Stanford Prison Experiment Essay

The Stanford Prison Experiment was a clear example of how humans can adapt to specific social roles and behave differently under the pressure of control. The experiment illustrated the concepts of deviance and social control through participants behavior. Although the prisoners were not really prisoners, they believed that they were. The behavior of the prisoners began to morph along with the experiment. By day two, the prisoners were showing deviance by barricading themselves inside their cells. The environment and treatment of the prisoners were likely causes of the disobedience. Similarly, the guards showed signs of social control throughout the experiment. Guards were able to show control over the prisoners through various actions, such

15 men were selected and placed into 5 different groups of similar personalities; one from each group became guards and the rest prisoners thus resulting in two groups of similar psychological profiles. Physiological data and questionnaires were collected daily as a means of monitoring any change in psychological state. On day one participants were informed of the possibility of a promotion, this prevented the prisoners identifying as a group as the reward of personal gain was much higher (Bbcprisonstudy.org, 2014). Having said that, once the decision was made the prisoners conformed to their role and united as a group and formed an alliance against the guards. Although the prisoners formed a group the guards failed to conform to their roles as they considered how they may be viewed by people in the outside world, this caused internal conflict and drove them further apart. The experiment was ended prematurely on the 9th day as the guards began to experience

Less than two days into the experiment, one of the prisoners began to experience rage, emotional disturbance, uncontrollable crying, began acting crazy, and screaming. The experiment leaders realized he was really suffering and they had to release him. The next day was visiting day for the parents and friends of the prisoners. In order to stop parents from taking their children home, the experimenters cleaned the prison and the prisoners to make them seem pleasant. After the parents visited, there were rumors going around that the prisoners were going to attempt to escape. After the rumor was proved to be untrue, guards acted harshly towards the prisoners and added punishments. A priest who visited the prison, talked with prisoners and offered to contact some of their families for legal help. By day five, there were three types of guards; tough but fair guards, good guards, and hostile guards.

tudied and observed and their behavior was measured with several methods. The results that the researchers found were fascinating. A breakdown of ethics and moral were almost instantaneous. The group with the power would come to abuse it and the group who had had their power taken away had become docile and submissive. The researchers concluded that the penal systems a whole was flawed in its ways of action and application of the treatment of its inmates and in the training of its guards. They also concluded that the psychology breakdown in this confined and control experiment was crucial in understanding the human psyche and how it handles certain situations.

For instance, in the Stanford Prison Experiment video clip, the prison guards began yelling and degrading the prisoners by criticizing the prisoners’ body parts while laughing at the prisoners and humiliating them in front of the others participating in the study. They were made to get out of their beds in the middle of the night for a head count and to perform exercises. In addition, prisoners, who were losing control and rebelling against the prison guards, were placed into a dark room known as solitary

The Power of the Situation In “The Power of the Situation”, Tamler Sommers interviews renowned psychologist Philip Zimbardo. Zimbardo’s argument of the effect situational factors, such as systemic power and group conformity, have on the character of human beings brings up the question of how stable an individual’s moral characteristics really are. Zimbardo performed a study that required a group of college students to be divided into two groups, guards and prisoners. He then instructed the guards to simply maintain order in the prison. On the second day, the prisoners rebelled and the experiment quickly brought out brutal behavior among the participants of the study.

The term groupthink in this report is defined as, the social psychological phenomenon that results in groups during pressure situations. This social psychology theory is broken down into eight signs. Illusion of invulnerability, Collective rationalization, Belief in inherent morality, Stereotyped views of out-groups, Direct pressure on dissenters, Self-censorship, Illusion of unanimity, Self-appointed “mindguards”. According to research conducted by Irving Janis, there are three conditions to groupthink. The first, "high group cohesiveness" which is the direction for a group to be in unity while working towards a goal, or to satisfy the emotional needs of its members. Secondly, the structural faults such as insulation of the group, lack

Groupthink theory often occurs without the group’s realization. Irving Janis formed 8 different symptoms that indicate groupthink. The first of these symptoms is illusions of vulnerability. This occurs when members of the group are overly optimistic and believe that nothing negative will arise from their decision. Janis describes it as taking great risks and acquiring the attitude of “everything is going to be OK, because we are a special group”. Secondly we have belief in inherent morality. This symptom is characterized as the groups thought that they could do no wrong. They believe that they have high morality, that they are right in all situations and they ignore the ethical consequences that could arise because of their decisions. As the third

2. After the Stanford prison study, the results proved that roles do affect our actions. One explanation as to why these heinous acts were committed by the guards is deindividuation. Deindividuation is when a person or group loses their awareness and doesn’t really know what is right from wrong. The guards were not aware of what they were doing and didn’t know what was the right thing to do so they did whatever they wanted to the prisoners. Another explanation to the heinous crimes is groupthink. Groupthink is when a person or a group are trying to evade disagreement and fights within the group and will instead just go with the group’s beliefs, even if they are completely wrong. One of the guards might have thought that maybe acting this way

The groupthink model is a term that been coined by (Janis, 1972) which states that “a group makes a faulty decision because group pressures lead to the deterioration of mental health, reality testing and moral judgment”. Groupthinks mainly affect groups that take irrational decisions and avoid thinking about any alternatives while taking a decision. When the members of the groups are relatively from the same background and is more isolated when the group does not get any external opinions for taking a decision and does not have any clear rules for decision-making, the group gets more vulnerable for being affected with groupthink.

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)

Janis defines Groupthink as a "a quick and easy way to refer to a mode of thinking that people engage in when they are deeply involved in a cohesive in-group, when the members' strivings for unanimity override their motivation to realistically appraise alternative courses of action" (Janis 9). Janis further states that "Groupthink refers to a deterioration of mental efficiency, reality testing, and moral judgment that results from in-group pressures" (Janis 9). Groupthink can lead to bad judgments and decisions being made. It serves as a simple way to deal with difficult issues.

Groupthink is a theory of social interaction involved with methods of group decision-making, originally developed by Irving Janis, a social psychologist, in 1972 (Communication Theory). Groupthink was initially described by Janis as the thought processes of people engaged in group decision-making with a deep desire to conform to ‘in-group members’ーrequiring extreme loyalty to group values and the exclusion of those deemed part of an ‘out-group’. In situations when groupthink occurs, the need for members of the group discussion to conform their ideas to those of the group overpowers the individual’s need to evaluate group choices critically, whether or not one fully agrees or supports an alternative answer (Psychology Today). There inlies danger

While we are alive all we do is interact with people with different cultures and norms.Powerful groupthink in groups is when one individual is is in trouble and the group will do anything in their power to cover them. For example in one particular case a former Pennsylvania State University football assistant coach Jerry Sandusky was convicted of sexually abusing children who were under his care and supervision. His former coaches and other staff members from the football club were fully aware of the situation Sandusky was in and they didn't bother to help the poor innocent kids. Groupthink played a role in this investigation, groupthink is a phenomenon characterized by the members of a group choosing to elevate consensus and conformity. They wanted to protect Sandusky because he was one of the best coaches they had and they didn’t want to damage penn state’s reputation. When decisions are based on how group members will react, rather than on ethical,professional, or legal consideration,groupthink can lead to devastating outcomes as we can see from the case. But group bonds are essential to our lives and they are a key part of socialization and social integration. Conformity in groups is a big factor whether people do good or wrong. For example if your at a party with 7 other people and they are all doing drugs and you are the only one not doing them because you know that it is wrong. But then all of your friends are putting pressure to try to do it by calling you a chicken

       One of the most important aspects of group behavior that is depicted in this film is the idea of Groupthink and Groupshift. Groupthink is depicted in situations where group pressures for conformity deter the group from critically appraising unusual, minority and unpopular views. When the initial vote was taken public, several jurors, who later expressed the uncertainty over a guilty verdict, chose to comply with the