This view is known in political psychology as 'situationism', that what shapes political behaviour are the situations individuals find themselves in. The opposite position is known as 'dispositionism', the view that internal psychological makeup - beliefs, values and so on - determine political, and other, behaviour.
Broadly speaking, situations trump dispositions in group settings, where forces such as conformity and obedience compel unwanted behaviour. As David Houghton notes, "novelty, ambiguity, and uncertainty in general - paired with the relative absence of social or situational pressures on decision-making - all seem to enhance the importance of dispositionism (Political Psychology: Situations, Individuals And Cases, New York: Routledge, 2009, p 240)".
Leadership positions are characterised by "novelty, ambiguity, and uncertainty in general - paired with the relative absence of social or situational pressures on decision-making". Therefore, the further up the hierarchy we go, the greater the scope we have for blaming individuals, rather than circumstances, for wicked deeds. This is the tack taken by Philip Zimbardo in assigning blame for the Abu Ghraib incidents.
At the close of the book, after looking at all available evidence from the media and the military, Zimbardo sets the reader to do jury duty (p 439):
"Are you willing and ready to make a judgment of complicity in the abuses at Abu Ghraib and many other military facilities and secretly run CIA jails of each of the following high-ranking members of the military command: Major General Geoffrey Miller, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, Colonel Thomas Pappas, and Lieutenant Colonel Steven Jordan?
"Are you willing and ready to make a judgment of complicity in the abuses at Abu Ghraib and many other military facilities and secretly run CIA jails of each of the following top members of the political command: former CIA director George Tenet and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld?
"Are you willing and ready to make a judgment of complicity in the abuses at Abu Ghraib and many other military facilities and secretly run CIA jails of each of the following top members of the political command: Vice President Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush?"
Indeed, it was obvious to the Economist that this was a systemic, not an isolated, problem. "Moreover, the abuse of these prisoners is not the only damaging error that has been made and it forms part of a culture of extra-legal behaviour that has been set at the highest level. Responsibility for what has occurred needs to be taken-and to be seen to be taken-at the highest level too." The article mentions Guantanamo Bay and the suspension of the Geneva Conventions, concluding that Donald Rumsfeld should resign or be fired by George Bush, arguing, strangely enough, that the president could always be voted out of office at the next election.
Next Page 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 47 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 | 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 86 | 87 | 88 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
1
1
