Abu Ghraib - The Inside Story
How does ‘Lyndiee England at Abu Ghraib’ help us to understand why good people to bad things?
Lyndiee, before being posted in Iraq, was an innocent soldier or a ‘good person’. However, when she tortured the prisoners in Abu Ghraib to the extent the actions were deemed to be an example of dehumanisation, she was labelled a bad person by society. When I watched the video I became aware that she was still a good person but she had just done bad things because of the situation she was in and the people that were around her.
Firstly, good people do bad things because of something called diffusion of responsibility. This means not taking the blame for something because it was someone else’s command and not your own idea. An example of this is when Lyndiee said to the interviewer: ‘obviously it’s okay- my superior says it’s okay’.
This shows is an example of why good people do bad things because Lyndiee would not have tortured the prisoners out of her own will. She only hurt them because she was told to.
Moreover, another reason why good people to bad things is because of peer pressure. This means carrying out an action because everyone else is and because you’re scared of standing up for yourself and being different. Lyndiee took the picture because her boyfriend told her that ‘if (she) loved (him, she’d) do it’; therefore Lyndiee did not take the picture for herself – she took it because she was scared of losing her boyfriend. This is a good example of peer pressure because Lyndiee’s circumstances meant that she was in a war zone and that she was around, essentially, bad people. However, she may or may not have thought they were bad, but because everyone was telling her to do the bad things or doing them themselves, Lyndiee found it hard to see right from wrong.
Finally, one reason a good person does bad things is because they can and because they believe their role requires them to do the bad things. Lyndiee was clearly a very dedicated
Lyndiee, before being posted in Iraq, was an innocent soldier or a ‘good person’. However, when she tortured the prisoners in Abu Ghraib to the extent the actions were deemed to be an example of dehumanisation, she was labelled a bad person by society. When I watched the video I became aware that she was still a good person but she had just done bad things because of the situation she was in and the people that were around her.
Firstly, good people do bad things because of something called diffusion of responsibility. This means not taking the blame for something because it was someone else’s command and not your own idea. An example of this is when Lyndiee said to the interviewer: ‘obviously it’s okay- my superior says it’s okay’.
This shows is an example of why good people do bad things because Lyndiee would not have tortured the prisoners out of her own will. She only hurt them because she was told to.
Moreover, another reason why good people to bad things is because of peer pressure. This means carrying out an action because everyone else is and because you’re scared of standing up for yourself and being different. Lyndiee took the picture because her boyfriend told her that ‘if (she) loved (him, she’d) do it’; therefore Lyndiee did not take the picture for herself – she took it because she was scared of losing her boyfriend. This is a good example of peer pressure because Lyndiee’s circumstances meant that she was in a war zone and that she was around, essentially, bad people. However, she may or may not have thought they were bad, but because everyone was telling her to do the bad things or doing them themselves, Lyndiee found it hard to see right from wrong.
Finally, one reason a good person does bad things is because they can and because they believe their role requires them to do the bad things. Lyndiee was clearly a very dedicated