Zusammenfassung der Ressource
Massacre at My Lai
- Key Terms
- Agentic State
- Legitimacy of authority
- 1968 Vietnam War
- Applying it:
- Milgram's findings helped to
explain the crime in the
notorious war at My Lai.
- As many as 504 unarmed civilians
were killed by American soldiers.
- Women were gang-raped
- People were shot as they emerged from
their homes, with their hands in the air.
- Soldiers blew up buildings, burnt
villages to the ground and killed all the
animals.
- Only one soldier faced
charges and was found
guilty.
- Lt William Calley
- Defence was the same as the Nazi officers at the
Nuremberg trials; that he was only doing his duties
by following orders.
- Q: Explain the behaviour of the
soldiers in terms of agentic state
and legitimacy of authority.