Speech Review

Speech Review
Student’s Name
Institution

Abstract
The paper provides a review of Philip Zimbardo’s speech about the Milgram and Prison experiments. It describes the application of Milgram’s experiment in criminal justice/ juvenile justice; in this regard, children are identified as easy subjects to convert from good to bad behavior. Parents and other family individuals are responsible for the children’s behavior as they are their immediate role models. The paper outlines the application of the speech in social systems and human nature; in this regard, the role of culture in influencing criminal behavior is explained, especially if it is conservative. Situations such as torture result in submission to authority such that people agree to engage in evil behavior they do not desire. Correspondingly, people are influenced by the situation they are exposed to behave in a certain way. The paper also contains a conclusion that summarizes the entire paper and identifies the importance of establishing the situation of an evil behavior before drawing conclusions on an individual’s behavior.

Introduction
In 2008, Philip Zimbardo gave a speech that explained the cause of evil and how good people change to negative behavior. He states that there is a thin line between evil and good in the society. The line is permeable or can allow penetration from either side. Zimbardo explains evil as an activity of conduct that affects other people negatively. In the speech, he provides pictures and videos that illustrate the Milgram’s experiment of Obedience.

Zimbardo explains that motivation is core in influencing the people’s behavior; in this regard, if an individual is exposed to negative forces that encourage him to do evil he or she will actively participate in wicked activities. Based on his argument, the psychology of humans does not change with age; instead, motivation to take responsibility shapes the behavior of a person. When a parent instructs his child to take responsibility for certain misconduct, he or she fears about making a repeat of the mistake (Zimbardo 2008). However, failure to discourage the child and instead claim to take responsibility for his or her misconduct results in undesirable behavior. This was observed when about 78% of the sample population in the electric shock experiment participated actively without regard to the extent of pain caused to the victims (Burger, 2014).
Application in Criminal Justice/Juvenile Justice
According to Zimbardo, children are easily influenced since they cannot fully differentiate between evil and good. The Parent plays important roles in ensuring children are responsible for their actions. For instance, when the children know that the parents represent authority in the family, they act according to their guidelines. Therefore, parents that want their children to behave in a certain manner they should instill desirable behavior through making them responsible and respecting authority.
Children practice in criminal behavior when they are exposed to a negative environment. This may include being exposed to parents that engage in criminal activities to earn a living or brothers that participate in terrorism activities. These children imitate the behavior of the parents or brothers and become criminals. Additionally, the children can be influenced through rewards where evil parents or guardians reward them anytime they exhibit criminal behavior. The parents of children that are negatively influenced in this case should be held responsible for the negative or evil behavior.
From the speech, it is observable that people can be influenced to cause severe pain to other humans; this is based on the fact that they are assured of being relieved of the responsibility of causing the pain. Additionally, the gender of humans does not determine the extent of influence authority or the surrounding may cause to a person (Abbott, 2016). In this regard, the people in the society that participate in terrorism activities are psychologically influenced by the authority to believe that killing is good. They are motivated to kill more people or participate in terrorism provided they are not responsible for the deaths, or they can receive a reward.
When arresting children into prison reserves, they interact with people of negative behavior and learn from them. Sometimes they are mistreated and made to fear authority, therefore, when they are given instructions by the respective officers to adhere to its provisions without regard to the impact of their actions. These children stop caring about others and focus on authority. They do not realize when authority forces them to cross from good to evil also they develop a different perception on regard to understanding the two terms, evil and good. They believe that all that the authority orders them to execute is responsible right or good.
Application in Social Systems and Human Nature
The relationship that exists between the people in a social system is determined by their culture. Conservative people that are brought up in an autocratic society may learn authority as an important aspect of the society that should be respected accordingly (Szüle et al., 2014). When the parents respect and adhere to the provisions of authority, the children also learn the behavior. Once they are grown-up and independent, they follow the cultural provisions of the society without regard to human rights and the national laws. On the other hand, people that grow in a democratic system are likely to receive positive rewards for their good behavior and become observant to good morals and less fearful of authority.
Zimbardo argues that good people can be influenced to commit a crime against humanity (Zimbardo 2008). However, this is only achievable through exposing them to threatening and severe conditions such as torture so that they develop a fear of authority. In this regard, they become subjects of authority such that they can execute any evil to evade punishment. The bad people in the society should, therefore, be regarded as potential causes of evil in the society since they can be influenced to commit atrocities against fellow humans.
The society contains the system and situation that are responsible for influencing evil behavior. The system is responsible for the situation that has an immediate impact on a person’s character. In this regard, the people should learn to perceive that bad people in the society were good at some point in their lifetime. Also, the situation should be regarded as the responsible factor that drives the people to cross the line of good to evil (Szüle et al., 2014). Therefore, the blame should be directed to the situation and system rather than the individual. This reflects that to solve the issue of an evil person, the situation should be established before condemning the person.
Conclusion
The Milgram experiment provides a good explanation of the dangers of obedience and fear of authority. It proves that people are not born with bad character, but the situations they are exposed make them cross the line of goodness to evil. For instance, if a person is exposed to extreme torture, he or she may submit to authority letting the situation change his or her behavior. Additionally, motivation or reward can influence evil behavior. Therefore, to control people from engaging in the evil behavior, the situation should be established and a solution developed based on the respective authority.

References
Abbott, A. (2016). Modern Milgram experiment sheds light on the power of authority. Nature, 530(7591), 394-395.
Burger, J. M. (2014). Situational features in Milgram’s experiment that kept his participants shocking. Journal of Social Issues, 70(3), 489-500.
Szüle, J., Kondor, D., Dobos, L., Csabai, I., & Vattay, G. (2014). Lost in the City: Revisiting Milgram’s Experiment in the Age of Social Networks. PloS one, 9(11), e111973.
Zimbardo P. (2008).The psychology of evil. TED. Retrieved on 11/25/16, from http://www.ted.com/talks/philip_zimbardo_on_the_psychology_of_evil#t-489989