A STUDY OF PRISONERS AND GUARDS IN A SIMULATED PRISON
Craig Haney, Curtis Banks and Phillip Zimbardo
Stanford University
The topic addressed in this article is called: Stanford prison experiment, a study of prisoners and guards in a simulated prison.
Purpose:
The purpose of the research described in this article is to investigate the psychological study of prison life experience in prisons by prisoners and the guards and the effects it has on their psychological behavior.
Hypothesis
There were two hypothetical argument in this research.
Others suggest that the conditions in the prison was attributed to the prisoner.
Another group of people claim that the management of these institutions are the ones making prison conditions
…show more content…
The implication of this experiment points out the impact the prison environment has on individuals which are subjected to it. I recall one of my friend who was arrested and put in a prison cell for two weeks under very aggressive guards, the cell was made of “iron sheets” and he meet other four prisoners inside the cell and all together were five in number in a small cell and when we went to check on him the next day, the first statement that came out of his mouth was “this is hell on earth” conditions being not favorable for human survival. This reveals to the future psychological researchers that prison life affect the social behavior of the subject negatively because prisoners are meant to know and understand that they deserve such inhuman conditions and have no “rights” in the prison cells but are under the mercy of the guards and those in charge of the
The article on the Stanford Prison Experiment titled, A Study of Prisoners and Guards in a Simulated Prison and written by the Office of Naval Research, provides us with the overall information that deals with this controversial psychological study. The study was conducted by
In the documentary Quiet Rage, the story of Zimbardo’s prison experiment is retold. In the documentary, Zimbardo develops a hypothesis that the abusive behaviors in prison is either caused by pre-existing personality traits of the inmates and guards, or the prison environment itself is the cause. He tested his hypothesis by carefully selecting 24 physically healthy, and mentally stable, male college students to participate in a “mock prison” experiment. The basement of Stanford’s psychology department was used to recreate a prison environment, complete with cells, a prison yard, Warden and Superintendent’s offices, and solitary confinement. Half of the test subjects were randomly selected to be prisoner, and the other half to be guards. They were to be placed in the environment, and their roles, for two weeks, and to be carefully observed by Zimbardo who also acted as the prison superintendent. Zimbardo planned to observe the affects the prison environment had the subjects. Due to the extremely abusive characteristics guards developed, and the swift decline of
Groupthink can be defined as a psychological phenomenon that occurs within a group of people in which the desire for harmony or conformity in the group results in irrational decision-making. In 1971, twenty-four psychologically stable men took part in a trial known as The Stanford Prison Experiment. The purpose of the experiment was to prove that an individual’s perception of their own power is heavily influenced by social context and societal expectations of their role. The men involved in the experiment were assigned either the role of a prisoner or a guard to represent positions in society, both with power and without. More specifically, the conductors of The Stanford Prison Experiment focused on analyzing the different behavioral
The Stanford Prison Experiment sought to recreate a prison experience to study behaviors of prisoners and guards. The authors were seeking answers to the question of dispositional hypothesis which states “that the state of the social institution of prison is due to the “nature” of the people who administer it, or the “nature” of the people who populate it, or both” (A Study of Prisoners and Guards in a Stimulated Prison, 1971, pg. 2). In other words, they were studying whether the prisoners and guards behaviors changed due to their personalities or was it the prison environment that caused these changes. The authors considered the recidivism rate that was 75 percent at the time, conditions in prisons, and the belief that prisons
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.
Zimbardo decided to run an experiment where he would turn a basement under the Stanford campus into a mock prison where he would interview several participants where they would randomly get assigned either guard, or prisoner. Zimbardo aimed to see how everyone pertained the roles they were placed in. Interviewing 75 potential participants, Zimbardo only chose 24 male college students which they received payments of $15/day. They had two reserves in which were the back-ups just in case any of them wanted to drop out. The prison simulation was kept as real as possible. The participants were “arrested” taken to the police station booked, finger printed, and photographed. Then being blindfolded they were taken back to the campus in the basement where Zimbardo created the mock prison with real barred doors and windows along with bare walls with small cells. Once the “prisoners” arrived, they were stripped naked and given the prison clothes and bedding. The prisoners had their own number which they were only referred to. They wore just a smock with no clothes under along with a nylon cap and a chain around their ankle. Guards were given a stereotypical khaki outfit with whistles, handcuffs, and mirrored glasses working 8 hour shifts a day with three people working each shift. Physical violence was not permitted to the guards. Observing the behaviors of the guards and prisoners, Zimbardo realized how everyone was
Psychologists have been interested in the famous Stanford Prison Experiment for decades. A vast amount of information can be taken from this short six-day study. In retrospect, we are able to observe the ethical issues within the study. From this, we are able to identify what should not be done in a study. It also enabled Zimbardo’s research team to see how realistic effects could be placed upon those in this mock prison.
Some other preconditions were to make the experimental setting bear a resemblance as closely to a functional simulation of the psychology of imprisonment as humanly possible. He also wanted to make sure that there was the absence of any earlier indoctrination in how to play the randomly assigned roles; to leave that up to each participant’s prior societal teachings of the meaning of prisons and the behavioral scripts associated with the oppositional roles (Zambardo, 2005). Although he had a significantly large abundance
Abstract This paper will review the study conducted in 1971 called the Stanford Prison Experiment. I will start off by reviewing the reason the study was conducted, the person who conducted it, his goals, and the story of what happened as a result. My review will include the influence of the political, and cultural climate of the time, how these outside forces can directly affect our perceptions, and the choices we make. I will also discuss the goals and purpose of the study, if the study proved anything, look at the ethical standards compared to todays, and conclude by reviewing the knowledge gained as a result of the study.
The Stanford Prison Experiment was a study conducted by Philip Zimbardo in 1971 to observe the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or a guard (“Setting Up,” n.d.). 24 male college students were chosen to participate in this study and they were randomly selected to be either a prisoner or a guard. The prisoners were treated like actual criminals, being arrested and taken to “prison” (the basement of Stanford University set up to resemble a jail), while guards were to keep the prisoners in line and make sure they followed all the rules set forth. It did not take long for the participants to settle into their roles: the guards becoming aggressive and abusive and the prisoners showing anxiety, stress, and depression. This experiment violated
First off, Dr. Phillip Zimbardo, who is a psychologist was interested in finding out if being in a certain environment changes a person. In this case Dr. Zimbardo decided to use a prison as the chosen environment. Dr. Zimbardo. In order, to test this out he had to built a jail. Dr. Zimbardo was able to build on in a basement of the University of Stanford. The subjects which he used were all typical college students, all which were males, 24 of them to be exact. Out of these 24 subjects they assigned to either be a prisoner or a guard. Dr. Phillip Zimbardo wanted to to answer “Does prison change prison change people, or were they already different going in?” The the theory which he proposed according to the article is “the environment around you, the situation,
There are sundry factors that are to be considered in the licit marijuana debate, though one of the most vigorous and most analyzed will be medicinal marijuana. The medical utilization of marijuana has proven to be a consequential factor in the debate for licit marijuana, though there are additionally vigorous arguments against it. Those that are for licit marijuana will often state the fact that marijuana is relatively innocuous when compared to other substances that are currently licit, namely tobacco and alcohol. When compared to chronic abuse of these other two substances, marijuana will prove to be much less detrimental to one's health. Furthermore, it has withal proven that medical marijuana has proven propitious as a therapeutic option
The Stanford Prison Experiment was designed to allow 24 participants (college students) to be arrested in a mock police state scenario without any charges being brought against them. The participants were hooded and put into a prison cellblock with other mock prisoners. The purpose of the experiment was to see how non-criminals would be affected by the prison culture and the oversight of prison guards. Philip G. Zimbardo (2004)
These rights protect the freedoms of all the people that live under United States citizenship. These are some of the most important documents because it held true when they were created and they still protect the citizens of today. I chose these first five amendments because without them, we as Americans would be under the tyranny of a totalitarian government.
In this research, I’m going to focusing on the English as a language is being taught in many countries oversea today including Thailand. In fact, you’ll be surprising to know that English is required for many of the students in many countries. Unfortunately, it is not necessarily taught as well as it could be because of heavy teaching load, class sizes and adequate technology. Learning an English today still's has been challenging for many countries and specifically in Thailand. In Thailand, the student often gets too overwhelmed with English and mentally tune out in the classroom because English was their least favorite subjects. On the other hand, the students don’t have a resource at school or they don’t have it enough. Furthermore, many students just go to English class and switch back to Thai as soon as they out of school. English isn't used locally in Thailand. Although, there still a lot students continue care about English language because English has been the most ordinarily utilized language internationally and the language of traffic control and the majority of academic journals. It’s the most common language on the internet and the language that travelers use to communicate with different native speakers.