Name:______Date:______
Basic Instincts: The Milgram Experiment Re-Visited
“Sometimes all that is needed for evil to succeed is for ordinary people to just do what they’re told.”
In class on Friday, you read about what should be required for a research experiment to be considered ethical, as well as the methods used and outcomes of the infamous Stanford Prison Experiment. Today, you will look at one of the cornerstone experiments of both sociology and psychology that looks at how people act in groups and the impact that authority has on decisions: the Milgram Shock Experiment.
The documentary you will watch in class addresses the history of the Milgram shock experiment, as well as more modern day instances of how authority and group pressure can impact an individual’s actions.
There are not questions to accompany this documentary, however you will need to take notes for the follow-up assignment! Upon the completion of the documentary, you will be receiving a copy of a 2004 article from The New Yorker on the prisoner abuse scandal that occurred at Abu Gharib prison in Iraq. Your objective is to use the information you have on the results of the Milgram Experiment, the Stanford Prison Experiment, as well as the other examples in the documentary, to explain whether or not the events that occurred at Abu Gharib were predictable from a sociological standpoint.
You will be working on this response paper during your next two class periods. While this is an opinion piece, you MUST have evidence to back up your claims! Not only should this come from the articles and the documentary, but I suggest using your class textbook as well (especially chapter 5). Discuss the impact of people’s roles and status and how these historical experiments either should have or should not have predicted what occurred at Abu Gharib!
Response Paper Question:
Based on the results of previous experiments (Milgram Shock and Stanford Prison), in combination with sociological theories on the impact of status and roles, should the events that occurred at Abu Gharib prison be considered an anomaly or were they one more example of the impact of perceived status differences?
Requirements:
1. A clear position – it was an anomaly or it was another example. You must take one side or another!
2. Length: at least five paragraphs (you may need more)
3. Use of sociological theories (Chapter 5 in your textbook)
a. What impact did statuses and roles play?
b. Who filled these different positions?
4. Evidence from the Stanford Prison Experiment Reading and the Milgram documentary
5. Evidence from the article on Abu Gharib
6. Proper use of grammar and punctuation
a. You may use first person in this paper since it is an opinion piece. But as always – back up your opinions with fact!
Due Date: Thursday, September 19