Psychology offers clues in prison abuse

[JoFerret]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/uslatest/story/0,1282,-4066064,00.html

They appear to be mostly ordinary Americans: .... The Army may append another line to each of their dossiers: tormenter of helpless prisoners. Can a largely unremarkable assortment of decent Americans put on uniforms, cross the globe, and somehow descend into leering sadists once inside a sweaty, teeming prison near Baghdad?

Yes, they can, according to researchers who study the psychological dynamics of prisons. And it could happen to many more of us, if thrust into the same kind of dysfunctional surroundings.

Researchers say the climate of combat, harsh conditions of the prison, cultural chasm between keeper and kept, and possible breakdown in command are all levers that could have tipped some soldiers over the brink.

``I would put it more in terms of opportunity,'' said Bert Useem, a University of New Mexico sociologist and prison researcher. ``Really what you have to explain is not so much the aberrant psychology ... but the fact that they had the opportunity to act on these impulses.''

He added that, judging from many accounts, this prison looks like ``a system out of control.''

<snip>


Some of the accused soldiers had been guards in civilian prisons. But most relatives and friends certainly can't picture them as brutes. Some view them instead as scapegoats, doing what they were told and now paying for the mistakes of higher-ups.

Some of these soldiers say they were encouraged by intelligence officers. Others who worked at the prison tell of overcrowding, scant food and sanitation, little guidance, long and mind-numbing shifts, and defiant rock-throwing prisoners who might be insurgents or violent criminals.

Specialists say the dominating power of guards over prisoners, exercised outside public view, bears an inherent possibility of maltreatment almost anywhere....

In a classic psychological test in 1971, ordinary college students picked by coin toss to play guards in a mock prison were treating pretend prisoners like real animals within a week....

While excesses are not inevitable, ``the literature of social psychology shows ordinary people can become cruel and abusive when given absolute power and authority over others,''....

<more>

Stanford Prison Experiment: http://www.prisonexp.org/

[fishnfla]

1. I'm thinking the MI/CIA guys picked these soldiers for a reason

They are all into psy-ops right? They look at these troopers files, see something, (a guy with a history of wife abuse (Graner), a gal from a backwater dirt road(England),put them in a crowded hell-hole of a prison and its just like chemistry, they can manipulate the guards and the prisoners at once.

Puppet masters, stirring the chaos pit.

[Tellurian]

3. So, out of the bungling morass....

which of the deviants would contemplate such a scheme?

And why would they do such a thing?

[Carni]

5. You got it...

These people were hand picked, fed the proper BS and turned into sadists.

This doesn't excuse them, but I still blame the culture at the top for being capable of playing all angles.

[TahitiNut]

25. In a 'volunteer' military, authoritarians select themselves.

This is one of the primary problems with a 'volunteer' military. Milgram showed that over 60% of the population would engage in the torture of another human being if directed to do so by someone (an 'authority') to whom they could assign the responsibility for the own actions. This is one of the 'discoveries' of Nuremberg: that soldiers are trained to do what they're told to do even if contrary to their own moral/ethical inhibitions.

It's about 'authoritarianism' - something we ALL have to one degree or another, but is far, far more prevalent in those who 'voluntarily' join a uniformed service. (I know. I was one of these.) We look for substitute parents - someone who'll make our tough decisions for us. After all, being an adult is hard work - especially for those who're new at it. In a culture of blame, it's hard to find room for taking personal responsibility when our shoulders are sore for the blame we carry around.

---

Most authoritarians are basically good people and lead productive lives in pursuits where their particular rigid styles are appropriate in professions such as accounting, the military, and medicine. As leaders, their narrow uncompromising views not only miss the better solutions, but they alienate their peers as well as those of different persuasions. With enough charisma and deceit, they can sway voters into giving them power even in the most advanced democracies. This happens because most voters themselves have a streak of authoritarianism in their personalities.

Adorno's discovery of a connection between racism/fascism and the authoritarian parenting style led him to propose a personality framework that may be described as follows:

While finding comfort in the identification of submissive behavior towards authority, the authoritarian person directs his/her aggression towards other groups, often racial minorities. This is an attempt to relieve the feeling of personal weakness with a search for absolute answers and strengths in the outside world.

According to Adorno, authoritarian personality is expressed essentially by:

• Excessive conformity
  
• Intolerance
  
• Insecurity
  
• Rigid, stereotyped thought patterns
  
• Submissiveness to authority
  
• Superstition
  

Bin Laden, the Fundamentalist Mullahs, and other terrorist leaders are submissive, if only to Allah. In this sense, they are authentic authoritarian personalities.

Authoritarian personalities result from an upbringing of rigid discipline and conditional affection. Adorno identified the authoritarian personality type as having the following characteristics:

"The authoritarian personality does not want to give orders; their personality type wants to take orders. People with this type of personality seek conformity, security, stability. They become anxious and insecure when events or circumstances upset their previously existing world view. They are very intolerant of any divergence from what they consider to be the normal (which is usually conceptualized in terms of their religion, race, history, nationality, culture, language, etc.) They tend to be very superstitious and lend credence to folk tales or interpretations of history that fit their preexisting definitions of reality (thus the Founding Fathers of the US are conceptualized as supporters of white nationalism.) They think in extremely stereotyped ways about minorities, women, homosexuals, etc. They are thus very dualistic; the world is conceived in terms of absolute right (their way) vs. absolute wrong (the "other" way whether African American, liberal, intellectual, feminist, etc.)"

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=104&topic_id=1547613

[GinaMaria]

29. Another Great post TN

As always, I learn something from your posts and see a situation in a different way. You have an incredible talent for cutting through the insanity of current events and shining light on a truth that makes us confront not only those around us, but also ourselves.

Thank you.
GM

[TahitiNut]

30. That would be my highest aspiration, luv.

It seems to me that whatever painful lessons we've learned would be useless if we couldn't offer those lessons as a legacy to others. I can speak only as one who has become painfully aware of my own authoritarian propensities ... propensities that had me aiming at a life-long career in the military when I was in high school. While others were traveling their own paths in "the 60's" I was following one that led me from high school to being a cadet at the USCGA, through college, to Viet Nam, and then through a long period of 'recovery.' I really didn't even start to "get it" until somewhere around 1971.

I sometimes feel like I was once a 'torturer' in a Milgram experiment or a jailer in the Stanford Prison Experiment. It's like I've been there and done that. It's frightening.

Some seem to interpret what I'm trying to convey as a form of exoneration of the soldiers for their own behavior. Sadly (or maybe not), none of us can be exonerated for the choices we make, no matter how much authority we surrender to. At the same time, those who'd exploit our authoritarian propensities to commit, through us or others, atrocities-by-proxy must be revealed and held responsible if we're to ever become sane as a nation or a people.

[riverwalker]

2. dangerous bullshit

So anyone in charge of vulnerable people away from public view, are prone to abuse? What about night shifts in nursing homes, and orphanages? Gee, do you think Mother Theresa put on her rubber gloves after midnight? I don't think so. Stress? What about thousands of people working for NGO's in war zones, and jungles, and never abuse anyone, and only show compassion? There are people who would take a bullet in the head before torturing anyone. No one could "order" them to abandon their humanity. These "studies" are just more immature, adolescent avoiding personal responsibility as a nation. It's dangerous. We need to grow the fuck up or we are doomed.

[Carni]

6. Ever read "Lord of the flies"

It sums this phenomenon up better than I ever could hope to.

[JoFerret]

7. Lord of the Flies

is nothing compared to this.

[Sentath]

9. Riiiiight

So you're saying that there was never any need for regulation or supervision or inspection of nursing homes or orphanages?

Is it your argument that the Stanford prison experiment was a fluke of some kind, that somehow they got all the bad apples all at once?

No. Surely not. You couldn't support either of those positions in any sort of rational discussion.

Should I take on your point about those who "never abuse anyone, and only show compassion"? Because, while I do believe in the existence of these wonderful beings, I somehow doubt that many of them are active duty military. That kind of asceticism usually precludes being willing to shoot anyone.

Do we need to grow up? Yeah. We need to accept that we are all flawed but mostly amazing human beings, even whoever is the 'enemy' today. We need to get beyond revenge, retaliation, and tit-for-tat and work for justice, reparation and restoration.


So, OK, grow up. Acknowledge that our countrymen did terrible things in a terrible place and that we need to bring the standards of openness and accountability that have made rest homes and orphanages tolerable to some more areas.

{rlg}

[Eye and Monkey]

12. Of course they're not in the military - the military is not an NGO.

You do know what NGO stands for?

[Domitan]

10. Well, hang on

Yes, there are many good people who work in those positions...but you'd be interested to know that the vulnerable population are sexually and/or physically abused compared to the others. For example, 50 to 80 percent of disabled people have experienced one form of abuse. There are many decent people, yes...but there are definitely a number of people when put in such positions of power lean towards the sick side.

[Redleg]

14. Nonsense. Many studies have shown obediance to authority and

conformity under extremely stressful circumstances (some research, such as by Solomon Asch, show conformity under much less stressful circumstances). Ignoring the power of the situation is a mistake when trying to understand the causes of behavior. It is possible that the soldiers involved did what they did to avoid ostracism or to curry favor with the MI guys and perhaps were able to rationalize their actions by thinking the inmates were really bad people who had it coming for the good of our nation.

[Eye and Monkey]

15. Not nonsense. Not at all.

RW's post doesn't tell the whole story, but neither does chalking this up to "the situation".

Understand this - I've seen more war than 99% of the US military - up close, personal, over a number of years and quite recently. That's not an understatement.

Yes, some people do show unfathomable behavior in stressful environments. All the more reason why most NGOs screen their field-workers fairly well. And also why NGOs will usually pull field-folks out of the field at the first sign of questionable behavior.

RW's point holds - there is a very real danger of writing this off as situational stress and ducking issues of accountability - at the field level and at the decision-making levels.

[Redleg]

16. I don't disagree- I didn't intend to imply that it all goes to the

situation. As a behavioral scientist I well know that behavior is a function of both dispositional and situational factors. But I also know that in very strong situations, situational cues and consequences will sometimes "overpower" dispositional factors.

We can and should select personnel who have appropriate coping skills to deal with stressful situations. We should also make sure that the leaders create a situation where their people can act ethically and effectively.

[Eye and Monkey]

17. Well, as your tag-line suggests -

I can agree that we need a change of "leadership" - because the "leaders" on the ground and in the decision-making bodies have failed rather dramatically in their pretenses at "creat(ing) a situation where their people can act ethically and effectively."

[Redleg]

18. I agree with that. It starts at the top.

I wonder if the soldiers are able to rationalize their actions agaisnt Iraqis because they have been told by their leaders that Iraq was involved in 9-11.

[Eye and Monkey]

21. What they "have been told by their leaders" -

Pardon me if I hear shades of the Balkans, Rwanda, Timor.

[belle]

22. Yup. Fish rots from the head.

[booksenkatz]

24. And what about parents?

According to the logic behind these studies, abuse of children by their parents should be at or near 100%. The stress of parenting is at times breathtaking, therefore all or most parents must be sadists, right? C'mon. I'm not even sure you could make a "youth" argument, since my mom was 19 and 22 when she had her children, and she was quite the opposite of a sadist!

I will agree that we humans all possess the basest of urges, but some of us were given good foundations to overcome those kinds of urges. I'm not saying I'm better than Lynndie England, but you either have a compassionate heart or you don't. I can't even kill spiders because I don't want to hurt them, yet I'm supposed to believe that a few weeks surrounded by assholes would turn me into an Auschwitz-level warden who throws back her head and laughs as she tortures the innocent? I've worked with assholes all my life, it didn't change my core values a bit.

[TahitiNut]

26. (listening to the turnip truck drive away) How are the rides ...

... at your personal Disneyland??

"Fish will be the last to discover water." (Einstein)

[0007]

27. NGO can mean almost anything

Your not making good to me could you please explain? NGO means what? And what studies are you talking about?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=NGO&btnG=Google+Search

[Ernesto]

4. Not exactly LBN, but well worth exposure

I can tell you 1st hand from the time of the Tet offensive in Vietnam, Marines had NO problem abusing the "gook" POW's that were in our grasp. It was just SOP. We hated them for what they did to our buddies. We all feared being taken prisoner more than being killed because we knew we would recieve the same treatment from them.... War is war folks: it ain't where you'll find the chicken hawks or any other light wieghts that condone this foolish adventure into a country that had NO connection to 9-11.

[Tellurian]

8. I don't think I'm being clear...

I would like to hear anyone's theory, first of all, who in the WH would contemplate this prescribed method of torture?

And why would you think they felt they needed to do this to the prisoners?

[Eye and Monkey]

11. there's another psychological principle involved here - DENIAL

[Kagemusha]

13. I'm not even sure they had to be hand-picked.

Though the possibility makes this interesting.

[9215]

19. Uhh, the Milgram studies. Just google it. nt

[LastDemocratInSC]

20. ABC News Nightline covered this in depth last night (Thursday)

[Moloch]

23. Blah.....

I really wish that people would stop making excuses for this. I can honestly say without any doubts that placed under that situation that I would never, under any circumstances, RAPE and TORTURE prisoners, nor would most people. I look forward to the day when all these warmongering subhumans, right up to shrub himself.

[wubbathompson]

28. I think the Guardian ripped me off

This is some of the exact same stuff I was saying yesterday.

[TahitiNut]

31. Several of us have been saying these things for over a week.

It's not something that's easily assimilated, I think. It requires a kind of introspection that's not easy -- especially when we're seeking simple answers (easy to vent, easy to post, and easy to read) and defending our own more immature postures.

[wubbathompson]

32. Very true

I like your name.

[Moderator]

33. violates copyright restrictions

JoF, you need to stay within 4 paragraphs.