In most cases, compliance is thought of as a good thing. Citizens who pay their taxes, patients who obediently take their medication, and children who obey their parents are all examples of good compliance. However, there are situations where compliance is bad and disobedience is good. These are primarily situations where what one is instructed to do is wrong. The case of employees that are told to work overtime but indicate on their timecard that they only worked the standard number of hours is an example of this. Parents that instruct their children to lie for them or bosses that attempt to impose sexual discrimination on employees pose additional exceptions to the usual rule that compliance is good.
The most extreme and clear-cut example of a situation that demonstrates that compliance is bad and disobedience is good was evidenced in Adolf EichmannÆs murder of six million Jews in Nazi war camps. In his trial, EichmannÆs defense for these horrific acts was just that he was "just following orders" (Wu). In the Milgram Experiment conducted shortly after EichmannÆs trial, it was found that 68% of subjects in a study designed to explore explanations for Nazi behavior complied to the end in an experiment where they were asked to deliver increasing doses of electrical shock to subjects in spite of the subjectÆs claim of a heart condition and blood-curdling screams (Wu). The most effective way to gain compliance is through rational persuasion, and MilgramÆs response to the study volunteers delivering the voltage was to make persuasive comments such as ôThe experiment requires you to go onö and ôYou have no choice. You must go onö (ôCompliance;ö Wu).
ôCompliance.ö 15 Dec 1996. Wu, William. ôThe Milgram Experiment.ö Compliance. 13 Jun 2003. ...