & A
What was the main purpose of Stanley Milgram's obedience experiment?
-Stanley Milgram conducted his obedience experiment to understand how ordinary people could commit inhumane acts, such as those perpetrated by the Nazis during the Holocaust, under the influence of authority.
What was the shocking revelation from Milgram's experiment?
-The shocking revelation from Milgram's experiment was that a significant percentage of participants (around 65%) were willing to administer what they believed to be potentially lethal electric shocks to another person simply because they were told to do so by an authority figure.
What role did the 'learner' play in Milgram's experiment?
-The 'learner' in Milgram's experiment was actually a confederate, part of the experiment, pretending to receive electric shocks. Their role was to react to the shocks, creating a realistic scenario for the 'teacher' participants.
How did the fast-food restaurant strip search hoaxes relate to Milgram's findings on obedience to authority?
-The fast-food restaurant strip search hoaxes demonstrated Milgram's findings in a real-world scenario, where managers obeyed phone commands from an anonymous caller pretending to be a police officer, showing that ordinary people can be manipulated into committing unethical acts under the guise of authority.
What was the tragic incident involving Matthew Carrington that highlighted the bystander effect?
-Matthew Carrington was a 21-year-old who died during a fraternity hazing event. Despite his deteriorating condition, his fraternity brothers did not intervene or call for help, illustrating the bystander effect where individuals are less likely to help when others are present.
What psychological phenomenon did Darley and Latanรฉ explore in their experiment on the bystander effect?
-Darley and Latanรฉ explored the diffusion of responsibility in their experiment. They found that when more people are present, the sense of individual responsibility to help is reduced, leading to less action being taken.
What was the Stanford Prison Experiment and what did it aim to demonstrate?
-The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted by Philip Zimbardo to demonstrate how people respond to a cruel environment without clear rules. It aimed to show the power of the situation in transforming ordinary people into either abusive guards or submissive prisoners.
How did the guards in Zimbardo's experiment escalate their behavior towards the prisoners?
-The guards in Zimbardo's experiment escalated their behavior by increasing the level of humiliation and physical discomfort for the prisoners. This included using more degrading and arbitrary punishments as the experiment progressed.
What was the turning point in Zimbardo's experiment that led to its premature end?
-The turning point in Zimbardo's experiment was when Christina Maslach, Zimbardo's girlfriend, visited the mock prison and was horrified by the treatment of the prisoners. Her emotional reaction and criticism of Zimbardo's involvement led him to realize the experiment had to be stopped.
How did the findings from the Milgram and Zimbardo experiments relate to the events at Abu Ghraib?
-The findings from the Milgram and Zimbardo experiments related to the events at Abu Ghraib by showing how ordinary people can be led to commit acts of abuse and humiliation under certain situational pressures and the influence of authority, as seen with the prison guards at Abu Ghraib.
Outlines
๐ง The Power of Authority and Obedience
The first paragraph delves into the concept of obedience to authority, referencing Stanley Milgram's groundbreaking experiment from 1962. Milgram aimed to understand how ordinary people could commit cruel acts under the guise of authority, using an electronic shock generator to test subjects' willingness to inflict pain on others. The experiment revealed that a significant number of people would obey orders to administer potentially lethal shocks. The paragraph also touches on the bystander effect and the influence of social situations on behavior, highlighting the thin line between good and evil in human nature.
๐ The Consequence of Delegating Responsibility
This paragraph discusses a modern-day application of Milgram's obedience theories, focusing on a con man who tricked fast food restaurant managers into strip-searching and abusing their employees over the phone. The narrative details a specific incident at a McDonald's in Kentucky, where an assistant manager was manipulated into believing the caller was a police officer. The paragraph explores the victims' obedience to the caller's authority and the psychological impact of shedding personal responsibility onto another perceived authority figure.
๐จ The Tragedy of Inaction Among Bystanders
The third paragraph examines the phenomenon of bystander inaction, using the tragic death of Matthew Carrington as a case study. It recounts the events leading to his death, where fraternity brothers failed to intervene or call for help during a hazing incident. The paragraph also references the 1964 Genovese murder, where 38 witnesses did nothing to help. It introduces the concept of 'diffusion of responsibility,' where the presence of others inhibits individual response to emergencies, and it challenges the audience to consider their own potential reactions in such situations.
๐ The Failure to Intervene in a Crisis
Continuing the theme of bystander inaction, this paragraph provides a deeper look into the Matthew Carrington case, exploring the fraternity brothers' inaction despite clear signs of distress. It discusses the escalation of a seemingly harmless prank into a fatal incident and the social and psychological factors that contributed to the lack of intervention. The narrative emphasizes the power of situations to influence behavior and the tragic consequences of inaction.
๐ญ The Stanford Prison Experiment and the Abuse of Power
The fifth paragraph introduces the Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by Philip Zimbardo, which created a mock prison to study the psychological effects of perceived power. It describes the rapid transformation of ordinary individuals into abusive guards and submissive prisoners, highlighting the dehumanizing treatment and the escalation of abuse. The paragraph draws parallels between the experiment's findings and real-world scenarios, such as the Abu Ghraib prison scandal, suggesting that certain environments can elicit cruelty from good people.
๐ The Transformation and Dehumanization in the Mock Prison
This paragraph continues the discussion of Zimbardo's experiment, focusing on the guards' increasing cruelty and the prisoners' psychological breakdowns. It details the guards' use of power to humiliate and dehumanize the prisoners, leading to a series of emotional breakdowns. The narrative underscores the experiment's revelation of the potential for situational forces to corrupt even well-intentioned individuals.
๐ The Stanford Prison Experiment's Premature End
The seventh paragraph describes the premature termination of the Stanford Prison Experiment after only six days due to the extreme and unexpected behaviors exhibited by the participants. It recounts the pivotal moment when Zimbardo's girlfriend, Christina Maslach, recognized the inhumanity of the situation, prompting Zimbardo to acknowledge the experiment's ethical implications and its transformation of ordinary individuals into agents of cruelty.
๐ The Parallels Between Experiments and Real-World Abuses
The final paragraph draws connections between the psychological experiments and real-world instances of abuse, specifically referencing the Abu Ghraib scandal. It discusses the role of institutional environments and the dehumanizing treatment of prisoners, attributing the abuses not to a few 'bad apples' but to systemic failures and the influence of authority. The paragraph concludes by emphasizing the responsibility of those in power and the potential for ordinary people to commit extraordinary acts of abuse when placed in certain situations.
๐ฌ Hollywood's Portrayal of Criminal Behavior and Justice
The last paragraph shifts focus to the portrayal of criminal behavior and justice in Hollywood, hinting at a television program that explores the complexities of crime and punishment. It suggests a contrast between the scientific exploration of human behavior in psychological experiments and the dramatized depiction of justice in the entertainment industry.
Mindmap
Keywords
๐กObedience
๐กAuthority
๐กConformity
๐กBystander Effect
๐กDehumanization
๐กSituational Influence
๐กHazing
๐กSocial Psychology
๐กStanford Prison Experiment
๐กAbu Ghraib
๐กResponsibility
Highlights
Stanley Milgram's obedience experiment revealed how ordinary people could inflict harm under authority.
Milgram's experiment aimed to understand the atrocities committed by the Nazis during World War II.
Subjects in Milgram's study showed varying levels of obedience to an authority figure, with some going to extreme voltage levels.
A con man's successful strip search hoaxes on restaurant employees demonstrated obedience to perceived authority in modern society.
The bystander effect was explored in the aftermath of the Kitty Genovese murder, where witnesses failed to act.
Darley and Latanรฉ's experiment on the bystander effect showed that diffusion of responsibility decreases the likelihood of helping.
The tragic death of Matthew Carrington during fraternity hazing highlighted the failure of individuals to intervene in dangerous situations.
Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment exposed the rapid transformation of ordinary people into abusive guards or submissive prisoners.
The Stanford Prison Experiment showed how environmental factors and roles can change behavior significantly.
Christina Maslach's intervention led to the early termination of the Stanford Prison Experiment due to ethical concerns.
The Abu Ghraib prison scandal paralleled Zimbardo's findings, with soldiers committing abuses under orders.
The role of institutional environments in eliciting harmful behavior was underscored by the Abu Ghraib events.
The responsibility of higher authorities in creating environments that lead to abuse was highlighted by the Abu Ghraib scandal.
The psychological impact of dehumanizing treatment on both perpetrators and victims was evident in the prison studies and real-world abuses.
The power of situational influences to corrupt ordinary individuals was a key takeaway from the psychological experiments.
The rarity of individuals who resist situational pressures was emphasized, challenging the common belief in personal heroism.
Transcripts
why would a woman Obey phone commands
from a stranger to strip search an
innocent
employee she pretty much got this victim
trapped in the office totally naked but
unless you're put in that situation how
do you know what you would do you don't
guilty guilty sir guil guilty why would
four young men watch their friend die
when they could have intervened to save
him Matt stop breathing this guy is in
real trouble you call 911 I had it typed
into my phone all I had to do was press
the green button I hit the red button
and canel it out when good people do
nothing evil
prevails how could Soldiers with good
service records suddenly descend into
barbaric Behavior sometimes you cross a
line and it's a thin line at any time
that can be crossed by anybody if placed
in certain conditions this is
unbelievable the answer to these
questions can be found in the human
behavior
experiments off the door hey I don't
want anybody your clothes
and in 1962 Stanley mgram shocked the
world with his study on
obedience to test his theories he
invented an electronic box that would
become a window into human
cruelty in ascending order a row of
buttons marked the amount of voltage one
person would inflict upon
another milgram's original motive for
the experiment was to understand the
unthinkable how the German people could
permit the extermination of the Jews
when I learn of incidents such as the
massacre of millions of men women and
children perpetrated by the Nazis in
World War II how is it possible I ask
myself that ordinary people were
courteous and decent in everyday life
can act callously inhumanely without any
limitations of conscience these are
questions that concern
me it is May
1962 an experiment is being conducted in
the elegant interaction Lab at
University psychologists have developed
several theories to explain how people
learn one theory is that people learn
things correctly whenever they get
punished when inspired mgrm I would say
there were a number of factors one of
them is he was very ambitious he wanted
to make a mark in social
psychology and he wanted as he wrote to
one friend he wanted to come up with the
most with the boldest experiment that he
could think of teacher would you take
the test and be seated in front of the
shock generator please in the Next Room
mgm's experiment was rigged the so
called learner was part of the
experiment the real subject was the
teacher shock of 75 Vols now as teacher
you were seated in front of this
impressive looking instrument a shock
generator its essential feature is a
line of switches that goes from 15 volts
to 450 volts and a set of verbal
designations that goes from slight shock
to moderate shock strong shock very
strong shock intense shock extreme
intensity shock and finally EX x x
danger severe shock now the question is
how far will you proceed on the
generator before you turn to the
experimenter and refuse to go any
further incorrect you'll now get a shock
of 105
Vols hard
head just how far can you go on this
thing as far as it necessary what do you
mean as far as is necessary to complete
the test mg was very much aware that
obedience is a necessary ingredient for
society to function but he focused on
the darker side of obedience incorrect
150
Vols sad face that's all get me out of
here I told you I had hard trouble my
heart's starting to bother me now it's
absolutely essential that you continue
as I said the experiment requires that
you continue teacher I'm not going to go
any further how this man makes
Disobedience seem a very rational and
simple deed now other subjects respond
quite differently to the experiment's
authority 165 volts
time clearly you know when we say people
went to the top of the shock board it
wasn't like they were going blly
sadistically people went stop and go
stop and go I can't stand the pain me
out of can't stand I'm not going to kill
that man there in conord the mgrm one of
the things that's a prerequisite for
carrying out acts that are evil is to
shed responsibility from your should ERS
and and hand it over to person in charge
I mean who's going to take the
responsibility if anything happens to
that gentlemen I'm responsible for
anything that happens here
continue all right next one slow he
didn't hold any gun to anybody's head
just the fact that he conveyed a sense
of authority roughly 60 65% of the
people went all the way to the top of
the shock board 450
volts that's it now continue using the
last switch on the board please the 450
switch for each wrong answer pleas I'm
not getting no answer don't the man's
health mean anything whether the learner
likes it or not we must but he might be
dead in there although mgr's experiment
took place over 40 years ago his
findings on obedience to Authority are
still relevant to us
today a series of strange events
recently confirmed mgr's theories about
obedience targeting fast food
restaurants across the country a con man
telephoned restaurant managers and
convinced them to strip search and
sometimes sexually abuse their
employees the mystery is not in the con
man but in the victims why would they
obey this person was so convincing
people saw him as a legitimate Authority
I think we have a um probably the
closest thing that we have to mgrm
experiment today in the uh in these
strip
searches the most famous of these
incidents took place at a McDonald's in
Mount Washington Kentucky there was a
videotape security camera had
filmed we didn't hear what the
instructions were but do to do the
actions that were had taken place what
the victim was doing in in the video and
stuff it was pretty evident what each
instruction
was an anonymous caller pretending to be
a police officer told the assistant
manager that an employee had stolen some
money
he said I'm officer
Scott and he said I'm with the police
department I'm
investigating uh
complaint it went directly from a theft
into a drug thing so I was asked to
search her
clothing you know he would tell me take
her shoes click them take her shirt
shake it
out I know how it seem to people but you
weren't on the phone with
him the man has convinced 70 to 100
other places the very same thing he's
very good at what he does very
good a series of strip search hoaxes
played out in fast food restaurants
across the country confirmed the
findings of the milgrim experiment on
obedience to Authority
he sounded like a police officer and um
I'm thinking okay you know I'm doing
what I'm supposed to
do he was getting some kind of
Satisfaction by being an authorative
figure and telling people what to do and
then realizing by the phone conversation
that they were actually doing what he
said he's telling me that I needed to
get someone to sit with or while he goes
and gets somebody to come in to pick her
up the caller then asked the manager if
she was married or had a boyfriend she
said that she had a fiance then the
caller asked she could have her fiance
come to the restaurant and assist her
with the the strip search for the victim
he says well why don't you have him come
up and sit there I mean you can trust
him so um called Wes my fiance we were
going to get married and ask him if he
would come
up the manager goes about doing her
duties of of running the restaurant and
uh leaves the fiance there in the office
and then then the caller starts giving
instructions over the phone of of things
that he wants U the victim to do and uh
what he wants the fiance to tell her to
do have her remove her apron and U
instructed to do jumping jacks and
jogging place and and uh several more
things she was still in high
school um the kind of person she was she
was actually graduating a top 10 in her
class and she was scared of being in
trouble with the police so she sort of
just went along and uh did whatever uh
the fiance told her to do because uh she
didn't want to be in trouble for
anything during all this time I'm
working I'm running the floor I'm
getting changed and then when I would
walk into the office to get the change
or whatever I had to get Wes would be
sitting where he was when I left and she
was was sitting where she was and no one
said
anything after over 2 and 1/2 hours
summers's fiance Walter Nicks did
something that was
Unthinkable complying with the
instructions of the caller he ordered
the employee to perform a sexual
act a lot of people you know look at you
and go well you're you know you're a n
you should be strung up I've had it even
said to me
you know you look back on it you say I
wouldn't have done it but unless you're
put in that situation at that time how
do you know what you would do you don't
you
don't what are the pressures that compel
us to obey orders even when we know that
they are
wrong what pressures would keep a friend
from calling for help even when it was a
matter of life and
death in 2005 four fraternity Brothers
watched and did nothing to help as their
close friend 21-year-old Matthew
Carrington died in front of
them I live with consequences of baby
for the rest of my life my actually
killed a good person nothing I can say
here today will bring back Matthew
Carrington or lessen the grief that his
family feels his death was
preventable and I will live with the
guilt for the rest of my
life why did these four boys do nothing
every time I think about it the feelings
rush back and the idea of what if just
stands there in the corner just not not
leaving it's always
there I had no doubt that if I would
have known I know now that I could have
stopped
it this story is not unique but it
raises a question is there something in
human nature that can keep us from
helping in 1964 38 New Yorkers watched
through their Windows as one of their
neighbors was brutally murdered her name
was Kitty geneves a 28-year-old
woman the genovisi incident where a
young woman coming home late at night
from her work was assaulted by somebody
was one of those random crazy
people Kitty was running up the block
and Winston mosy ran after her until she
reached the mid point of the block
almost directly under this street
light Mosley caught up with her and
stabbed her four times in the
back her screams were loud unmistakable
and reverberated throughout the entire
area lights went on in in the windows
around the courtyard so we know that
people were seeing this nobody called
the
police somebody who lived on the seventh
floor opened his window and yelled out
what's going on down there when Mosley
heard somebody yelling out he ran back
to his car Kitty was still alive she
managed to get up she saggers around the
corner here still screaming people in
that building Hur her as well and she
collapses inside the this
hallway after stabbing Kitty another
eight times in this very hallway the
killer ran away leaving Kitty to bleed
to
death eventually a neighbor called the
police but it was too late Kitty died
before the ambulance could get her to
the
hospital that shocked the city now it's
not that a person got murdered to chock
the city that happens sadly it's that a
person got murdered
and her neighbors watched and nobody did
anything B latney and I we read about
the murder as did everybody else here we
were two young social psychologists
starting our research careers we knew
about Stanley mgm's set of experiments
on obedience to Authority and we started
to think about in an off-hand way what
could have produced the genoves effect
perhaps Kitty genevi might have been
alive today if fewer people had seen her
there were perhaps 38 people who could
have responded but each were looking to
see what these other people were doing
first of all I would like to thank the
two of you for being here today to help
out in the study to test their Theory
darly and Latin conducted an experiment
this woman believes she is hearing
someone on the other end of the phone
having a seizure I should really use
some some help hello
somebody or help her if you knew there
was nobody else but you to help you got
up you open the door of your room and
you headed off to find the person on the
other hand if there
were three or four other people present
who you heard I would like to thank the
three of you for being here today to
help us with the study we are interested
in Lear you are much less likely to
respond yourself somebody
give me a little little help here having
a Real Pro problem right now help me out
the responsibility any individual feels
for helping is diffused when there are
other people who could also
help so what can we say back to the
bystanders in the genev situation the
first thing we can say I think is they
got a bum w
they were reacting the way that you or
me might react in those
situations there have been many
incidents like the genc incident since
then and there have been many incidents
in which people who could help don't
help a make sure Memorial of flowers and
candles is placed outside the Kow
fraternity house for Matthew Carrington
please say the 21-year-old Chico State
student was in the basement of this
house taking part in a fraternity event
at 5:00 a.m. Wednesday morning when his
body gave
out that didn't have to die that
night could have all been so
different could have all been from the
very beginning when they were all down
there when there was a room full of guys
guys it went wrong before they all
left Matthew Carrington joined a
fraternity and was undergoing hazing
during the spring semester of his junior
year pledge class
2004 Cal s Louis
abiso and these are our little uh pled
Bros right here he wanted to to join
because he he would get to meet people
he's kind of shy you know networking and
such when you're older I mean you got
Brothers in houses in every College all
over the country
so they did some pretty uh silly things
more embarrassing than causing anybody
any harm like wearing a mini skirt out
in the intersection or switching your
T-shirt with a homeless guy and putting
his shirt
on but it wasn't nothing that was going
to get anybody
hurt oh isn't that
sweet how did these seemingly harmless
pranks escalate to the point point where
Matthew died basically it was the third
night of what the fraternity called
inspiration week with the pledges called
hell
week the pledges Mike and Matt were
brought into the basement and the first
thing they did was to undergo some
grueling physical calisthetics
the young men were then given a 5 gallon
water jug which in itself weighed about
42 LB and we told to stand up on a
narrow bench stand on one foot and to
drink as much as they possibly could
Matthew at some point became nauseated
vomited became increasingly confused the
kidneys can only handle so much water
and indeed you can poison yourself when
you're drinking water and you're acting
drunk okay something's not right you
know when you're slurring your words
when you're you know you can't
manipulate things like you normally
something's
wrong Gabriel musty and JP Fus came in
at some point and they were both
intoxicated musty was excessively
intoxicated and they basically took
over actually tell you the truth I don't
remember most of it um unfortunately I
was pretty intoxicated when it happened
I remember making him do push-ups I
don't remember why Matt was at a point
where he couldn't do any more
push-ups he just all of a sudden dropped
and his it just seemed like his whole
body just tined
up you've got well at this point four
boys down
there it just makes me sick that they
didn't think they didn't think
something's wrong so why can't someone
say
stop what could happen is if one person
says this guy is in real trouble you
call 911 you you do this you do that
everybody will by that definition will
start to react uh will be helpful the
thing is balanced on a knife edge but
sometimes it
falls and nothing
happens his hips moved a little bit and
he just seized up and Mike said uh oh my
God I think he bit his tongue and then
he said somebody needs to call an
ambulance morning I remember thinking no
sleeping the snoring was certainly not
sleeping it would have been a result of
water
intoxication uh in a pulmonary edema
which is basically the lungs filling
with
fluid approximately an hour after he had
been left to sleep it off he was not
breathing they do nothing for an hour
while they have him lay there then they
realize he's not breathing then all of a
sudden it's like call 911 well God at
this point they do but at this point
now it's too late Matthew was pronounced
dead uh approximately 27 minutes after
arrival in the uh emergency
department when we got there they took
me and Debbie in the back and we were
still hoping that when they pulled that
sheet over his head it was going to be
another kid not yours just as bad as
that sounds there was just a chance it
wasn't our son
and as soon as they pulled the sheet up
and you seen his hair do you know it was
him and she's screaming no not mad not
mad the four ring leaders in the
fraternity hazing and torture death of
21-year-old Chico State student Matthew
Carrington accepted responsibility all
four some through tears pleading guilty
guilty guilty sir
guilty
guilty I believe that there's all
different kinds of people and that a
certain kind of people take charge in
situations unfortunately for Matt none
of us were the type of person who took
charge and told people what to do we
were uh we just found ourselves looking
at each other waiting for someone to
step up and nobody
did what it's hard for us to realize is
the power that situations have over us
to cause us to act in certain ways it
was not the case that they had been
horrible moral
failures it's the case that they're like
the rest of us caught up situations
influenced by the situations
reacting in 1971 in the basement of the
psychology department of Stanford
University a mock prison was created it
rivaled all social psychology
experiments in
controversy shortly after I finished
this Stanford Prison study mgram
embraced me and said I'm so happy that
you did this he said he said said
because now you can take off some of the
heat that that he's had to Bear alone of
having done the most unethical
study although this experiment is over
30 years old its enduring power has been
underscored by the events at Abu
gra when we got to Abu grave it was
Eerie people were being told to rough up
Iraqis that wouldn't
cooperate I mean they're torturing
they're abusing detainees
you're looking at this the situation
thinking they've condoned this but
why and if it wouldn't have been for
those
photos no one would have ever believed
what was going on over
there when I first saw the pictures and
immediately a sense of familiarity
struck me because I knew that I had been
there before I'd been in this type of
situation I knew what was going on in my
mind
the photographs were strikingly familiar
to the photographs that we had taken
many of the photographs I had taken in
the prison
study we didn't do any of the stuff as
you see in Abu gribe where they you know
get into a big pile or something like
that but I certainly subjected them to
all kinds of humiliations I don't know
where I would have stopped myself given
enough time we could have got
there when the images of the abuse and
torture at abug Gro were revealed
immediately the military went on the
defensive saying it's a few bad
apples when we see somebody doing bad
things we assume they're bad people to
begin with but what we know in our study
is there are a set of social
psychological variables that can make
ordinary people do things they never
could imagine
doing at Abu gra Ordinary People
perpetrated extraordinary abuses to
understand why it helps to reach back to
the lessons of zimbardo's experiment how
people respond to a cruel environment
without clear
rules I think he and everybody else who
came down into that situation got caught
up into that situation and the sense
that this was an experiment that began
to fade away it became just life
experiment we frankly did anticipate
what was going to happen we tried to
really test the power of the environment
to change and transform otherwise normal
people much as mgrm had changed or
transformed otherwise normal people in
an obedient situation we wanted to do it
in a prison-like
situation over 70 men volunteered for
zimbardo's
experiment and they completed a battery
of psychological tests we picked two
dozen 24 who were the most normal and
most healthy half are going to be guards
are going to be prisoners it's like
flipping a coin and heads this one's a
guard this one's a prisoner so at the
beginning there's no difference in the
kinds of people who are in your two
groups when we were given our jobs as
guards we were issued a uniform which
was a plane sort of khaki uh or lighter
colored
uniform and then we gave them the
symbols of power a handcuffs a whistle a
big billy club and then the other thing
we gave them were silver reflecting
sunglasses
when you have mirror sunglasses on then
nobody can see your eyeballs I think
that anytime you put on what essentially
is a mask and you mask your identity
then it allows you to behave in ways
that you would not behave if you didn't
have the mask
on to make it more realistic I had
arranged with this Palo Alta Police
Department to make mock
arrests when I was arrested it was a
surprise to me I didn't think I was
going to be brought to an actual police
station I didn't think I was going to go
through a booking process the guards
then put a blindfold on them stripped
them
naked and then they put them in dresses
smoks with no
underpants each had a number that
replaced their name they had to know the
number they could only be referred to by
that number and they had a chain on one
foot which was put there to remind them
at all times of their loss of Freedom so
all of these things produces a sense of
being dehumanized
see if we backwards on the first day I
said this is not going to work I mean
the guards felt awkward giving orders
and they'd say Okay line up repeat your
numbers and the prison start giggling
hey I don't want anybody laugh 3 2 1 and
then a very interesting thing happened
Dave echelman who the prison's named
John Wayne like he's a wild west Cowboy
he begins to be more
extreme I decided that I would become
the worst
most uh intimidating uh cruel prison
guard that I could possibly be see the
future that you were work at
told say it again thank you say bless
you CH I was sort of fascinated myself
that people were believing the act and I
was trying to see how far I could take
it before somebody would say okay that's
enough stop we did have to do things
like push-ups uh would have to sing
things at the beginning we protested
some of the actions we did things to
irritate the guards if I got to be in
here I'm put up so the guard's Authority
was challenged right off the bat and the
guards had to decide how they were going
to handle that and they had to decid it
without our input I mean again this was
not a mgrm study in which we were
standing over them telling them what to
do and they began to see the prisoners
Behavior as kind of an affront to their
Authority and they began to push back we
would ramp up the general harassment
just sort of crank it up a bit nobody
was telling me I shouldn't be doing this
the professor is the authority here you
know he's the prison Warden he's not
stopping me this is
unbelievable they took our clothes and
off the
door there was the first evening a kind
of rebellion that took
place the prisoners rebelled they
barricaded themselves in their cells and
said we refused to come out they took
off their numbers they didn't want to be
deep individuated they started cursing
the guards to their face and the key the
key turning point was the guards began
to think of them as dangerous
prisoners and so the guards formulated a
plan used fire
extinguishers took the doors down
dragged the prisoners out stripped them
naked and essentially broke the
rebellion in a purely physical way B
your clothes and Prison from that point
on the study was as remarkable as series
of events as I've ever
seen this is unbelievable on the second
day of zimbardo's Stanford Prison
Experiment the guards quashed The
Prisoner
Rebellion they punished them by putting
them in solitary confinement which was a
small closet you could squat or stand
but you know you couldn't sit and it was
dark and and uh dank actually you go
anywhere
every hour every day there's a teeny
little bit more of an
increment and they're stepping up
taunting the prisoners they're stepping
up the Count's not letting them sleep
they're stepping I don't think from one
minute to the next the people who are in
it see the change and see the
difference and then the next key thing
happened beside the Rebellion prison
8612 he was the first one to have an
emotional breakdown I feel really inside
you know no I got to go I to a doctor
anything I mean Jesus Christ I'm burning
up inside don't you know I don't know
how to explain it all up
inside
no at the time if you had questioned me
about the effect I was having I would
say well you know they must be they must
be a wimp they're weak or they're faking
because I wouldn't have believed that
what I was doing could actually cause
somebody to have a nervous breakdown it
was just us sort of getting our jollies
with it you know let's let's be like
puppeteers here let's make these people
do things what if I told you to get down
in
that what would you do there the guards
now began to escalate their use of power
some of them had prisons clean out
toilet bowls with their bare hands they
now taunt humiliate degrade the
prisoners in front of each other and
they exert arbitrary control over the
prisoners they keep thinking of more and
more unusual things to do and very soon
after the fourth day things begin to
turn sexual you be the Bride of Franken
and you be Franken I want you to walk
over here like Frankenstein and say that
you love man if you want to fully sort
of humiliate somebody then you want to
get them in in those things that their
where their biggest fears are and a lot
of us have a lot of sexual Hang-Ups and
so that was part of that effort to
humiliate them even further get up I
love
you I love
you you get down here do 10 pushup every
day after that another prisoner broke
down in a similar way extreme stress
reaction that we released another one on
one on Tuesday Wednesday Thursday nobody
who was in that study could deny that
the prisoner breakdowns were genuine
they were they were scary to see they
were upsetting to us we they were
unexpected but they were they were very
clearly the real thing something was
happening that we were no longer in
control of
on the fifth day of the study zimbardo
invited his girlfriend recent psychology
graduate Christina maslac to visit the
mock
prison I had heard bits and pieces uh
from Phil uh about what was going on and
then when I was down there that evening
it really was kind of a wow the thing
that really got to me was when some of
the guards took the prisoners down the
hall to the men's
room she looks out and sees a line of
the prisoners with paper bags over their
heads each one holding the other one's
shoulder and they're leading him down
the hall and Phil comes over and I look
look you know my God look at that and I
looked up and something about it just
you know again it was the dehumanizing
demeaning kind of treatment I just I
couldn't watch it and she said it's
terrible what you're doing to those boys
and she got tears in her eyes I said
what and she runs out and and I'm
furious I'm saying you know I'm saying
look this is you know run outside we
have this big argument I'm saying look
this is this is the Dynamics of human
behavior it's fascinating power of the
situation all so I'm giving her all the
psychological basis and what kind of
psychologist are you you don't
appreciate this um and she said I don't
understand you're a stranger to me I
don't understand this how could you not
see what I see I mean you know you're a
caring compassionate person I know you
from all these other things something's
gone wrong here and then the next thing
she said which had an equally big impact
is uh you know I'm not sure I want to
you know have anything to do with you if
this is the real you and that was like a
slap in the face because what she was
saying is you've changed you know the
power of the situation has transformed
you from from the person I thought I
knew to this person that I don't know
and at that moment I said wow you're
right we got to end it after only 6 days
Dr zimbardo shut down his experiment
what makes this study interesting and
what makes the mgrm study interesting
it's really about the transformation of
human character
zimbardo decided to cut short his
experiment due to the growing hostility
of many of the
guards people can be seduced into doing
things they never thought they could
there are interesting parallels that are
coming up now with Abu
grab at Abu gra standard operating
procedures were changed normally
military guards are supposed to protect
prisoners suddenly they were asked to
soften them up for
interrogators we were never trained to
be prison
guards the higher ups had used your
imagination break them we want them
broke by the time we get
back as soon as we'd have prisoners come
in sandbags instantly over their head
and they would flexi cuff them throw
them down to the ground some would be
stripped it was told to all of us
they're nothing but dogs so you start
breeding that picture to people then all
of a sudden you start looking at these
people as less than human when you start
doing things to him you would never
dream of and that's where it got
scary tier 1A was where um a lot of the
stuff started happening and that's what
tier specialist grer was in charge of
one evening after he got off of his
shift he was horse I said grer are you
getting sick and he goes no and I said
well what's going on and um he says well
I'm having to yell and and do things to
detainees that I feel are morally and
ethically wrong what do you think I
should do I said then then don't do them
and he goes I don't have a choice and I
said what do you mean he says well every
time a bomb goes off outside the wire or
outside the fence they come in and they
tell me that's another American losing
their life and unless you help us their
blood's on your hands as well
so early on in October what I saw
whenever I walked up to the tier was two
soldiers that I had no idea who they
were they had two naked detainees
handcuffed to to prison cells they were
telling to confess confess confess um he
would SWAT him on the behind with a
water bottle so then after they did that
they handcuffed him together and what
appeared to be um sexual
position i' I've never been trained in a
interrogation but I definitely didn't
think that this is the way interrogation
should be and so I reported it to my
lieutenant basically you know telling
them Military Intelligence is doing some
pretty weird things with naked detainees
and he seemed not to
care whenever there's a system there are
perpetrators of evil it's the people who
do bad things like an Abu Gro the guards
but the top Administration gives
permission either implicitly or
explicitly they didn't they put them in
a pyramid but they gave them General
permission to do whatever they had to do
to get
confessions they may well uh be given
missions in connection with this overall
task strategy we also have to work
though sort of the the dark side if you
will we're going to spend time in the
shadows I can't think of a worst thing
for somebody who is in charge of an
environment like that or in charge of
people who work in an environment like
that to say say it's time to take the
gloves off and go to the dark side those
kinds of institutional environments
create pressures on people to head to
the dark side anyway I mean we learned
this in the prison study those
environments elicit the worst from Good
People my guess is that
99.999% of our Armed Forces behave
admirably at all times but it's like the
rest of society there will be a few bad
apples that will conduct themselves in
ways that we're not proud
of were there a few bad apples no what
was bad was the
barrel who made the barrel this whole
chain of command I feel terrible about
what happened to these Iraqi deanes they
were in US
custody our country had an obligation to
treat them right to treat them as human
beings we didn't do that uh that was
wrong prior to to the Abu gra Scandal
Donald Rumsfeld had personally approved
a menu of interrogation techniques
including dogs stress positions and
nudity that violated long-standing
military
rules when you follow an order you got
to be held accountable as well but the
ones that hold the key to that door the
ones that ask you to walk through that
door hold a higher accountability
because they know
better I know the situation very closely
now because I was an expert witness for
one of those guards chip Frederick
exemplary Soldier nine medals model
father a husband uh patrio you know
normal healthy no sadistic Tendencies
nothing that would indicate he was
anything other
than ordinary good guy and he gets into
this place and he is totally
corrupted sometimes you cross a line and
it's a thin line at any time that can be
crossed by any body if placed in certain
i
s I think it's a hard conclusion from
all of the research evidence to sort of
say there's nothing inherent in who you
are that would necessarily say I'm safe
I will never cross the line that
research was done 30 something years ago
this is not news you know the the
lessons that were learned it's been in
textbooks it's been taught in Psychology
courses other research mgrm all of these
other studies are pointing to those same
conclusions it is the rare person who's
able to be in that situation and resist
it's the
majority who conform who comply who who
obey Authority who who do these things
and that's what nobody wants to hear we
want to all think we're heroes if we
were in that situation we'd be different
maybe that's
true but heroes are rare in any society
they they are the exception the rule is
the majority the rule is the base rate
is what the average person would do and
so so the big message from the Stanford
Prison Experiment big message from the
MGM obedience study from many of these
other studies is that if you imagine
yourself in those St being participant
in studies you have to say it's likely I
would do what the majority did and I'm
not that special I'm an ordinary person
they were Ordinary People
next there's trouble in Tinsel toown
we're talking about a very very sick boy
an up close look at the stars who are so
good at being bad te just went crazy
Hollywood Justice coming up next right
here on Port TV seriously entertaining
the next generation of crime solving is
here with all these new incredibly
sophisticated techniques it's always
possible to find somebody every Friday
it's two full hours of forensics
forensic Friday tomorrow beginning at 9:
on court TV
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