Ultimately, the behaviours executed by the group of policemen is suggested to be replicable, as some aspects of the consequences of the behaviours of the policemen and the results of both Zimbardo’s and Milgram's experiments paralleled. The Stanford prison experiment conducted by Philip Zimbardo yielded similarly chilling results: a nucleus of increasingly enthusiastic killers who volunteered for the firing squads and "Jew hunts"; a larger group of policemen who performed as shooters and ghetto clearers when assigned but who did not seek opportunities to kill (and in some cases refrained from killing, contrary to standing orders, when no one was monitoring their actions); and a small group (less than 20 percent) of refusers and evaders. (Browning 168)
Likewise, just like some of the subjects from Stanley Milgram’s experiment on the topic of obedience to authority, the policemen “mitigated their behaviour when they could do so without personal risk but were unable to refuse participation in the battalion's killing operations openly” (Browning 176). Although neither experiment can concisely explain the reason behind Reserve Police Battalion 101’s conversion, they each share elements suggesting that any group of sensible men can be moulded into obedient executioners. Just as human nature prompts individuals to reconcile with
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Of those men and women incarcerated for murder, how many have been converted from “ordinary men” into killers? What circumstances did it take from carrying out tasks similar to those of Reserve Police Battalion 101? However disturbing this issue is, another part of human nature allows for us to exist in the world, and to experience joy and kindness. Perhaps accepting the possibility that maybe we all carry a little monstrosity inside could even be the first step to avoiding more