Philip Zimbardo's Prison Experiment

Likewise Zimbardo’s (1971) experiment, studying the way ‘prisoners’ and ‘guards’ interacted, demonstrated similar ethical failings, such as consent gained without individuals being made fully aware of the involvements; physical, emotional and psychological harm subjected; violation of rights, including privacy, respect, confidentiality and the ability to withdraw (). Fascinated by the volume of ordinary individuals who executed terrible things to others during WWII, Zimbardo predicted that all people, even the good, had the potential to conduct malevolence when sited in the correct environment (Haney et al, 1973). In a mock prison participants were recruited to play a role, half as prisoners and the rest as guards. Both were dressed accordingly, with the guards wearing a uniform with mirrored sunglasses which promotes anonymity as their emotions are obscured, but yet denotes their position of power and authority. According to Zimbardo (2000) these ‘conditions of deindividuation’ allow for the facilitation of evil. Subsequently it becomes acceptable to enforce measures which degrade prisoners of their self-respect, including being stripped, deloused and ordered to carry a chain around their ankle, whilst the mandatory wearing of a smock and a cap made from a stocking demoralized them as it impacted upon their masculinity. Additionally, not only were prisoners assigned a number by which they were referred to, denying them of their identity, but each area of their daily

The Stanford prison experiment was a study of the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard. The experiment was conducted at Stanford University on August 14–20, 1971, by a team of researchers led by psychology professor Philip Zimbardo. It was funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research and was of interest to both the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps as an investigation into the causes of conflict between military guards and prisoners. The experiment is a classic study on the psychology of imprisonment and is a topic covered in most introductory psychology textbooks.

In 1971, psychologist Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues created the experiment known as the Stanford Prison Experiment. Zimbardo wanted to investigate further into human behavior, so he created this experiment that looked at the impact of taking the role of a prisoner or prison guard. These researchers examined how the participants would react when placed in an institutionalized prison environment. They set up a mock prison in the basement of Stanford University’s psychology building. Twenty four undergraduate students were selected to play the roles of both prisoners and guards. These students were chosen because they were emotional, physically, and mentally stable. Though the experiment was expected to last two weeks, it only lasted six days after the researchers and participants became aware of the harm that was being done.

The psychology professor, Philip Zimbardo, from Stanford University began to test how imprisonment affects different people in August 1971. He chose twenty four out of seventy five male students. These students were the most psychologically and physically stable. Zimbardo built a mock prison in the basement of the university. Within the twenty four chosen students some were randomly selected to be guards. The guards only had to pretend for eight hours a day, and then got to return to their normal lives. The prisoners had to stay in the prison all day for seven to fourteen days.

The university put out ads in the local newspaper asking for volunteers to help with an experiment focusing on the psychological effect of prison life. The ad promised the volunteers fifteen dollars per day to participate in the experiment. Seventy volunteers came forward and responded to the ad. Every single one of them were given diagnostic interviews to help rule out any forms of psychological problems, such as: anxiety, depression, medical disabilities, or a history of drug use or criminal behavior. This eliminated unfit volunteers for being apart of the experiment and future problems. After all the interviews only twenty four students were qualified to participate in the experiment. The group was randomly divided and by the flip of a coin the two groups were assigned to be either prisoners or guards. Zimbardo wanted to make it clear to the two groups that at the beginning there was nothing different about the boys. As the experiment went on, however, that would change. The students were taken into a room at the Palo Alto police station and former prisoners and former or current prison guards came to speak to the groups to give them an insight of the events that would occur to them the following days. They also gave them examples and explained what it was like to be an individual in their role. While this was occurring, professionals at the university were turning the basement of the psychology building into a

The Zimbardo prison experiment was a study of human responses to captivity, dehumanization and its effects on the behavior on authority figures and inmates in prison situations. Conducted in 1971 the experiment was led by Phlilip Zimbardo. Volunteer College students played the roles of both guards and prisoners living in a simulated prison setting in the basement of the Stanford psychology building.

The Stanford prison experiment is a very stimulating subject discussed in several classes. Professor and psychologist Philip Zimbardo conducted this experiment through Stanford University. Twenty-four men were randomly selected to participate in a simulated prison environment and were given papers as prisoners or prison guards.

The surrounding environment is significantly influential, as it can alter an individual’ s perspective and behaviors. This concept is well demonstrated in Dr. Zimbardo’s 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, consisting of 24 male college students that were compensated with 15 dollars daily to assume the roles of either a prisoner or a guard. They responded to a local newspaper advertisement for Dr. Zimbardo’s experiment on discovering if the reasons for brutality displayed among American prison guards was a result of their aggressive personalities or a situational factor influenced by the reformatory environment (McLeod, 2008). The study was initially intended to last for two weeks but ended in six days due to the exceptionally aggressive behaviors of the guards treating the inmates inhumanely. Some prisoners became submissive to the authority of the guards, whereas others tested their power by refusing to eat, barricading themselves in their rooms, and one individual displayed a significant amount of psychological distress that allowed him to leave the study

Throughout history, nefarious regimes have come to power because of the transformations between ordinary men to brutal killers. During the Holocaust, many people who committed crimes were ordinary men prior to the Holocaust. Philip Zimbardo wanted to study how this phenomenon could occur, so he created the Stanford Prison Experiment. The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted in 1971 to study the effect of prisoner and guard roles on human behavior. Twenty-four participants were randomly split into the two groups. Prior to the beginning of the experiment, the men in both groups were essentially the same in terms of behavior. After only a few hours, guards became ruthless towards the prisoners, similar to the way guards during the Holocaust were ordinary men before, but became vicious

Philip Zimbardo's experiment on prison life demonstrated how quickly an individual can dissolve their own identity to fit into the social roles expected of them (UK Essays). Those assigned to play the role of guard were given sticks and sunglasses; those assigned to play the prisoner role were arrested by the Palo Alto police department, deloused, forced to wear chains and prison garments, and transported to the basement of the Stanford psychology department, which had been converted into a makeshift jail. Several of the guards became progressively more sadistic, particularly at night when they thought the cameras were off, despite being picked by chance out of the same pool as the prisoner (“Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment”) Psychologist World. The prisoners were humiliated and embarrassed by the guards. The guards were cruel and even made the prisoners do menial tasks. They made the prisoners clean the toilet bowls with their bare hands rather than providing

The Stanford Prison Experiment was a study about the psychological effects of college students becoming a prisoner or a prison guard. The experiment took place on August 14-20, 1971 in a basement at Jordan Hall, which is Stanford University’s psychology building, by Philip Zimbardo, a psychology professor. Zimbaro’s hypothesis was to test each prisoner’s personality traits by having the guards mentally abuse them in a prison for two weeks. 24 men, who were healthy and stable, from Stanford had been chosen to do this experiment and get paid $15 per day to do so. The students participating in this went way beyond than what Zimbardo was thinking. After about two days, the prisoners went “crazy” as Zimbardo later described. “Less than 36 hours

Zimbardo decided to conduct the prison experiment because of his interest in social psychology. He was influenced by the milligram experiment that left a great impact on him as a person. According to Zimbardo, he said that he wanted to expand on the Milgram’s experiment and focus less on power authority and obedience. The prison experiment mainly focused on the human behaviors when asked to play a certain role in society. The experiment also resulted in the degeneration and breakdown of human nature, raising more questions about the darkness of the human nature. Zimbardo’s experiment created a lot of controversy among people, but still studied by other another psychologist to this day. Zimbardo’s experiment gave a lot of information about the influence of the environment on the individual. He was trying to prove to the world that we humans sometimes can be violent towards others due to conformity and the social situation. Zimbardo wanted to find out “whether the brutality reported among guards in American prisons was due to the sadistic personalities

Have you ever wondered why ordinary people do unusual things that seem alien to their natures? Why do good people sometimes act evil? Who do smart people sometimes do dumb or irrational things? Zimbardo is one of the most significant social psychologist and all his work aims to find the answers to these questions. The purpose of this paper is to go into depth on the previous prison experiment, how it came about, and how the findings play a role in society today.

This paper serves to summarize The Zimbardo Prison Experiment, better known as The Stanford Prison Experiment which was conducted by Phillip Zimbardo in 1971 at Stanford University. The purpose of the study was to conduct research in order to better understand the psychological components of human aggression and submission to include conformity and obedience in a prison environment with a select group of subjects playing roles as either prison guards or inmates, however, I should note, according to McLeod, S. (2016), The Navy’s intent or purpose for the experiment was to better understand how to train members of the armed forces on how to cope with stress associated with captivity as opposed to making American Prison systems more humane. Another interesting point of note is that Zimbardo conducted this experiment shortly after World War II, and the Vietnam War where concern was raised as to some of the atrocities carried out in those wars where “ordinary” people conducted heinous acts per instruction from so-called authoritative figures. Experiments with similar objectives were carried out by Stanley Milgram and others. (Jones, A. D., & Milgram, S. 1974)

The Stanford prison experiment occurred in 1973. It was a research study conducted by Philip zimbardo to test his theory situational variables can be a powerful determinant of an individual's behavior.The study consisted of 24 males selected participants. Volunteers will promise $15 a day to participate in the study which would last two weeks. During the study the participants were randomly divided into two groups which were inmates and guards. The expensive place in the basement of the staffing University and what Philip made to look like a simulated prison. The inmates were randomly taken into custody and experience the full intake procedure that real criminals have to endure. Philip used tactics to The individualize and mates by stripping