Obedience to authority

Obedience to authority

The topic that underpins this discuss is about obedience to authority. Obedience refers to a form of social influence whereby an individual acts or behaves in a certain way as a result of an order from a person who is an authority figure. The action that a person performs comes from the relationship that exists between the person who is obeying and the person giving an order or a directive. Authority is defined as powers conferred to certain individuals to execute certain tasks. Authority is normally given to people who are in a leadership position or those who have high level of knowledge in a certain field.

This topic interests me as I yearn to find out how obedience relates to authority. This has been the driving force to choosing this topic. Many people confuse obedience and duty; therefore, I aspire to learn more about the meaning and application of obedience in real life. The second reason for choosing this topic is because I wanted to find out more on the relationships that exit between politics and religion in respect to obedience to authority. Third reason for my selection of this topic is to shade more light on the relationships between the two terms and determine their applicability.

Research is prudent in finding out more about how various issues or variables function or relate. This research is of importance to me and through this research, I will be able to learn how obedience is related to authority and why people obey the authority. Furthermore, I will be able to learn new ideas, complexities and the reasons why other people may not obey authorities. The message I want to convey to the readers about the topic is that obedience to authority is something that we experience everyday and benefits of being obedience to the authority. I will give them reasons why it is a duty and an obligation for people to respect and abide by their authorities.

Many people have different opinions and understanding of what obedience to authority implies or what it ought to be. Obedience to the authority to me means that people are supposed to obey the laws and rules of the land. My understanding of obedience is to abide by certain rules or by the directives that are given by someone that is above you in terms of age, status and power. When I was young, I remember I used to obey what my father and my teachers told me. Therefore, obedience is to act according to what you are told even if you do not like it. I remember in my intermediate level school, I did not like Geography but when the teacher pointed at me to answer a question, even if I did not know the answers, I had no choice but to stand and answer the question. Therefore, what I understand to be obedient is to act in the way you are directed. You have no choice even if your conscience does not want to perform or act in the way you are being asked to. Authority to me meant the administration or individuals that gave instructions were to be obeyed. Therefore, obedience to authority to me means acting or performing actions as directed by the people in power without questioning. People are forced to be obedient and obey directives for fear of negative consequences that await them if they behave contrary.

Literature review

According to Mailgram, society exists and is built on the premise of obedience (Nicholson 268). A society cannot live well without having to manifest obedience to the authority. The institutions that are established in the society are aimed at providing leadership, and therefore, they can only ensure that this is achieved by people or the subject having to be obedient to the authorities (Nicholson 268). Social order and civilization itself is not possible if individuals are not ready to surrender some of their privileges to the state. Since almost all the people are obedient in one way or another, obedience to authority is sometimes dangerous.

The conclusion reached by Mailgram was that all people are obedient to the authority. In one of his experiment, he found out that people will give an electric shock to helpless victims when they are ordered to do that. This therefore indicates that people may be compelled to act in the way that does not reciprocate with their conscience because of obedience. This act is as a result of fear and negative repercussions that may befall them if they fail to obey authorities. Therefore, obedience can be used to kill and to harm instead of promoting positive behaviors and actions.

Obedience to the authorities can lead people to do evil. In such situations, it becomes difficult to understand whether people should be obedient to their authorities. A good example of a case where obedience led to devastation is a case of Adolf Eichmann (McLeod para. 5). He organized for a holocaust in Germany that led to death of approximate six million Jews, gypsies, trade unionists and communists. He planned and organized for collection and transportation and extermination of the victims that were killed during the Nazi Germany government (McLeod para. 5). In his trial, he defended himself that he committed the crime as ordered, hence obeyed orders from the authority. To him, obeying orders was good and could not be avoided.

Mailgram further found out that the circumstances in which people were likely to obey varied. In his study, he found out that obedience was highest when for instance the commands were given by an authoritative figure compared to a volunteer, when the authority was in proximity with the subject and in absence of the authority (Russell and John 140). Furthermore, it is evident that people obey orders to get rewarded and avoid negative consequences. They do not want to disobey authority as this is seen as contravening the moral values under which the society is premised.

The Holy Bible also talks about obedience and authority. There are various verses that indicate why people are required to be obedient in the society. For instance, Hebrew 13:17 says, “Obey your leaders and submit to them. For they are keeping watch over your souls…” (The Holy Bible). This verse shows that people must be obedience to their leaders and the authority in order to lead positive lives. Another verse is from Romans 13:2 which reads, “Therefore, whoever resists the authorities resists what God has appointed, and those who resist will incur judgment” (Miyata 197). Therefore, the Bible supports people to be obedience to the authorities. However, what seems to lack is whether people should obey those authorities that compel people to behave bad or which show bad leadership. There is lack of enough explanations on the kind of authorities that people should abide or obey.

According to Stefano and Davide, obedience to authority is an important aspect to social life and it plays key roles in maintaining social order, but it also has some negative influence or destructive aspects to the society (96). Obedience can be seen as an instrument that is opposed to control of legitimacy of the authority demands and therefore a factor that contributes to authoritarianism. Both obedience and disobedience to the authority has a constructive and destructive aspect. Authority, obedience and obligation are important in understanding of political and law institutions. States often claim that authority is a moral power and therefore, obedience becomes intrinsically valuable (Edmundson 179).

Research method and process

The kind of research method that is used to gather information depends on the type of the study. In this case, this is a descriptive research. In my quest to find information about obedience to the authority, I used secondary sources. I used various library databases to find information from various research studies that have been conducted by various researchers. I mostly used journal articles that had already been published. These sources of information provided me with different perspectives and meaning of obedience to the authority. I have gained a lot from these researches. I also used books is our school library. These books broadened my understanding about the topic as I got an opportunity to interrogate and get different perspectives on obedience. Obedience is also a term that is used more in the religious fraternity. Christians have their meaning of obedience and they are required to be obedient. Therefore, I also read few verses from the Bible which helped me understand relationship between obedience and authority.

In my search of information, I made sure that I used credible sources. This was aimed at ensuring that I obtain factual and objective information that would give me a clear indication and meaning of my topic. In identifying the sources, I had to look for various issues such as the academic qualification and the area of specialization of the authors.

Analysis and reflection

From the research, I have learned that obedience occurs between people of two different levels, with one perceived to be weak listening and doing as per the orders and commands from the authorities. This resonates with what I knew about obedience to the authority. Individuals are required to adhere to the commands of their superiors even if the commands are not in conformity with their ideologies. The reason why people obey orders or show obedience to the authority is because they fear the negative consequences or they do because of the rewards that they are promised. A good real example case is that of Adolf who led the German Holocaust that saw many lives of the Jewish perish. Furthermore, it is clear that people will demonstrate different levels of obedience to the authority depending on various situations and factors. For instance, when the authority is close to people, they are likely to obey the commands and orders quickly as opposed to when the distance is wide. The research has enabled me to have wide scope of knowledge and perspectives about obedience to the authority. The support that I have gained from the texts and the Bible agree that people must obey authorities to ensure that society moves ahead. However, there are some negative effects of obeying authorities, especially when the intention is aimed at causing harm to others. Therefore, authorities need to act in moral way for people to obey it. The respect must be from both ends. But above all, moral values should be always adhered. The research has widened my scope of knowledge as I have discovered new knowledge on the areas of obedience to the authority.

Conclusion

It is therefore apparent that obedience to authority is observed in many societies. Many societies have managed to coexist well with one another because of the allegiance to the authorities. However, there is need for moral values to be the guiding principle and unifying factors between the subjects and the authority to ensure mutual coexistence.

Works Cited

Edmundson William. Political Authority, Moral Powers and the Intrinsic Value of Obedience, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, 30.1(2010): 179-191. Print.

McLeod, Saul. Obedience to Authority. 2007. Retrieved from: Web. 27/11/2012. <http://www.simplypsychology.org/obedience.html>

Miyata, Mitsuo. Authority and obedience: Romans 13:1-7 in modern Japan / Mitsuo Miyata; translated by Gregory Vanderbilt. New York: Peter Lang: (2009).

Nicholson, Ian. “Shocking” Masculinity: Stanley Mailgram, “Obedience to Authority,” and the “Crisis of Manhood” in Cold War America, In: Isis, 102.2(2011): 238-268. Print.

Russell, Nestar and John Charles. Mailgram’s obedience to authority experiments: Origins and early evolution, British Journal of Social Psychology, 50.1 (2011):140-162. Print.

Stefano, Passini and Davide Morselli. Authority relationships between obedience and disobedience, In New Ideas in Psychology. 27.1(2008):96-106. Print.

The Holy Bible.