Page 13 - Sept Oct Issue
P. 13
Excessive Use of Force by Law Enforcement, Corrections and Soldiers
view of what is right and wrong. Not until additional In the San Francisco Chronicle, Saturday, May 8,
soldiers entered the village did the killing stop. 2004, Dr. Zimbardo analyzed the Abu Ghraib abuses
Not until exposed to the outside world, was the and found that the prison environment was ripe for
atrociousness of the soldier’s acts realized. The mistreatment to happen. The prison had a weak leader,
larger world had not lost their moral compass. So, Brigadier General Janis Karpinski. The prison within
when the standards of the larger world were applied, the prison was a “secret place” that was not visited
what was done was seen as wrong. often by administrators. The prison was understaffed
and undertrained and lacked basic services for staff.
Zimbardo Prison Experiment They were under the stress of fearing insurgent attacks
constantly. They lacked discipline and standard operating
In 1971 at Stanford University, Dr. Zimbardo began procedures. The situation continued to worsen until a
the, now infamous, prison experiment. He divided soldier pointed out the egregious nature of the activities
a group of students into prisoners and guards within the prison. Zimbardo commented that what
and set up a makeshift prison in the basement of happened was inevitable. Prisons where the balance of
one of the University buildings. Everyone knew power is so unequal are very likely to become abusive.
that this was an experiment. The experiment was In the New York Times, May 6, 2004, Craig Haney, a
planned for two weeks, but was stopped after 6 days psychology professor at the University of California,
because the “guards” became too sadistic and the stated that preventing problems like those found at
“prisoners” became too depressed. However, some Abu Ghraib requires discipline, training, and outside
guards did not participate in humiliating prisoners, monitoring.
but did not stop others. The students were caught
in a time warp where they thought what they were Conclusion
doing was acceptable because there were no outside
inluences to say, “No, that is not OK.” Finally, There appear to be environmental and organizational, as
another professor reported what was going on as well as individual contributors to excessive use of force
unacceptable and the experiment was stopped. in institutions or organizations. Further examination of
these factors will teach us how to monitor organizations
Dr. Stanley Milgram’s Experiment in 1961. to prevent such things from happening in the future. The
key features appear to be lack of training and discipline,
Dr. Milgram wanted to know what kinds of people weak leadership, and lack of outside oversight. It
yielded to the pressure of the Nazi culture. In would also be important to look at the organizational
his experiment, researchers in lab coats at Yale characteristics of agencies where excessive use of force
University instructed participants to deliver does not occur. It is an important area to study.
increasingly painful electric shocks to other
“participants” to “teach them through punishment.” We’ve all experienced the shock of watching stories like
Sixty-ive percent of the participants continued to these on TV, but have you ever wondered why some
deliver what they thought was electric shocks for seemingly ordinary people commit violent crimes?
incorrect answers despite the screams from the Would you be amazed to know that many of them could
“fake” participants. Replications of Dr. Milgram’s have been predicted and prevented if someone had
experiment have found that about 65% of ordinary seen the warning signs and intervened before it was too
people yield to the pressure of the authority igure late? Would you like to know how you can protect your
even when it is contrary to their morals and 35% do children from becoming either the victims or perpetrators
not. Which group would you be in? of a violent crime? Do you need some way to measure
youth violence risk?
Abu Ghraib
13
view of what is right and wrong. Not until additional In the San Francisco Chronicle, Saturday, May 8,
soldiers entered the village did the killing stop. 2004, Dr. Zimbardo analyzed the Abu Ghraib abuses
Not until exposed to the outside world, was the and found that the prison environment was ripe for
atrociousness of the soldier’s acts realized. The mistreatment to happen. The prison had a weak leader,
larger world had not lost their moral compass. So, Brigadier General Janis Karpinski. The prison within
when the standards of the larger world were applied, the prison was a “secret place” that was not visited
what was done was seen as wrong. often by administrators. The prison was understaffed
and undertrained and lacked basic services for staff.
Zimbardo Prison Experiment They were under the stress of fearing insurgent attacks
constantly. They lacked discipline and standard operating
In 1971 at Stanford University, Dr. Zimbardo began procedures. The situation continued to worsen until a
the, now infamous, prison experiment. He divided soldier pointed out the egregious nature of the activities
a group of students into prisoners and guards within the prison. Zimbardo commented that what
and set up a makeshift prison in the basement of happened was inevitable. Prisons where the balance of
one of the University buildings. Everyone knew power is so unequal are very likely to become abusive.
that this was an experiment. The experiment was In the New York Times, May 6, 2004, Craig Haney, a
planned for two weeks, but was stopped after 6 days psychology professor at the University of California,
because the “guards” became too sadistic and the stated that preventing problems like those found at
“prisoners” became too depressed. However, some Abu Ghraib requires discipline, training, and outside
guards did not participate in humiliating prisoners, monitoring.
but did not stop others. The students were caught
in a time warp where they thought what they were Conclusion
doing was acceptable because there were no outside
inluences to say, “No, that is not OK.” Finally, There appear to be environmental and organizational, as
another professor reported what was going on as well as individual contributors to excessive use of force
unacceptable and the experiment was stopped. in institutions or organizations. Further examination of
these factors will teach us how to monitor organizations
Dr. Stanley Milgram’s Experiment in 1961. to prevent such things from happening in the future. The
key features appear to be lack of training and discipline,
Dr. Milgram wanted to know what kinds of people weak leadership, and lack of outside oversight. It
yielded to the pressure of the Nazi culture. In would also be important to look at the organizational
his experiment, researchers in lab coats at Yale characteristics of agencies where excessive use of force
University instructed participants to deliver does not occur. It is an important area to study.
increasingly painful electric shocks to other
“participants” to “teach them through punishment.” We’ve all experienced the shock of watching stories like
Sixty-ive percent of the participants continued to these on TV, but have you ever wondered why some
deliver what they thought was electric shocks for seemingly ordinary people commit violent crimes?
incorrect answers despite the screams from the Would you be amazed to know that many of them could
“fake” participants. Replications of Dr. Milgram’s have been predicted and prevented if someone had
experiment have found that about 65% of ordinary seen the warning signs and intervened before it was too
people yield to the pressure of the authority igure late? Would you like to know how you can protect your
even when it is contrary to their morals and 35% do children from becoming either the victims or perpetrators
not. Which group would you be in? of a violent crime? Do you need some way to measure
youth violence risk?
Abu Ghraib
13
