
“As the story goes, Dr. Jekyll uses a chemical to turn into his evil alter ego Dr. Hyde. In real life, however, no chemical may be needed: Instead, just the right dose of certain social situations can transform ordinarily good people into evildoers, as was the case with Iraqi prisoner abusers at Abu Ghraib,” argues Phillip Zimbardo. In this article Zimbardo is announced to be the expert witness in the trial for those U.S. soldiers. He believes that it doesn’t matter who you are, that anyone can become evil. The evil line is ‘permeable’ to anyone put in certain circumstances. In fact, the classic electric shock experiment by social psychologist Stanley Milgram, PhD, proves just that. When someone of authority to you says to do anything, any person could easily fall over that evil line forgetting their beliefs and standing up for what they believe in.
I believe what Zimbardo has says about the line between good and evil is ‘permeable’ to anyone. He gives good evidence by stating the fact that even though the authority of the soldiers involved in the abuse at Abu Ghraib Prison knew they were ‘rogue soldiers’ and they could most likely not handle that much responsibility. So in my opinion the officers over them knew they would do such things so they turned their back to it. They also took pictures to have proof, and all the soldiers thought it was just fun and games and did not feel bad about anything they did. This can be evidence to show that people put in certain circumstances can do horrific things, such as this.
Dittmann, Melissa. "What Makes Good People Do Bad Things?" American Psychological Association (APA). 2010. Web. 22 Apr. 2010.
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