The Social Psychology of Evil: A Look at Abu Ghraib

136 Pages·2016·4.87 MB·English

Clemson University
TigerPrints
All Theses Theses
8-2012
The Social Psychology of Evil: A Look at Abu
Ghraib
Kristin Richardson
Clemson University, [email protected]
Follow this and additional works at:https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses
Part of theSociology Commons
Recommended Citation
Richardson, Kristin, "The Social Psychology of Evil: A Look at Abu Ghraib" (2012).All Theses. 1469.
https://tigerprints.clemson.edu/all_theses/1469
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THE
 SOCIAL
 PSYCHOLOGY
 OF
 EVIL:
 A
 LOOK
 AT
 ABU
 GHRAIB

A
 Thesis

Presented
 to

the
 Graduate
 School
 of

Clemson
 University

In
 Partial
 Fulfillment

of
 the
 Requirements
 for
 the
 Degree

Master
 of
 Science

Applied
 Sociology

by

Kristin
 Lynn
 Richardson

August
 2012

Accepted
 by:

Dr.
 William
 Wentworth,
 Committee
 Chair

Dr.
 Kinly
 Sturkie

Dr.
 Sarah
 Winslow

ii
ABSTRACT

In
 the
 spring
 of
 2004,
 the
 military
 police
 assigned
 to
 guard
 the
 Abu
 Ghraib
 prison
 in

Baghdad,
 Iraq
 found
 themselves
 at
 the
 center
 of
 numerous
 investigations
 regarding

the
 abuse,
 torture,
 rape,
 and
 murder
 of
 detainees
 in
 United
 States
 custody.

 Their

behavior
 was
 influenced
 and
 encouraged
 by
 U.S.
 officials,
 including
 President

George
 W.
 Bush
 and
 Secretary
 of
 Defense
 Donald
 Rumsfeld.

 The
 Bush

administration
 effectively
 created
 a
 reality
 for
 the
 military
 police
 that
 fostered

increasingly
 violent
 and
 aggressive
 tendencies
 beyond
 what
 is
 expected
 or
 allowed

in
 similar
 circumstances.

 Existing
 literature
 and
 conclusions
 from
 previous
 studies

support
 the
 claim
 that
 social
 and
 situational
 forces
 can
 influence
 individuals
 to

commit
 cruel
 and
 unusual
 acts
 while
 under
 the
 authority
 of
 a
 legitimated
 institution

or
 figure.

 The
 obedience
 studies
 conducted
 by
 Stanley
 Milgram
 and
 Philip

Zimbardo’s
 Stanford
 Prison
 Experiment
 provide
 empirical
 evidence
 of
 the
 social

psychological
 theories
 of
 the
 social
 construction
 of
 reality,
 impression
 management,

and
 the
 Thomas
 Theorem.

 I
 explore
 the
 story
 of
 Abu
 Ghraib
 through
 the
 lens
 of

symbolic
 interactionism
 via
 the
 qualitative
 data
 collection
 process
 of
 content

analysis.

 Government
 documents
 such
 as
 interrogation
 procedures
 defined
 by
 the

U.S.
 Army
 and
 memorandums
 prepared,
 issued,
 and
 (sometimes)
 rescinded
 by

government
 officials
 in
 the
 months
 leading
 up
 to
 the
 investigations
 regarding

detainee
 treatment
 and
 interrogation
 at
 Abu
 Ghraib
 is
 included
 in
 the
 content

analysis.

 Other
 materials
 included
 consist
 of
 the
 photographs,
 newspaper
 articles,

  iii
and
 documentaries
 that
 engulfed
 the
 media
 during
 and
 after
 the
 investigations,
 as

well
 as
 the
 official
 expert
 investigation
 reports
 and
 detainee
 and
 eyewitness
 account

depositions
 and
 interviews.

 A
 careful
 examination
 of
 the
 materials
 in
 the
 content

analysis
 reveal
 a
 striking
 resemblance
 to
 the
 empirical
 studies
 listed
 above,

supporting
 the
 claim
 that
 situational
 factors
 created
 a
 reality
 the
 guards
 considered

to
 be
 real
 and
 (as
 the
 Thomas
 Theorem
 predicts)
 became
 real
 in
 its
 consequences.

  iv
DEDICATION

  This
 thesis
 is
 dedicated
 to
 the
 past,
 present,
 and
 future
 generations
 of
 brave

men
 and
 women
 who
 proudly
 serve
 our
 country
 in
 all
 branches
 of
 the
 United
 States

military.

 Their
 commitment,
 courage,
 loyalty
 and
 sacrifice
 deserve
 the
 utmost

respect,
 endless
 appreciation,
 and
 highest
 admiration.

  v
vi
ACKNOWLEGDGEMENTS

I
 would
 like
 to
 express
 my
 deepest
 gratitude
 to
 Dr.
 William
 Wentworth,
 my

thesis
 chair,
 for
 his
 assistance
 in
 writing
 this
 manuscript.

 His
 advice
 and
 expertise

has
 been
 of
 incalculable
 value
 throughout
 this
 process.

 I
 would
 also
 like
 to
 thank

Drs.
 Douglas
 K.
 Sturkie
 and
 Sarah
 Winslow
 for
 their
 guidance
 and
 support
 in
 the

preparation,
 construction,
 and
 completion
 of
 my
 thesis.

 The
 confident,
 supportive,

and
 encouraging
 environment
 created
 by
 the
 members
 of
 this
 thesis
 committee

served
 as
 reassurance
 and
 inspiration
 for
 my
 success.

 I
 am
 also
 grateful
 to
 the

remainder
 of
 the
 faculty
 in
 the
 Department
 of
 Sociology
 and
 Anthropology
 at

Clemson
 University
 for
 their
 assistance
 in
 helping
 me
 achieve
 the
 Master’s
 degree
 in

Applied
 Sociology.

  vii
viii