The Milgrim Experiment Research Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

The Milgrim Experiment - Research Paper Example ions as well as the growing generation of youngsters and teenagers when it comes to the factors of social influence, obedience to authority, and ethics. Social influence has always been a factor of society, and Milgram’s research into conformity is still relevant today. Children, teenagers especially, are eager to conform and look, dress, and act like each other. Peer pressure is rampant; the idea that one must ‘go along with’ the crowd in order to succeed is still felt. An important example is one that includes harmful activities such as smoking and drinking. When pressured, a teen is more likely to go along with the crowd that is smoking and drinking, believing that unless he or she follows them, ridicule and an otherwise painful life alone without any friends will occur. Though there has never been any question that the military itself is based on authority and willingness to follow the orders of those in authority, Milgram’s work is still seen in action today. In â€Å"The Milgram Experiment†, he documented the response of participants to following orders given to them and their willingness to carry them out, even when they knew that it would potentially inflict harm on others. This is seen today in the reports coming from various military sources such as the Abu-Graib prison, in which military members are still strongly asserting that they were given and were just following orders during the times that they performed acts on the prisoners that would lead to possibly severe psychological scarring. Ethics is frequently brought front and center when it deals with Dr. Milgram’s experiments. It is without question that Dr. Milgram himself had ethics; his experiments were actually designed to conclude with proof the statements of the criminals made at the Nazi war crimes hearings, in that they were simply â€Å"following orders† when they performed their crimes. During Milgram’s experiments, no actual human beings were harmed, even though those taking