A junior chemical technician accused of releasing untreated industrial wastewater into a local stream was acting in accordance with explicit directives from senior management, an environmental inquiry has heard.
Technician 'Y' denies charges of ecological negligence and breach of safety protocols at a regulatory tribunal.
The defense presented evidence showing that rapid-processing guidelines issued during a production backlog were the main cause of the incident. Under an efficiency protocol named 'Project Velocity', the plant manager instructed staff to "maintain output flow regardless of filtration lag" and to "prioritize throughput above all else." The defense counsel argued: "The technician is being scapegoated for simply executing the precise operational commands of their hierarchical superior."
Technician 'Y' has pleaded not guilty. The inquiry continues.
Briefly outline one core study on obedience and explain how it could relate to Technician Y's obedience to authority in the scenario above.
128 exam-style questions on OCR A Level Psychology Responses to people in authority, covering Milgram (1963): Obedience and Bocchiaro et al. (2012): Disobedience and whistle-blowing. Each one has a worked solution and a mark scheme showing where the marks go.