Stanford Prison Experiment Analysis

The articles “The Stanford Prison Experiment” written by Philip G. Zimbardo and “The My Lai Massacre: A Military Crime of Obedience” composed by Herbert C. Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton both focus on the effects of power. In which the subjects have been ordered to follow something by superiors. In the experiment the original group of subjects are divided into the role of guards, and inmates. The massacre, however, was not an experiment but was the result of an order issued by a higher ranking official. In comparison the movie A Few Good Men was used. This movie contained the same main underlying concepts as the articles which makes it a good comparison. Involved were two marine who were charged with murder of a fellow marine and the conspiracy
Kelman and V. Lee Hamilton wrote about the tragic massacre of Vietnamese civilians by American soldiers. The My Lai Massacre allegedly occurred on March 16, 1968, however, due to military conspiracy and cover ups the issue remained hidden for a full year. Brought to court on charges in 1969 and 1970. Even though 14 of the high ranking officials had charges against them only one was convicted, which issued alarm and questions. The massacre was documented by soldiers and reports The army commanders assumed all the innocent civilians would be at the market and those remaining would be Vietcong related individuals. Orders were given to Charlie Company that summarized told to destroy the village and all in it. The My Lai Massacre was what is described as a sanctioned massacre “acts of indiscriminate, ruthless, often systematic mass violence, carried out by paramilitary personnel while engaged in officially sanctioned campaigns” (Kelman and Hamilton 137). Sanctioned massacres often described by the authors, are massacres ordered by a higher person that are deemed acceptable due to their authority. The article ends with the authors concluding that massacres are due to political forms dehumanizing civilians as just bodies to be
This was a real life event where people with little power were forced by mental dependence to submit to a higher order. Army commanders told Charlie Company that the village would be cleared of innocents, the only remaining people would be people with Vietcong relations. The village was ordered to be completely destroyed and any inside killed. This order, issued by those in a higher chain of command was expected to be carried out. The soldiers were expected to submit, and they did. The impact of this order was catastrophic and demonstrated the real implications this issue has had on