Milgram's classic "Obedience" experiment demonstrated that many participants were willing to shock someone because they were ordered to do so (by an experimenter). The gradual increasing of the commands are the key (AKA the foot-in-the-door effect) = a major tool by DT and the MAGA media-verse. /2
Institutions like the military, medicine, and airline piloting recognize this tendency to "obey" and actively train individuals to question authority (ex: during surgery nurses can stop a procedure for a bit to ensure patient safety). Unfortunately ICE was not given proper disobedience training. /3
Zimbardo demonstrated that college students were willing to "play act" the role of cruel prison guards (Stanford Prison Study). This involves conforming to a group, obeying an experimenter, and role-playing. He called it the Lucifer Effect because he believes this kind of darkness lies in us all! /3
I'm guessing that ICE employees were likely selected for obedience, conformity, openness to propaganda, etc. They are likely encouraged to dehumanize immigrants and blame them for this disastrous policy. They might also engage in tendentious humor (bond with ingroup by making fun of outgroup). /4
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