Complex Organizations and the Torture at Abu Ghraib

162 Pages·2017·5 MB·English

by  Janine A. Bower

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Dissertations Graduate College
6-2007
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Janine A. Bower
Western Michigan University
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Bower, Janine A., "Thereby become a Monster: Complex Organizations and the Torture at Abu Ghraib"
(2007). Dissertations. 834.
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THEREBY BECOME A MONSTER: COMPLEX ORGANIZATIONS AND THE
TORTURE AT ABU GHRAIB
by
Janine A. Bower
A Dissertation
Submitted to the
Faculty of The Graduate College
in partial fulfillment of the
requirements for the
Degree of Doctor of Philosophy
Department of Sociology
Dr. Gerald E. Markle, Advisor
Western Michigan University
Kalamazoo, Michigan
June 2007
Reproduced with permission of the copyright owner. Further reproduction prohibited without permission.
UMI Number: 3265912
Copyright 2007 by
Bower, Janine A.
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Copyright by
Janine A. Bower
2007
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
A number of people have contributed directly or indirectly to the development of
this thesis. My mentor, Gerald Markle, influenced my choice of the topic of this study.
He helped me to clarify my thoughts, and has provided a continuous stream of insights
and support. I have benefited greatly over the years from his advice and generous support
as my dissertation advisor. I am grateful for the encouragement given to me by Robert
Ulin and Paula Brush. Both Robert and Paula have served as very models of a committed
scholar, scrupulous passionate in their research. For her written and verbal comments on
earlier versions of some of these chapters, I am indebted to Susan Carlson.
I would also like to acknowledge my husband, Tim Bower, a fine sociologist who
has among so many other roles been a constant intellectual companion. He has engaged
me in ongoing debates that have always been stimulating, and I owe much to his strong-
mindedness and insightful criticism. I am deeply grateful for his constant encouragement
of me; he is the bedrock of my existence. I thank him for his unwavering love and
support.
Janine A. Bower
ii
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.................................................. ii
CHAPTER
I. INTRODUCTION .................................................. 1
Background...................................................................................................... 1
Historical Orientation....................................... 2
II. REVIEW OF SELECTED LITERATURE AND RESEARCH...............................8
Background................................................... 8
Organizational Environment.............................................. 9
Organizational Structure and Processes ............ 12
Cognition in Context.........................................................................................17
III. METHOD OF DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS...................................23
Background.......................................................................................................23
Case Study Method in Organizational Research..............................................23
Ethnographic Content Analysis.........................................................................25
Data Collection and Analysis............................................................................27
Summary...........................................................................................................33
IV. THE PRISON’S ENVIRONMENT............................... 35
Background.......................................................................................................35
Sanctioning Authority.......................................................................................37
Defining the Enemy.....................................................................................42
Delineating Torture and Its Justifications .........................................45
Summary...........................................................................................................51
iii
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Table of Contents - Continued
CHAPTER
V. THE ABU GRHAIB PRISON...............................................................................52
Background.......................................................................................................52
Culture............................................... 53
Mission............................ 55
Goals............................... 56
Structure......................................................... 61
Rules and Regulations..................................................................................63
Hierarchy......................................................................................................69
Complexity and Growth.............................. 77
Formal and Informal Training.............. 80
Summary......................................................... 84
VI. THE STAFF: COGNITION IN CONTEXT..........................................................85
Background..................... 85
Individual Experience................................... 86
Socialization......................................................................................................87
Defining the Situation................................ 87
Defining the Enemy.....................................................................................88
Dehumanization and Neutralization........................... 89
Anonymity and Occupational Insularity................ 92
Assigned Occupational Roles ....... 93
Summary......................................................... 101
iv
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Table of Contents - Continued
CHAPTER
VII. DISCUSSION, CONCLUSION, AND AREAS FOR FUTURE RESEARCH 104
Discussion.......................................................................................................104
Historical and Political Influences ..................... 105
Organizational Influences ............................................................................. 106
Individual Processes in Context............... 108
Implications.................................................. 109
Areas for Future Research........................ 114
Conclusion........................................ 116
REFERENCES............................................................... 118
APPENDICES.................................................................................................................124
A. Chronology............................ 124
B. List of Key Actors................................................................................................140
C. Data Source List.............................................................................. 149
V
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
He who fights with monsters might take care lest he thereby become a monster. —Friedrich Nietzsche
Background
Photographs shown during an April 28,2004 60 Minutes //episode revealed
shocking images: American soldiers torturing Iraqi prisoners. There, numerous male
detainees, captured following the invasion of Iraq were photographed hooded and naked,
piled upon one another. They were leashed like animals. Some had wires attached to
genitals and extremities; others were being assaulted by attack dogs. That these abuses
occurred at the Iraqi Abu Ghraib prison, infamous as Saddam Huessein’s most notorious
of prisons added a cruel irony.
Since then, accounts have come to light of similar abuses at American military
prisons in Afghanistan and at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where prisoners held in the so-
called ‘war on terror’ are detained. More than 135 military personnel have been
disciplined or face court martial for abusing detainees as part of a “zero-tolerance” policy
against inhumane treatment of detainees. Yet there have only been a handful of criminal
trails in which military personnel were charged and convicted. And while investigations
into the abuses at Abu Ghraib indicate that both CIA and civilian contractors also bear
partial responsibility for the crimes committed at Abu Ghraib, including the murder of at
least one detainee at Abu Ghraib, only one civilian — a CIA contractor — has been
prosecuted in the roughly 20 cases that have been referred to the Department of Justice to
date. Other soldiers and officers received non-judicial punishments or official
l
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reprimands, and a number of officers were either suspended or relieved of their duties. In
all, not a single military contractor or CIA officer has been charged with a crime in
relation to the abuses at Abu Ghraib.
Such abuses often lead to public questions surrounding why seemingly ordinary
women and men engage in this type of behavior. Yet individual-level explanations such
as deficient moral character or personal psychological defect (the ‘bad apple’
explanation) fail to account for the prevalence of the use of torture.
At the most general level, this dissertation explores the relationship between the
state level, U.S. military organizational processes and structure, and torturous acts
committed by military personnel. Specifically, I will explore the following: What recent
historical and political processes served to influence organizational culture, structure and
processes that may facilitate or promote the use of torture on behalf of the organization?
What is the role of the military as an organization in defining the problems that it
encounters and the tasks performed to manage those problems? What characteristics
about the U.S. military are instrumental in promoting a setting for torture, and how do
these essentially intersect with individual? How does torture and violence against
detainees at Guantanamo, Afghanistan and Abu Ghraib come to be defined as an
instrumental means of achieving a means to an end, or the organization’s goal? What
are the informal social-psychological processes associated with the organization of work
among those within the organization?
Historical Orientation
Much information and detail has been made available on the recent events at Abu
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