Group Conformity in the U.S. Army

¶ … Lai massacre that occurred in March 1968 and led by Lieutenant William L. Calley took the lives of more than 500 Vietnamese civilians, including elderly men as well as women and children. This event fueled growing outrage in the United States over the war in Vietnam and contributed to the groundswell of calls for the withdrawal of U.S. military forces from Vietnam altogether.

This paper provides an examination of the social and psychological environmental influences for the My Lai massacre, a discussion concerning the development of attitudes in response to a passive environment as they relate to the massacre, a discussion concerning the implications of the My Lai massacre and its legacy. Finally, a summary of the research and important findings concerning these issues are presented in the paper's conclusion. Introduction In March 1968, soldiers from the U.S.

Army's Charlie Company, 1st Battalion, 20th Infantry Regiment of the 11th Brigade, Americal Division attacked the Vietnamese village of My Lai, massacring more than 500 people, including elderly men, women, and children (Willbanks, 2014). This high-profile event because the focus of increasing scrutiny by many Americans who viewed the event as symbolizing the futility of prosecuting the war in Vietnam (Willbanks, 2014). To determine the facts, this paper provides a review of the relevant literature concerning the My Lai massacre that involved U.S. troops in Vietnam.

To this end, four specific sections are included. The first part is an examination of the social and psychological environmental influences that contributed to the massacre and the second part provides a discussion concerning the development of attitudes in response to a passive environment as it relates to the My Lai massacre. The penultimate part consists of a discussion concerning the implications of the My Lai massacre and the last part provides a discussion concerning the legacy of the My Lai massacre.

Finally, a summary of the research and important findings concerning these issues are presented in the conclusion. Part I. Examination of the social and psychological environmental influences for the My Lai massacre Researchers have shown time and again that when people are subjected to extraordinary circumstances, they can be influenced to behave in ways that would not otherwise be possible. Changing individual attitudes is a challenging enterprise that requires overcoming well-entrenched beliefs and views (Petty, Wegener & Fabrigar, 1997). Although some authorities cite the leadership failures of Lieutenant William L.

Calley, Jr. In directing his men in the massacre, other researchers have cited the dearth of effective leadership within the entire Americal division as a contributing cause of the massacre. In addition, there were serious deficiencies in the training that the men of Charlie Company received prior to March 1968 that contributed to major breakdowns in military discipline that resulted in the My Lai massacre (Willbanks, 2014).

In reality, this horrendous outcome was facilitated by the tendency of individuals to conform to behaviors that they would otherwise abhor as demonstrated by Asch's experiments in conformity (Rogers, 2003). In this regard, an updated version of Asch's experiment demonstrated that, "Conforming subjects said they felt self-conscious, anxious and even lonely, and feared disapproval. Even some of the independent subjects said they were emotionally affected, but felt it more important to 'stick to their guns' and do as they had been instructed" (Rogers, 2003, p. 353). Part II.

Discussion concerning the development of attitudes in response to a passive environment as it relates to the My Lai massacre According to Petty and his associates (1997), individual attitudes can be significantly influenced when there are contextual variables and numerous persuasive messages communicated. An important point made by Adler and Gielen (2001) concerns the requirement for processing these communications and contextual variables. In this regard, Adler and Gielen emphasizes that, "People need time to engage in elaboration of attitude-change messages and to consider implications for themselves.

If they do not engage in such personalized elaborations, the communication is forgotten along with the hundreds of other messages received but forgotten each day" (p. 222). This observation suggests that the troops that followed Lieutenant William L. Calley's orders took the contextual variables into account together with the messages they received from higher authority and weighed these issues as they applied to them personally.

Likewise, the experiments by Stanley Milgram demonstrated that obedience to higher authority can override personal attitudes to the extent that people are willing to engage in genocidal activities (Chazan, 2002). In this regard, Chazan reports that, "Milgram concluded that much evil could be done by 'ordinary men' in the name of obedience. Coercion was not necessary" (2002, p. 69). Part III. Discussion concerning the implications of the My Lai massacre (a) Effects of exposure. When people in any capacity are exposed to violence, the potential for adverse psychological outcomes is present.

In the case of the My Lai massacre, the exposure to group pressures contributed to the propensity of these soldiers to conform to actions being taken by those in authority as well as the other members of Charlie Company. In this regard, Rielly (2001) reports that, "Group pressures to conform are substantial, and failure to conform results in group sanction. If the group members embrace Army values, they will conform and act appropriately. However, if the group's values are even slightly different, there is the potential for problems" (p. 59).

(b) Influence of attitudes. During the post-massacre investigation by Lieutenant General E.R. Peers, a soldier from Charlie Company who participated in the My Lai massacre summed up the influence of attitudes on the unit thusly: "When you are in an infantry company, in an isolated environment like this, the rules of that company are foremost. They are the things that really count. The laws back home do not make any difference" (cited in Rielly, 2001, p. 59). Indeed, these attitudes became so powerful that they outweighed their natural inclinations.

In this regard, the interviewee added that, "Killing a bunch of civilians in this way-babies, women, old men, people who were unarmed, helpless-was wrong. Every American would know that. And yet this company, sitting out here isolated in this one place, did not see it that way. I am sure they did not. This group of people was all that mattered. It was the whole world" (cited in Rielly, 2001, p. 60). Part IV. Discussion concerning the legacy of the My Lai massacre (a) Effects of evaluative conditioning.

Research has clearly demonstrated that people can behave in ways that are.