294_OBEDIENCE_TO_AUTHORITY

PSYC/POLI 294: Obedience to Authority. Feb 21 - April 2, 2001
Paul Conway, Political Science & Steven J. Gilbert, Psychology (Revised: 3/7/01)

Steven J. Gilbert
       127A Fitzelle Hall
        Phone: 2557
        EMAIL: gilbersj
Office Hours: M 11-12; T 10-11;
                     W 1-2; Th 11-12
(Other Office Hours by Appointment)

<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>

Paul G. Conway
       410 Fitzelle Hall
       Phone: 3923
       EMAIL: conwaypg
Office Hours: TTh 11:20-12; 3:20-4
                      W 10-12
(Other Office Hours by Appointment)

<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <>
CHECK OUT THESE LINKS
Special Vacation Assignment
A Stanley Milgram Website
Dr. Gilbert's Milgram paper
<> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> <> In 1961 Adolph Eichmann, the Nazi bureaucrat in charge of administering the "Final Solution to the Jewish Problem," was captured, tried, convicted, and executed by the Israeli government, for "Crimes Against Humanity." The Eichmann trial thrust the Holocaust into the public mind, stimulating many to confront profound moral, psychological, and political questions that had been largely ignored, or repressed, since the end of World War II.

In 1961 Stanley Milgram was a 28 year old Assistant Professor of Psychology at Yale University who had recently completed a doctoral dissertation at Harvard on conformity. Milgram was challenged and disturbed by the Eichmann trial. He assumed that most of the thousands of people who participated in this atrocity were not monsters or sadists. Rather, they might be ordinary people who found themselves confronted with orders to do things they found morally repugnant. Milgram wanted to know why so many of them obeyed. And so began the most famous research program in the history of modern psychology.

In this minicourse we will study the phenomenon of Obedience (and Disobedience) to Authority. We'll look at Milgram's original research, along with some contemporary perspectives on his research program. We'll also consider some important political events that involved protagonists in obedience situations, including the My Lai, Bay of Pigs, and Challenger incidents. Throughout, we will be interested in examining whether the insights gained through Milgram's laboratory experiments can shed light on the dynamics of people acting in real-world, political arenas.

During the five weeks of our mini-course, you will be reading Milgram's 1975 book, "Obedience to Authority," as well as several articles that pertain to it. You also will be viewing several videos about Milgram's research, as well as the My Lai, Bay of Pigs, and Challenger incidents. There will be a paper (which we will describe in class), class presentations (by invitation), and a test. The attached Course Calendar shows the dates for all course responsibilities. We hope and expect that your interest and commitment will be engaged by this course. So let's begin!

The final course grade will be determined as follows.

Paper . . . . . . . . . 100 points
Test . . . . . . . . . 100 points
-------------------------------------
TOTAL . . . . . . . . . 200 points
Participation = TOTAL * (.95 to 1.05)

A 93.33% 187
A- 90.00% 180
B+ 86.67% 173
B+ 83.33% 167
B- 80.00% 160
C+ 76.67% 153
C+ 73.33% 147
C- 70.00% 140
D+ 66.67% 133
D 63.33% 127
D- 60.00% 120
E< 60.00% <120

PSYC/POLI 294: Obedience to Authority. Course Calendar

MONDAY	WEDNESDAY	FRIDAY
	February 21. Introduction; The incident at My Lai. Why did it happen? Can we explain why individuals obey orders that they know are immoral and perhaps illegal?	February 23. The assignment option. Decisions under stress: Interviews with a close relative or a whistleblower case study.
February 28 - March 2: Vacation Week
Overview: During the week of March 5-9, we'll view videos, read about, and discuss three incidents: My Lai, the Bay of Pigs, & the Challenger incidents. Throughout the week, you should read the Milgram* text, and have finished by Friday, March 9.
March 5. Discuss: My Lai	March 7. Discuss: Bay of Pigs	March 9. Discuss: Challenger
Overview: During the week of March 12-16, we will view the full Milgram video, and discuss Milgram's work on obedience from a variety of perspectives, including its applicability to the study of the Holocaust.
March 12. View Milgram video.	March 14. Discuss Blass** reading.	March 16. Discuss Saltzman***
Overview: During the week of March 19-23 we will continue our discussion of obedience to authority, bringing in additional perspectives on altruism, courage, and resistance.
March 19. Discuss Rochat & Modigliani****	March 21. Discuss altruism and resistance to evil.	March 23. The concept of courage; Papers due.
March 26. Discussion of selected papers..	March 28. Discussion of selected papers.	March 30. Test.
April 2. Return test; Wrap-up; SPIs.

*Milgram, S. (1975). Obedience to Authority. New York: Harper & Row.

**Blass, T. (2000). The Milgram paradigm after 35 years: Some things we now know about obedience to authority.In T. Blass (Ed.), Obedience to authority : Current perspectives on the Milgram paradigm (pp. 35-60). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.

***Saltzman, A. L. (2000). The role of the obedience experiments in Holocaust studies: The case for renewed visibility. In T. Blass (Ed.), Obedience to authority : Current perspectives on the Milgram paradigm (pp. 125-144). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.

****Rochat, F., & Modigliani, A. (2000). Captain Paul Grueninger: The Chief of Police who saved Jewish refugees by refusing to do his duty. In T. Blass (Ed.), Obedience to authority : Current perspectives on the Milgram paradigm (pp. 91-110). Mahwah, New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Pols/Psych 294 Spring, 2001 Assignment options

Examining a Decision Under Duress

This assignment asks you to examine a decision made under strong
pressure to obey authority or peer pressure to conform, or both. Your
options are to (1.) conduct an oral history type interview with a close
relative and try to explain that decision, or, (2.) gather information
on a government whistleblower and try to explain that decision.
Whichever way you gather data on an interesting decision made under stressful conditions, you should try to analyze the decision in terms of Milgram's research and any other studies that may be helpful.

1. The oral history/interview project

a. Decide on a parent or close relative who will be available and
willing to be interviewed by you for approximately 30-50 minutes.

b. Plan to structure a quiet, relaxed, unthreatening setting for the
interview. Begin the interview with casual conversation and simply
explain that you are doing an oral history project with a focus upon
interesting decision making situations that involved pressure or stress
at the time. (The situations will most likely relate to your subject's
previous job or community activities.)

c. Take thorough notes throughout this interview.

d. You should ask your subject to try to recall two situations in which
they were under pressure to do or say something that they knew was
wrong. Ask first if they can describe a situation when they were able to
find a way to do the right thing. After hearing about that situation
then ask about another situation in which they were unable to resist the
pressures and did something they felt bad about afterwards. Go back over
the details to clarify each story. At the end of the interview, after
gathering all of the data that seems relevant, you may have one good
narrative (or two) that are interesting enough to analyze for the
purpose of this course.

e. Write up a narrative describing one or both decisions on two or three
pages. Include some background information, the issue, and how your
subject dealt with the situation.

f. Think about the decision(s) in terms of Milgram and any other studies
that may be useful.

g. Write up your analysis of why your subject decided as he or she did
(on 2-3 pages).

2. The Whistleblower case study

a. Use the internet to find potential case studies of a "whistleblower"
who defied authority in order to get important information to the
public. You will need at least one lengthy article from a reputable
source or several articles that provide sufficient information about the subject.

b. Select a case that is interesting and easily understood in terms of
obedience to authority or conformity to group pressures, or both.

c. E-mail to one of the instructors the name and topic that identifies
your case study. We will keep a list.

d. Describe the pertinent background information, the issue, and the
decision you read about.

e. Think about the decision in terms of Milgram and any other studies
that may be useful.

f. Write up your analysis of why your subject decided as he or she did
(on 2-3 pages)

The final product with either option will be a 4-6 page paper which will
be due on March 23.