Kristina Ellis

Senora Hardy

Humanities Period 5

23 October 2017

1. The author of this work is Philip Zimbardo.

2. The title of the work is When good people do evil. The significance of the title

comes from the articles discussion of why people who are good do evil things.

3. This work was written in 2007. The important background information is that the

author has a PhD and is a professor of psychology and he created the Stanford

Prison Experiments which inspired this work.

4. The intended audience of this work may have been all people. Because we all

like to think that we wouldnt harm another person, but when it comes down to it

do we know who we really are? He wants to show us all that regardless of what

we actually think, things are purely situational based.

5. This work discussed a variety of studies that showed that when it came down to it

people were willing to harm another person based on their situation. He talked

about how our reactions to things changed according to who or what was

enforcing the activity, the amount of people involved in the situation and the

consequences that could follow (either for yourself or for another person.)

According to the author, people were more likely to do evil in larger groups with

more pressure from other people and if there were consequences for themselves

if they didnt follow through people were more likely to do so. (105)
6. The author makes the point that an authoritative figure enforcing an activity

makes people more likely to participate and fulfill their agreements. He gives the

example of Nazis in Germany, followers of Jim Jones and his Utopia. These

individuals were harmed because they caved into the promptings of a popular

leader. (51)

7. My overall assessment of this work is it is alarming. I honestly hope that I

wouldnt be like these people going to excessive lengths to harm another person

just because the situation calls for it. It is terrifying to think that mankind is

capable of THIS. Hurting each other severely just because thats how it all

worked out. I wish that would change ....