Stanley Milgram: Questioning authority in relation to The Lottery,

Stanley Milgram (1933 - 1984) Compiled by: Michael Goret, Amanda Zega, Lorraine Voss, Gillian Fawcett-Hammalian http://mikeg531.tripod.com/MikeG531.htm Stanley Milgram is a pioneer in psychology who is most remembered for his work with obedience to authority. He was highly interested in the reasons why the average person would submit to obedience through an authority figure although he/she knew that he/she was harming an innocent third party. This research was prompted by the events of the Holocaust and later the Nuremberg Trials in which Eichmann, an infamous nazi, supported his actions of genocide as simply following orders. Milgram was born in Overview of Milgram's Theory Theory of Obedience It is ironic that virtues of loyalty, discipline, and self-sacrifice that we value so highly in the individual are the very properties that create destructive organizational engines of war and bind men to malevolent systems of authority.(Obedience to Authority, 1974, p.188) The aftermath of the Holocaust and the events leading up to World War II left the world stunned with the happenings in Nazi German and their acquired territories. Much of the destruction and lack of compassion for human life came to the forefront of concern for society at large during the Eichmann Trials. Eichmann, a high ranking official of the Nazi Party who could be attributed with sending thousands to their deaths, was on trial for various war crimes and the monstrosities he commited against humanity. The most intriguing questions that came to light at the time were , "Could it be that Eichmann, and his million accomplices in the Holocaust were just following orders? Could we call them all accomplices?" Milgram answered the call to these propositions by performing a series of studies on the Obedience to Authority. In most versions of this experiment two individuals would arrive at a testing center simultaneously. Here they would meet an instructer who appeared to be conducting the experiment. This instructor superficially appeared as an authority figure by displaying the necessary crudentials as a professor such as a white lab coat and clip board. The two "subjects"were then taken to a room where one was strapped in a chair to prevent movement and an electrode was placed on their arm. Next, the other individual who was called the "teacher" was taken to an adjoining room where he/she was instructed to read a list of two word pairs. He/She would then ask the "learner" to read them back. If the "learner" got the answer correct, they would then move on to the next set of words in the series. However, if the answer was wrong the "teacher" was informed by the instructor that they were required to administer shock to the "learner". These shocks first started at 15 volts and increased to 450 volts for each incorrect response. This occured in 15 volt increments. The "teacher" was never cohersed into doing so they were simply told by the instructer that the experiement required them to continue. This in fact is what made this study so intiguing; the "teacher" could have discontinued the experiment at any time but you will soon see that the majority continued to shock. The "teacher" was fully under the assumption that he/she was administering discipline to the "learner" however, they were never really doing so. The "learner" was actually a confederate,a student or actor, who were never actually harmed. This version was Milgram's experiment was the most basic. There were numerous variations in the arrangement between the "learner" and the "teacher" which entailed the proximity of the victim to the disciplinarian and others where there were contradictions between numerous instructers as to whether the experiment should go on just to name a few. Today the field of psychology would deem this study highly unethical because of the great deal of stress layed upon the subjects, however it is quite evident that this research yielded some extremely important findings. The theory that only the most severe monsters on the sadistic fringe of society would submit to such cruelty is disclaimed. Findings indicated that, "two-thirds of this studies participants fell into the category of 'obedient' subjects. These participants represented ordinary people drawn from the working, managerial, and professional classes" (Obedience to Authority). Ultimately 65% of all of the "teachers" punished the "learners" to the maximum 450 volts.