Analyzing Stanley Milgram's Article 'The My Lai Massacre'

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Recommended: Stanley milgram perils of obedience thesis

Nicole Khamutov
Comparative Analysis
November 5, 2014
Obedience to Authority Obedience to authority has been seen around the United States for many centuries but there have been many positives and negatives. The reasoning behind why people follow any order given has attracted many opinions from the world of psychology. Stanley Milgram, a social psychologist professor at Yale University, showed obedience to authority in his article “The Perils of Obedience.” The other article is “The My Lai Massacre” which was written by Herbert Kelman, a social ethics professor at Harvard University, and V. Lee Hamilton, a professor at the University of Maryland. The article discusses the reasoning behind the killings of 350 men, women, and children in the …show more content…

The Marines in the film may have also been under the impression that they would not be responsible for any harm which Santiago may endure. Milgram could confirm this argument when he states, “The essence of obedience is that a person comes to view himself as the instrument for carrying out another person’s wishes, and he therefore no longer regards himself as responsible for his actions” (Milgram 87). Dawson and Downey followed the orders from Jessup and did not see themselves responsible for the death of …show more content…

This relates back to “The My Lai Massacre” because Lieutenant William Calley Jr. was found guilty for the criminal offenses and should have been given a life sentence but instead he served three and a half years under house arrest. The Milgram’s experiment, it shows that people are not inclined to question authoritative figures. It is apparent that this is a known occurrence by observing the My Lai Massacre in which the soldiers were not charged for their actions and why Dawson and Downey were not charged with murder. They were simply following orders from the authoritative figure and that they were not supposed to be questioning in the first place. Dawson and Downey may have realized that by not following orders, their punishment may have been more severe than the potential punishment for hazing and ultimately murdering Santiago. When a person in power makes a decision but is not directly involved with the execution, they are still to be held accountable for the

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