Five Steps to Tyranny BBC AVI on Tracker

[clark-kent]

History is dominated by tyrants who have inflicted appalling acts of cruelty and carried out horrific atrocities. Most people believe that only truly evil leaders can be so ruthless. But, in Five Steps to
 Tyranny, Sheena McDonald reveals that each and every person is capable of committing terrible acts against fellow human beings.
                    This powerful and disturbing documentary features a number of ground-breaking psychological experiments, and conducts a few new tests of its own in order to prove how easily people obey orders and do harm to others. The experiments range from the initial creation of 'out-groups' to the final acts of vicious behaviour - the first steps to tyranny.

                    Prompted by the death of Martin Luther King, Jane Elliott, an Iowa schoolteacher, investigated the basis of prejudice by separating her class into blue and brown-eyed children. Shown in the programme, the results of creating 'in' and 'out' groups speak for themselves in the immediate and intense reactions of the pupils.

                    In another experiment, programme-makers ask travellers to give up their seats on trains and most  people agree. However, when a man in uniform is added into the experiment, there is a rush to vacate seats.

                    Examples of prejudice and the abuse of authority come from all over the world - predictable locations such as Rwanda, Kosovo, Burma and Israel, but also from the UK. Sheena McDonald explains how similar examples can be easily demonstrated in everyday behaviour in any society. If a man in a football strip falls over, will rival club supporters help him? Dr Mark Levine's experiment provides a fascinating result. If an experiment is conducted on the basis of benefit to science, will people perform an act, such as electrocuting a stranger, against their conscience? The film includes footage of a famous experiment in the 1960s, when people did just that.

                    Social psychologists Professor Philip Zimbardo and Dr Mark Levine, human rights expert Louise Christian and Colonel Bob Stewart contribute to the programme, together with Jeremy Mawdsley (twin brother of James, recently released from imprisonment in Burma), refugees from tyrannies around  the world and members of the British public.


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