Assignment of Responsibility in the Case of Lt. Calley

Attitudes toward the trial and conviction of Lt. William Calley were explored in a national survey, completed between May 28 and June 12, 1971, conducted by the Roper Organization staff. Of the 989 respondents, 34% approved of Calley's having been brought to trial and 58% disapproved. Subgroups were identified on the basis of the reasons behind their attitudes. Those who approved because they felt the individual soldier must bear responsibility (AR) and those who disapproved because they felt it unfair to hold Calley individually responsible (DR) showed marked and consistent differences in response to hypothetical questions, queries about legal precedents, and other trial‐related questions; the groups were, however, almost equally disenchanted with the Vietnam war. Demographically, DR's tended to be lower in SES and education. Findings are discussed in terms of patterns of integration into the national system; the DR group's hypothesized pattern appears conducive to violence upon orders from authority.