ipl-logo

Analyzing Stanley Milgram's Violation Of A Social Norm

1061 Words5 Pages

Many people can say they were taught at a very young age by parents the appropriate way to "behave" in certain situations. For example, horsing around in church, screaming in restaurants, throwing tantrums in stores, etc., are things your mother might have called "misbehaving" or "unacceptable behavior", but sociologists call such abnormal behavior, Social Norms. Social Norms are defined as, “the accepted behavior that an individual is expected to conform to in a particular group, community, or culture.” The social science experiment I correlated involved the violation of a social norm, while I documented the reactions of local observers for doing something classified as “unusual behavior” or “not normal” in society. I eported the reactions …show more content…

It taught me a lot more about social norms that I thought I couldn’t understand before. I got to see firsthand how social norms play effect in society, how it works, and shaping individual’s lives. I learned that people will react, although it might be different then what you expected. Behavior changed, personalities changed but overall society changes. I gathered understanding, but I also felt challenged. In the reading, about Stanley Milgram. Milgram conducted a study about, “procedure for the study of destructive obedience in the laboratory (Milgram 1).” Overall, Milgram wanted to investigate “obedience”, authority acts for the genocide killings of WW11, were they just following orders. Our behavior is under the control of these social norms, or unwritten rules that society follows just as that of Milgram’s Obedience experiment. Social norms are shared by members of different cultures, groups and communities about how to behave. It was a challenge for me not to behave in a certain aspect, how I was taught. The difference between my challenge and that of the participants on the Holocaust was they served to make vivid tragic conclusion, by obedience. Milgram says this, “I would tell them to stop looking at individual responsibility and start looking at social institutions. I’d ask them to examine the conditions that take responsibility away from people, and let them regard others as a species apart.” The connection between the experiment and the reading, “Michael Brown, Ferguson, Missouri…”brought light about society rules. This online article talks about the issues in America about African American culture v. Law enforcement, and before I didn’t look too much into both perspectives until I recorded the discomfort people felt when I didn’t follow society’s rules. I definitely think that if I was to conduct this

Show More
Related
1189 Words | 5 Pages

Ian Parker, author of “Obedience”, provides accurate depictions of the immediate and long-term effects of Dr. Stanley Milgram’s Experiment. In addition, he includes that under complex situations, individuals are easily induced to react through a destructive manner (Parker103). Americans commonly underestimate the influences of a situation; however, Parker thoroughly delineates the consequences behind blind obedience (Parker 104). Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton, authors of “The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience” construe the atrocity of blind obedience committed by the United States Military. In March of 1968, crimes of obedience occurred due to an elusive order commanded by a higher ranked officer (Kelman&Hamilton 131).

Read More
556 Words | 3 Pages

The followers in Jonestown executed every task Jones asked them to, and this decreases cult member’s agency because they become less responsible for their actions. Those in Jonestown followed every order their leader commanded to please him, and this is exactly what happened in the Stanley Milgram Experiment. The American Psychological Association states, “In the middle of the jungle in Guyana, South America, nearly 1,000 people drank lethal cyanide punch or were shot to death, following the orders of their leader, Jim Jones… And when people are uncertain, they look to others for cues on what to do, research has shown.” Jones’ church members were willing to do anything for him, even kill themselves.

Read More
1546 Words | 7 Pages

In the article, “The Perils of Obedience,” by Stanley Milgram,

Read More
679 Words | 3 Pages

In experiment 13, the same situation occurred except for the fact that the experimenter as now a “common man”. The results of obedience lowered greatly. 16 of the 20 subject refused to continue. This proved that the subject is obedient, to a person with authentic authority and not a “common man”.

Read More
927 Words | 4 Pages

The Milgram Obedience Experiment Logan Pratts Mount Saint Michael Academy Advanced Psychology Ms. Johnson February 26, 2023 Throughout human history, the world has gone through many eras of different leaders. Leaders such as Alexander the Great, Basil II, and Napoleon Bonaparte were all successful because of their tactics and their ability to fully utilize the capabilities of their subordinates. The authority that people of power have allows others to be used as tools, but how far does authority go? Think back to Nazi Germany, many German soldiers knew of the atrocities that Hitler incited, but they all continued to follow orders. The reason why many people continue to follow orders even if they bring harm to others is the fear

Read More
580 Words | 3 Pages

Observed during the Holocaust and studied later at Yale University, authority can be used to manipulate people into doing just about anything. In a study of obedience, the Milgram Experiment tested how individuals would respond to being forced to administer high voltage shocks to a person behind a wall. Even when the unseen person would scream and beg for the shocks to end, the experiment overseer would tell the test subject to continue giving shocks. The results of the study showed that people were willing to bypass their morals in attempts to follow orders from an authoritative figure. Unfortunately, many outsiders would assess this situation and fail to realize that the terror does not lie within the people who submitted to the viscous instructions, but within the person who commanded them and watched the ordeal unfold from the

Read More
832 Words | 4 Pages

According to Milgram, every human has the dual capacity to function as an individual exercising his or her own moral judgement and the capacity to make their own moral decisions based on their personal character. Yet, what happens to an average person who is obedient to authority when it overrides their own moral judgement? 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” (Miller, Stanley Milgram). His gruesome experiment is considered by some to be one of the darkest in the field. In a series of about 20 experiments, hundreds of decent, well-intentioned

Read More
1471 Words | 6 Pages

Throughout this essay, the ideologies that surrounded the events of the Holocaust, the slavery of black people, the Stanford Prison Experiment, and the Asch Conformity Experiment have been examined with a clear understanding that they all have one thing in common – the choice to conform to the beliefs of the majority have proven detrimental or even fatal to a group of people within the society. It is extremely difficult to question authority figures, especially when many individuals have been brought up to believe that authority figures are the cornerstones of society. It is also extremely difficult to reject the beliefs of the majority of a society or population out of fear of causing unrest or becoming alienated from society itself. The whole concept of believing what others believe simply because they are the majority can be exceptionally dangerous for a society, however, it would also be quite difficult to uproot an entire psychological and political norm throughout the

Read More
1038 Words | 5 Pages

Milgram’s experiment of Obedience has proven that ordinary people are inclined to carry out an authority figure's directions, even if it means killing an innocent person. This is because the power of the authority makes them believe that being obedient is the best choice when pressured under an unethical order, despite it causing harm to others. Lorenz also mentioned in his book, On Aggression, chapter 3 that authority is linked with an individual’s aggression by which they tend to follow a higher ranking individual, where a community is usually composed of a ‘senate’ or ‘leader’ which gives out orders and decisions for the good of the community. I believe there is a link between obedience towards authority and aggressiveness, for example when referring to the Lorenz in the On Aggression book, on how a group of baboons is led by a group of ‘senate’. It shows that in every society we will seek the guidance of a person which we view as an authority.

Read More
725 Words | 3 Pages

Milgram's book about his experiments, Obedience to Authority, was published in 1974. His findings, released in 1963, were considered alarming; critics, including the American Psychiatric Association, initially questioned the ethics of the experiment. In time, however, Milgram's experiment was considered a milestone in the study of the social aspects of obedience and the primary documentation of what came to be called "situationism," which was defined as the idea that external situations override internal perceptions and moral standards. It is widely regarded as the most powerful experiment ever conducted in social psychology (Encyclopedia Judaica, Stanley Milgram). The CBS television network dramatized a fictional account of the work in the

Read More
840 Words | 4 Pages

Social Norms are unwritten rules about how to behave. They provide us with an expected idea of how to behave in a particular social group or culture. Behavior which fulfills these norms is called conformity, and most of the time roles and norms are powerful ways of understanding and predicting what people will do. (McLeod) We typically use these norms to predict what people will do in a certain situation. These norms

Read More
1136 Words | 5 Pages

Social norms are rules that have been ingrained in society and people for hundreds of years. These societal rules can be anything from not talking to strangers on the subway to wearing weather appropriate clothes in public. Yet, when these societal norms are broken, the observers, as well as the person who destroyed the norm, are affected. Societal norms play in large role in how a person conducts him or herself when interacting with others. When deciding what social interaction, I would break, I wanted to do something that would be easy for me to fully commit to without facing too much embarrassment.

Read More
859 Words | 4 Pages

It helped me to understand people from other cultures than my own. By watching their performance traditions and different use of language I began to take a look into the perspective of an Indian family. It is completely different than what I come from, which fascinates us as humans. Even the social aspects were so unique in the way the family members speak to one another and what is expected of them at such a young age. For example Jess is expected to marry an Indian boy relatively young.

Read More
1373 Words | 6 Pages

It taught me to help better be on my own and develop a better sense of independence. It gave me the opportunity to take classes that will help me achieve a career I can be proud of. The next steps for me is to start throwing my name in the ring for different jobs and internships to get some good

Read More
1280 Words | 6 Pages

This class has inspired me to look at ethics and cultural diversity differently. I hope that I will be able to pass on what I have learned to family and friends. The class has also helped me to understand better and relate to others that are different than myself. This understanding is important since there is diversity everywhere in our country. Although I learned a lot about diversity, I think what most impacted me, was learning there is still a lot of work that still needs to be done so all people being treated equal.

Read More

More about Analyzing Stanley Milgram's Violation Of A Social Norm

Related Topics

Open Document