Resisting Authority - a Hero of the Milgram Study
Joseph Dimow was a participant in the 1961 Milgram Experiment at Yale University. This article is an account of his experiences, and gives insight to his thought process throughout the experiment. Dimow is a part of the group of individuals who went against the authority figures present in the experiment when prompted to shock the person in the “learner’s” role. (New World Encyclopedia, 2014)
Right off the bat, Dimow retells how he found the drawing of the straws to be slightly suspicious, as he never saw the straw’s lengths, and was told that he was to administer the shocks. At this point, he began to think that he was being duped from the very beginning.
During the entire process, Dimow continuously asked questions regarding the procedure and the reason for the study. He even went as far as to relate the purpose of the study to examine how the Nazis of Germany were so compliant with Hitler’s ruling, which he later learns is exactly one of the reasons why the researchers were completing the study. (Dimow, 2004)
In the study, Dimow acted contrary to how many others individuals acted by refusing the administer any shocks to the “learner” after he heard screams coming from the learner. Even though the authority figure prompted him to, Dimow claimed he just could not go further as the learner’s screams increased. (New World Encyclopedia, 2014)
At this point, the authority figure told Dimow that if he did not continue administering shocks, that the experiment would be ruined, and thus ordered Dimow to continue. Even then, Dimow refused, and even offered to give the five dollars back to the researchers. (Dimow, 2004) Dimow then told the man that he believed the study was more so about how far the individuals would go in the presence of authority, rather than studying the effect of shocks on a learner.
By the end of the questioning period, the researcher explained what the Milgram study was really about, and ended up confirming all of Dimow’s suspicions.
At the end of the article, Dimow states that a follow up questionnaire was sent out, asking if subjects were glad, neutral, or upset about participating in the study, with the statistics coming out to 84%, 15%, and 1.3% respectively. Dimow mentions that he most likely responded as a neutral subject. (Dimow, 2004)
Dimow credits his views to his family’s socialist viewpoint that he grew up with. Due to this stance, he says that he grew up learning that what authorities thought was right/wrong often differed from what individuals of society thought were moral and immoral. (Dimow, 2004) In his life, Dimow was a staff member of the Communist Party, thus adding to his unorthodox ideas of society an authority.
Dimow, J. (2004, January). Jewish Currents: Resisting Authority: A Personal Account of the Milgram Obedience Experiments. Retrieved April 4, 2016, from http://www.jewishcurrents.org/2004-jan-dimow.htm
New World Encyclopedia. (2014, October 27). Stanley Milgram. Retrieved April 5, 2016, from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Stanley_Milgram
Out of the Fog. (2015). STANLEY MILGRAM'S FAKE "SHOCK MACHINE" [Digital image]. Retrieved April 9, 2016, from http://static1.squarespace.com/static/5592c762e4b0e05c804124c3/t/5660ef41e4b0a5d9e2661962/1449193282036/