Obedience1

One of the most alarming phenomenon that psychology has tried to explain is the acts of incredible

brutality and cruelty that seemingly normal people are capable of committing under the umbrella of

obeying orders. These behaviours often run counter to what can be termed 'basic human decency' and

are often against what the people involved would describe as their personal morals. When guards and

executioners who had taken part in the atrocities of Nazi Germany were questioned, many claimed that

they felt that they were not bad people because they were only following orders. had they been operating

under thier own powers, they imply, they would never have committed such acts. And yet, even

knowing what they had done, many claimed they were comfortable with their actions because they were

not really responsible.

Unfortunately, Nazi Germany, while being a topic that is often brough up in discussion of Psychology,

was hardly an isolated event. The Greek military regime of 1967-1974 recruited ordinary citizens from all

professions and turned them into official government torturers (Haritos-Fatouros, 1988, as cited in text).

Each citizen was gradually introduced to brutality. They were themselves tortured and subjected to

extreme degradation, being forced to eat lit cigarettes and being beaten until drops of sweat were reported

to fall from the ceiling. When it was all over, they were forced to get down on their knees and swear

undying obedience and allegiance to their government. After watching the experienced torturers, they

eventually began to conduct the torture themselves. They then subjected civilians suspected of disloyality

to the same unbelievable torture and degradation they had had to endure. The citizens they tortured were

farmers, carpenters, fishermen--the same groups they had themselves come from.