Jean Zimbardo For The Stanford Study

“The Stanford Prison Experiment” by Philip G. Zimbardo was written to explain the results of the Stanford prison experiment. Zimbardo while trying to gain support for his conclusions of the experiment, demonstrated many errors in his writing, and in his own experiment. The errors that Zimbardo commits call into question the validity of his argument, and the experiment. The goal explained by Zimbardo was “to understand more about the process by such people called “prisoners” lose their liberty, civil rights, independence, and privacy, while those called “guards” gain social power by accepting the responsibility for controlling and managing the lives of their dependent charges” (Zimbardo 733).

Sociology is defined as ‘The study of human social life, groups and societies’ (Giddens, 1989). It involves describing and analysing how different forces such as social, cultural, political, and economic have on behaviour and an individuals identity. (Van Kreiken et al.2000). Furthermore, it encompasses the complex connections on a micro level along with those on a macro level thus enabling sociological imagination.

To commence, we first began our journey into sociological enlightenment by analyzing the most basic way in which a sociologist evaluates a social problem, with the use of the sociological imagination. By utilizing our sociological imagination, we can associate our personal problems with the broader problems of society. By learning this method of evaluation, we can open our mind to differing views on problems. This allows us to attempt to solve social dilemmas in a nonbiased fashion. I particularly appreciated this unit as non-bias is something I strive for in everyday life. Likewise, I attempt to learn both sides of any argument to ensure that I can make the best decision that I can, and I believe that the sociological imagination encompasses those very same values.

Both qualitative and quantitative research methodology will be use to investigate the hypothesis. The use of case study, questionnaire, interview and statistical analysis will be used to observe and asks questions about the views of the micro, meso and macro levels of society on my topic. Problems that could occur with these methodology is not having enough adequate data to proceed the with each analysis. Secondary research will be used to make subjective judgments about what data is useful and what is not for the motive for the research process.

After reviewing the article titles given for this first assignment, I believe they indicate that Sociology, generally speaking, is not only a study of diversity or commonality in traits among people; it is also a science about factors in a person’s life and how these factors culminate responses. Interestingly enough, its topics of concern seem to be directly determined by current and common events of the world. Through the invention and expansion of new ideas, popular trends and fashions through time, Sociology adapts to responsibly to service the very subjects of interest it studies; for, even the slightest change of a person’s daily experience can have an insurmountable impact on attitude, personal growth, family

Read the article titled Asking Sociological Questions and reflect on the course material by answering the following questions in complete sentences (1–3 sentences per question). Your responses will be graded using the Module Eight Worksheet Rubric.

Your assignment this week is to identify the topic that you intend to focus on for your Final Paper. You may identify any social science problem or topic; however, it must be something that has been studied using quantitative research methods. Some examples of possible topics include:

Philip (2009) to try and see what was being said about prison treatment was true, this was called the Stanford prison experiment. This experiment only lasted 6 days due to the circumstances versus 6 weeks. Zimbardo had to find out whether the prisons were brutal due to the guards or due to the environment. It was clear that the role of the guards was the issue and not the environment. This was discovered when a sample was chosen from the population. Each induvial was set up to be a guard or a prisoner at random. In this study researchers got see the unfortunate power of social situations. Once prisoner and guard roles were assigned each group were told that they were being watched by the researcher and his colleagues, the guards were to not hit the prisoners, and debriefed about the experiment. Although all this was told the guards took situations into their own hands and the power took over. The guards began simply viewing them as prisoners and the prisoners began to fear the guards. It is important to note the researcher did not intervene but continued to observe when the hitting was taking place. This is particularly important because not only are the guards fitting the rod but the researcher is at fault for the fundamental attribution error but viewing the situation for what it

By explaining the humanistic perspective proposed by him, the author convincingly demonstrates that sociology is more than its methods, such as surveying, or its theories. There are many sociological theories, but they all are part of the fundamental vision of all processes as the effects of human interactions. Berger (1963) often refers to his own experience of being a sociologist, and this adds reliability to his arguments. Also, despite beginning the book in a light and humorous manner, the author further turns to complicated scientific notions and perspectives; this shows his expertise and makes the book’s major thesis more persuasive.

Philip Zimbardo’s famous quote was inspired from his Stanford prison experiment and it states “The line between good and evil is permeable and almost anyone can be induced to cross it when pressured by situational forces”. This quote summarized means that when a human is given or in the right scenario, humans will take on one of the most savage behavior. Philip Zimbardo’s experiment that happened in 1971 was all about taking in male volunteers to a prison like setting and he had them take roles as either prisoners or guards. A writer Shirley Jackson wrote a short story called “The Lottery” in 1948, the story is about a small village who has a special yearly lottery that is ancient but of importance to the people who live there and they

The use of research in the field of sociology has led to many breakthroughs in us as humans understanding both ourselves and our culture around us. As we as society continue working to develop a better understanding of how and why we act and interact with our surroundings we need to continue completing research to answer these questions. Research in sociology has created a better understanding of society and will continue to provide clues into the human mind. However, research must be completed properly and ethically along with proper research methods. Without proper procedures of completing research we as society may receive wrong information or biased answers about questions we want answered. There are four types of research that sociology uses to give us answers about our society and careful consideration must be taken to follow the rules of these research types.

Macionis J & Plummer, K 2012, Sociology: a global introduction, 5th edn, Pearson Prentice Hall, Harlow.

Van Krieken R, Smith P, Habibis D, Mcdonald K, Haralambos M, Holborn M, Sociology Themes and Perspe

To begin with, society and social factors have increasingly been investigated as they have been thought of

Throughout history there have been hundreds upon hundreds of influential figures, although not all of them have devoted their career to understanding the human mind. Of the few who have devoted their time to this hugely important task, Dr. Philip G. Zimbardo’s theories and experiments have made him stand out, and differentiate himself from the rest in his profession. Zimbardo 's area of expertise in the field of psychology is social psychology, the branch that deals with social interactions, including their origins and their effects on the individual. Zimbardo may be most well known for his Stanford Prison experiment, an experiment that seems to address the definition of social psychology perfectly. In this experiment Zimbardo had clinically healthy and sane people volunteer for the position of a prison guard or a prisoner and see how they behaved, for fifteen dollars a day. The prison was actually the basement of the Stanford psychology building, where the experiment would take place for a planned 14 days. As said before, the prisoners and guards were all tested as mentally healthy, and for the sake of the experiment were arrested, and processed on a random morning, August 14th 1971. (Zimbardo, 2007, p. 23). The results of this experiment are outstanding, shocking, and somewhat disturbing, making this one of, if not, the most unethical psychological experiments. Although the experiment is considered wildly immoral, Zimbardo is one of the most influential psychologists