The Role of Power in Obedience

1389 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Essays on coercion

To Obey or Disobey: The Role of Power in Obedience

People’s decision to obey or disobey the law is based on how much power (in its various

forms) they perceive the law to have behind it. The power of coercion is one maintained by every

government in human history: the power to punish. The power of legitimacy is a much more

subtle power: the power to appear as an authority and let others presume that you know best.

While enforcing law, authorities will exercise both these powers. Both powers underscore

government and society’s ability to control us and to get us to obey.

Why do we obey? Stanley Milgram’s Obedience to Authority, a series of experiments in

which subjects were told to administer what they believed to be high-voltage electric shocks to

people who they thought were experimental subjects, shows us the disturbing extent of people’s

obedience in the face of power. Whereas it was hypothesized that few of the subjects would

actually shock their supposed experimental subjects, the actual experiments showed a

“disturbingly high level of compliance with authority figures despite the apparent pain evinced

by the false experimental subjects.” (Cover 223) Even when the false experimental subjects

(actually just a tape recording of responses) screamed with supposed agony, the vast majority of

the subjects, although showing some hesitation and concern for their “victims”, still nevertheless

shocked them again and again at the behest of the authority, even after the “victims” had gone

silent. (Cover 223) The almost blind obedience of these subjects was due to the power of

legitimacy and expertise they perceived the authority figures behind the experiment to have. The

2

authorities were able to impose their will ...

... middle of paper ...

...human, we will

always retain our freedom of thought and our decision to obey or disobey.

5

Works Cited

Cover, Robert M. “The Violence of Legal Acts.” Before the Law: An Introduction to the Legal

Process. Eds. Bonsignore, Katsh, d’Errico, Pipkin, Arons, Rifkin. Boston: Houghton

Mifflin Company, 2002. 223.

King, Martin Luther. “Letter from Birmingham Jail.” Before the Law: An Introduction to the

Legal Process. Eds. Bonsignore, Katsh, d’Errico, Pipkin, Arons, Rifkin. Boston:

Houghton Mifflin Company, 2002. 158-162.

Kropotkin, Peter. “Law and Authority.” Before the Law: An Introduction to the Legal Process.

Eds. Bonsignore, Katsh, d’Errico, Pipkin, Arons, Rifkin. Boston: Houghton Mifflin

Company, 2002. 158-162.

Tyler, Tom. “Why do People Obey the Law?” Introduction to Legal Studies: A Reader. Ed.

Thomas Hilbink. Amherst: Collective Copies. 475-495.

Show More
Related

  • Comparative Analysis Of The Abu Ghraib Prison Scandal

    1188 Words  | 3 Pages

    As depicted in A Few Good Men, authors Fromm, Dalrymple, and Szegedy-Maszak provide evidence as to why blind obedience influences individuals’ motives, such as fear and trust, to examine how unjust authority pollutes a person’s ability to

    Read More

  • The Perils of Obedience, by Stanley Milgram

    1490 Words  | 3 Pages

    Stanley Milgram selected 40 college participants aged 20-50 to take part in the experiment at Yale University. Milgram says, “The point of the experiment is to see how far a person will proceed in a concrete and measureable situation in which he is ordered to inflict increasing pain on a protesting victim” (632). Although the 40 men or women thought that they were in a drawing to see who would be the “teacher” and the “learner,” the drawing was fixed. The learners were a part of Milgram’s study and taken into a room with electrodes attached to their arms. The teachers were to ask questions to the learners and if they answered incorrectly, they were to receive a 15-450 voltage electrical shock. Although the learners were not actually being shocked, the teachers believed t...

    Read More

  • Obedience In The Crucible Essay

    1412 Words  | 3 Pages

    Obedience has always been a trait present in every aspect of society. Parents have practiced enforcing discipline in their homes where children learn obedience from age one. Instructors have found it difficult to teach a lesson unless their students submit to their authority. Even after the adolescent years, law enforcement officers and governmental officials have expected citizens to uphold the law and abide by the standards set in society. Few will understand, however, that although these requirements for obedience provide positive results for development, there are also dangers to enforcing this important trait. Obedience to authority can be either profitable or perilous depending on who the individual in command is. In the film, The Crucible,

    Read More

  • Jane Elliot Racism Analysis

    750 Words  | 2 Pages

    have power are imposing their will on those with less power. The fact that at some point in the

    Read More

  • The Problems with Hate Crime Legislation

    1649 Words  | 4 Pages

    Culver, Keith Charles. Readings in the philosophy of law. 1999. Reprint. Peterborough, Ont.: Broadview Press, 2008. Print.

    Read More

  • Milgram's The Perils Of Obedience By Diana Baaumrind

    745 Words  | 2 Pages

    Obedience is when you do something you have been asked or ordered to do by someone in authority. As little kids we are taught to follow the rules of authority, weather it is a positive or negative effect. Stanley Milgram, the author of “The perils of Obedience” writes his experiment about how people follow the direction of an authority figure, and how it could be a threat. On the other hand Diana Baumrind article “Review of Stanley Milgram’s experiments on obedience,” is about how Milgram’s experiment was inhumane and how it is not valid. While both authors address how people obey an authority figure, Milgram focuses more on how his experiment was successful while Baumrind seems more concerned more with how Milgram’s experiment was flawed and

    Read More

  • Amanda Knox and Italy's Legal System

    896 Words  | 2 Pages

    Abadinsky, Howard. Law and Justice: An Introduction to the American Legal System. 6th ed. Upper Saddle River: Prentice Hall, 2008. Print.

    Read More

  • Trouble at City Zoo Case Study

    3705 Words  | 8 Pages

    Raven, Bertram, and John French. Jr. "Legitimate Power, Coercive Power, and Observability in Social Influence ." Sociometry Vol. 21.No. 2 (1958): 83. Web. 2 Aug 2010. .

    Read More

  • Luke's Three Dimensions of Power

    4687 Words  | 10 Pages

    power as occurring in a situation where "A has power over B to the extent he can

    Read More

  • Comparing Foucault's 'Truth And Juridical Forms'

    2238 Words  | 5 Pages

    They are not only its inert or consenting target; they are always also the elements of its articulation” (Foucault, “Two Lectures” 34). Power may take various forms, all of which are employed and exercised by individualsand unto individuals in the institutions of society. In all institutions, there is political and judicial power, as certain individuals claim the right to give orders, establish rules, and so forth as well as the right to punish and award. For example, in school, the professor not only teaches, but also dictates, evaluates, as well as punishes and rewards.

    Read More

  • Research on the Power of Authority

    764 Words  | 2 Pages

    Stanley Milgram's experiments on obedience to authority-sometimes referred to as the "shock" studies-are the most influential and controversial in modern social psychology. They have affected fields as varied as law, business, medicine and the military. Plays, films and songs have been based on the experiments, and well known authors such as Doris Lessing and Arthur Koestler have written about them at length. Within academic social psychology, it would be difficult to overestimate their impact. In social psychology textbooks, a significant study is usually described in just a couple of sentences, or at most a paragraph, but the obedience experiments nearly always receive pages of coverage.The obedience studies indelib...

    Read More

  • The Structure of Power in American Society by C. Wright Mills

    812 Words  | 2 Pages

    C. Wright Mills in his article “ The Structure of Power in American Society” writes that when considering the types of power that exist in modern society there are three main types which are authority, manipulation and coercion. Coercion can be seen as the “last resort” of enforcing power. On the other hand, authority is power that is derived from voluntary action and manipulation is power that is derived unbeknownst to the people who are under that power.

    Read More

  • Compare and Contrast of the Three Faces of Power

    1832 Words  | 4 Pages

    Some theorists believe that ‘power is everywhere: not because it embraces everything, but because it comes from everywhere… power is not an institution, nor a structure, nor possession. It is the name we give to a complex strategic situation in a particular society. (Foucault, 1990: 93) This is because power is present in each individual and in every relationship. It is defined as the ability of a group to get another group to take some form of desired action, usually by consensual power and sometimes by force. (Holmes, Hughes &Julian, 2007) There have been a number of differing views on ‘power over’ the many years in which it has been studied. Theorist such as Anthony Gidden in his works on structuration theory attempts to integrate basic structural analyses and agency-centred traditions. According to this, people are free to act, but they must also use and replicate fundamental structures of power by and through their own actions. Power is wielded and maintained by how one ‘makes a difference’ and based on their decisions and actions, if one fails to exercise power, that is to ‘make a difference’ then power is lost. (Giddens: 1984: 14) However, more recent theorists have revisited older conceptions including the power one has over another and within the decision-making processes, and power, as the ability to set specific, wanted agendas. To put it simply, power is the ability to get others to do something they wouldn’t otherwise do. In the political arena, therefore, power is the ability to make or influence decisions that other people are bound by.

    Read More

  • Lawyer Case Study

    2578 Words  | 6 Pages

    Law is in place as a basis of a type of rule to govern the behaviour between people, offering a structure for society to ensure the protection of the rights of every individual. The absence of the law in place there would be an absence of order and stability in the society. With the development of a complex legal system, the law is not only rules, but is embedded with an akin of moral concepts in the society. On the other hand, lawyers are professions who ‘exercise their power in court by manipulating the thoughts and opinions of others through the skilful use of language’. I see lawyers as an exponent in upholding justice in society: as to how rights should be respected and protected, how the moral perceptions are ingrained and manifested through law. What aspires me to become a criminal lawyer is my receptivity to the juxtaposed relationship of moral and law. I agree that criminal law aids the establishment of ‘a moral imperative in civilized society’, enhancing the moral development in society through the

    Read More

  • Four Leadership Style Essay

    1244 Words  | 3 Pages

    Coercive Power- The power that comes from being able to punish and intimidate a follower.

    Read More

More about The Role of Power in Obedience

Open Document