What Happens When You Put Good People In An Evil Place?

Read:

Module Notes: When Good People Make Bad Choices

Luban, D. (2001). The ethics of wrongful obedience. [PDF, File Size 3.07 MB] In D. L. Rhode (Ed.), Ethics in practice: Lawyers’ roles, responsibilities, and regulation (pp. 95-97, 102-03, 105). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

Luban, D. (2006). Making sense of moral meltdowns. [PDF, File Size 3.48 MB] In D.L. Rhode (Ed), Moral leadership:  The theory and practice of power, judgment, and policy (pp. 57-76).  San Francisco, CA:  Jossey-Bass)

Ludwig, D.C., Longenecker, C.O. (1993).  The bathsheba syndrome: The ethical failure of successful leaders.  Journal of Business Ethics. Vol. 12 Issue 4, p265-273.

After completing the assigned readings, please respond to the following questions:

1. In your analysis, provide examples from your organization where wrongful obedience, corrupt judgment, or warranted excuses may have come into play. Describe what happened and what the response within the organization was.

1. Describe an example of the "slippery slope syndrome" and analyze the situation and what might have been done to mitigate it.

Watch this video The Stanford Prison Experiment:  http://www(dot)prisonexp(dot)org/

And read:  An independent report on the Department of Defense Detention Operations.

NOW, address the following questions:

1. What were the competing values at stake in the Abu Ghraib prison and the Stanford Prison Experiment? Explain your answer.

1. How could the participants in both cases have avoided the situation where their ability to know what is the right thing to do is compromised? Why didn't they do it? Explain.

1. Finally, address how you might have handled the situation in both cases had you been part of that environment.