Genocide: Nightmare At Your Doorstep

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Genocide Nightmare At Your Doorstep
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Reasons To Avoid This Topic
Too controversial Traditional social psychology
topics like conformity, attribution, aggression,
etc. Less time can be spent talking about
research from my laboratory There are many
topics that I and other persons know more about
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Reasons To Examine This Topic
The importance of the topic suggests that social
psychologists should have been studying this for
years Social psychologists have skills and have
developed a knowledge base not available to
politicians, journalists, historians, etc Chance
to talk about where we are going rather than
where we have been
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Joshua at Jericho
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Salem Witch Trials
In 1692, 20 were executed in Massachusetts
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Turkish-Armenian Genocide
1.5 million of 2.5 million Armenians in Turkey
were exterminated between 1915 and 1923. "Who,
after all, speaks today of the annihilation of
the Armenians?"
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Holocaust
Six million Jews (67 of Europes population)
were exterminated Others Roma, mentally
retarded, mentally disturbed, 3 million Soviet
POWs, homosexuals, Jehovahs Witnesses,
Communists, Socialists
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Cambodia Killing Fields
Pol Pot and Khmer Rouge kill 1.7 million (21 of
population)
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Rwanda
In 1994, within 100 days 800,000 Tutsis and
moderate Hutus are exterminated
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Kosovo Ethnic Cleansing
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Darfur
To date about 2,500,000 civilians, targeted
because of their ethnic or racial identity, have
been driven from their homes, more than 300,000
people killed, and more than 1,600 villages
destroyed by Sudanese government soldiers and
government-backed militias, known as the
"Janjaweed."
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Questions Involving Genocide
Will genocide be a consistent state of affairs
during the next several decades? Under what
conditions should the US intervene to prevent
genocide? To what extent should color, culture,
religion and economics matter? What social
conditions lead otherwise good women and men to
kill their neighbors?
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Milgrams Baseline Procedure
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Milgrams Baseline Procedure
63 shock to the limit (STL)
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Questions From Milgrams Paradigm (1)
Is blind obedience to authority a distinctly
American characteristic? Did the teacher enjoy
shocking the learner? Does the status of the
authority figure affect obedience?
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Questions From Milgrams Paradigm (2)
Does the personality of the victim affect
obedience? Are the personalities of the
maximally obedient and maximally rebellious
subjects different? How would a moral person
respond in Milgrams study?
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Questions From Milgrams Paradigm (3)
Were Milgrams results predictable? Why are
Milgrams results surprising? A naive belief in
the relationship of morality to behavior Were
participants in the Milgram study treated
ethically?
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Ethical Criticisms of Milgrams Work
No true informed consent Participants
experienced significant stress Long-term
negative effects on self-worth
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Milgrams Response To Ethical Criticism
Extensive debriefing After session discovered
learner was not harmed Participants were free to
leave No evidence of permanent psychological harm
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Follow-up of Milgrams Participants
80 reported that they were Very Glad or Glad
they participated. 15 had No Strong
Feelings Just over 1 were Sorry or Very
Sorry 80 said more research of this kind should
be done. 74 said they learned something of
lasting value.
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A Question Mark The Cost of Ethics?

• ?

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How To Get Good Men and Women To Murder Their
Neighbors

• Get them to say
• I hate or
• I would never

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Hofling et al. (1966) Astroten Study
Nurses received a phone call from a doctor that
they did not know. He ordered them to give 20 mg
of astroten. Doctors order violated a number of
hospital rules 21 of 22 nurses were stopped as
they were about to administer the drug A similar
group of nurses had the procedure described to
them. Ten of 12 said that they would refuse to
follow the doctors order.