The Milgram experiment is one of the most controversial psychology experiments of the past century. I was familiar with it prior to accessing the simulation on the elearning site from an ABC television Four Corners episode on the nature of torture. So when I participated in the simulation, I stopped administering the shock at the first sign of distress from the subject at thirty watts. If I was in the actual Milgram experiment I would like to believe that I would have behaved in the same way. Human nature dictates that we believe that only abnormal people are capable of sinister behavior. This belief that internal attributions cause certain behaviours assures us of some stability and security in our day-to-day lives and yet the results of Milgram’s experiment were so startling and the empirical evidence so contrary to this assumption, I would question as to whether or not I might have indeed been more compliant.

Milgram’s findings that strong pressure from someone in authority can cause ordinary people to behave in ways that negate their values and morals (Weiten 2013 pg 542) have had an impact on our understanding of a number of different human tragedies including the atrocities of Nazi Germany, the systematic torture of inmates at Abu Graib and Guantanamo Bay and the My Lai massacre during the Vietnam War.

My Lai was a small village suspected of harbouring members of the Vietnamese resistance, the Viet Cong, during the Vietnamese War. When the American soldiers in Charlie Company under the command of William Calley raided the village and found no insurgents, Sgt Calley ordered his men to systematically murder the innocent villagers. On the afternoon of 16th March 1968 over four hundred men, women and children were slaughtered.

The example of the My Lai massacre is consistent with the findings of the Milgram experiment in that even though these men were soldiers, they would have been aware of the atrocious nature of this slaughter of innocents and yet they were compliant with the commands issued from the authority figure, in this case Sgt Calley. One of the criticisms of Milgram’s experiment was that the subjects only complied because they knew it was an experiment and that no real harm was being done (Weiten 2013 pg 543). Milgram argued that the subjects showed real physical distress at the results of their actions but continued regardless. A case study of one of the soldiers involved, Pfc Paul Meadlo revealed that he fired his automatic weapon until the magazine was empty all the while with tears streaming down his face (Doris & Murphy 2007). When other soldiers were interviewed after the incident they revealed that although they found what they were supposed to do objectionable they believed that it was required of them as soldiers and they complied. Interestingly this defence proved successful for the soldiers on their return to America and out of the six soldiers who appeared before the court charged with war crimes, only one, Sgt Calley was convicted and he was later released in 1974 on the grounds that he had been made a scapegoat (Doris & Murphy 2007).

In conclusion there are many aspects linking the My Lai massacre to the findings of Milgram’s experiment that any human being could potentially be capable of evil behavior given the right situational influences and pressure from authority.

References

Doris, J.M. and Murphy, D (2007), From My Lai to Abu Graib: The moral psychology of atrocity. Midwest Studies in Philosophy 31:25-55

Weiten, W. (2013). Psychology: Themes and variations (9th ed.) Belmont, CA: Wadsworth