A famous experiment was set up by Stanley Milgram of Yale University in the early 60's, where subjects were asked to inflict an electric shock on a learner whenever they made a mistake on a task. The learner was strapped to an electrified chair and the subject could administer "shocks" from slight to extreme. What the subjects didn't know was that the "shock" didnt actually happen. The subject was under close supervision and was 'ordered' to give more shocks when mistakes were made.

No subjects stopped cooperating early in the experiment and 65% of them administered all 30 levels of shock - completely following the "orders" of the supervisor!

Milgram argued that strong pressure from an authority figure can make decent people (like you and me) do terribly indecent things to others. His point was that 'peer pressure', especially that exerted by powerful people can lead average citizens to engage in acts of treachery and violence.

It seems that when given certain circumstances under the rule of authoritative regimes, many people are over willing to submit to the orders of someone in command.

If you are like me, I feel confident that I wouldn't in an experiment or in real life, follow someone else's demands to inflict harm on a helpless victim. The idea appalls me. However, history and empirical findings indicate that we are probably wrong.

After many replications of Milgram's experiment and investigations into the way people behave when under strong pressure from an authority figure, the results are deplorable but clear: most people it seems can be coerced into engaging in actions that violate their morals and values. The actions always remain inexcusable, but the reasons for them should make us all aware of our own susceptibilties and vulnerabilities.

Very few of us could ever predict how we would behave or react under the regimes of authoritative figures.

Why did all those people allow themselves to mass suicide in Jonestown? Why did so many Germans under the Nazi regime commit so many inexcusable atrocities? Why were there so few Schindlers? In South Africa during apartheid, why were there so few Mandelas?

Conformity and obedience while providing lots of positives for the good ordering of society, can become evil twins when controlled by malicious regimes.

Social pressure is always at work in group interactions, and belonging to a group can have a dramatic impact on our own individual behaviour. For instance, in what is called the "bystander effect", it has been convincingly shown that our behaviour as individual's changes dramatically as the size of a group inreases.

If someone collapses on a footpath we are more likely to walk over them on a busy street than in a quiter area of town. Why does that happen? Well, we tend to leave it to others, or if other's hesitate, this inaction tells us there is no real emergency. When by ourselves we carry the responsibility, but when in a group we feel less personal responsiblility.

Research into group dynamics, authoritative leadership, conformity and peer pressure, clearly demonstrates that we are more likely to "follow the mob" and surrender our sense of personal responsibilty for our own actions as we are manipulated and coerced by the powerful forces around us.

Being a lone voice in a crowd is not always easy and being heard is even worse.

Silence is not always golden, especially when there are innocent victims involved!

Next time someone steps over a victim on a footpath, let's hope we are not the one in need of help!