The Perils Of Obedience, And A Few Good Men

The Stanford Prison Experiment was created by Philip G. Zimbardo, a psychologist, and professor who taught at Stanford. The experiment's goal was to study how easily one will adapt to roles that are assigned to them. The study began with volunteers who were randomly assigned to become either prisoners or guards. It didn’t take long for the guards to harass the prisoners. On the second day of the experiment, the prisoners started to rebel and test the guard’s boundaries. In an attempt to keep the prisoners in line, the guards started to use physical violence; which was against the rules. The guards became more and more violent every day, the amount of abuse the guards displayed was totally unexpected.

In 1971, this experiment was designed and executed by using a mock prison setting, with college students role-playing prisoners and guards to test the power of the social environment to determine behavior. The research has become a classic demonstration of power influencing individual attitudes, values and behavior. The extreme and unexpected were the transformations of character in many of the participants. This study planned to last two-weeks but had to be ended by the sixth day. The major results of the study show that many of the normal, healthy mock prisoners suffered such intense emotional stress reactions that they had to be released in a matter of days. Most of the other prisoners conformed and obeyed the humiliating order of the guards. The guards were given no instructions to act in such a brutal way however given the authority role many went to extreme measures. The suffering of the prisoners was caused by their sense of powerlessness provoked by the guards who began acting in cruel and dehumanizing ways. Not only did this experiment shock people but it also showed us what humans are really capable of with having a sense of role. Social and moral factors also determined how both groups behaved, with individuals acting in a way that they thought was required, rather than

This experiment was one where several students were given labels as guards and prisoners. The guards were given unlimited authority and several items to allow them to “discipline” the “prisoners”. The experiment was one that was to observe why events like the Abu Ghraib prison where American soldiers brutally tormented and tortured prisoners. The experiment notably achieved conditions that were exceedingly unacceptable, nevertheless they showed that authority and group mentality causes groups to act more immoral than individuals. Both the experiment and the proceedings at the Abu Ghraib prison were stopped by an individual. The experiment was stopped by Zimbardo’s wife who went into the experiment area and was appalled and the events at the Abu Ghraib prison were stopped by a female soldier who was transferred to the

The reality of the experiment determined the human condition to seek power and assert that power when it is challenged. The major implications of this study in the real world would show that in a real prison setting there are also administrative routines and rules they must follow but enforcement of all the rules could lead to loss of control and intern lead to physical danger for the inmates as well as the guards themselves. The experiment had restrictions on physical violence and the reality is that physical violence in the prison systems are hard to control and are some what deemed to be normal or even inevitable due to the different criminal backgrounds coming together in one tight living space.

The Stanford prison experiment was a procedure conducted by psychologist Philip G. Zimbardo in which he tested the psychology of prison life on the human psyche. The Stanford Prison experiment is one of the most touted and highly regarded procedures done to closely display how dangerous the caged human mind can be. It also effectively shows what power can do to people despite their characteristics. Although the investigation was planned over a two week span it had to be stopped quickly after ONLY six days because the guards became sadistic and the prisoners became depressed and exhibited signs of extreme stress. Throughout the experiment Dr. Zimbardo put on display how the mind works and how easily it can be manipulated by a series of intricate and deliberate situations. Situations that can impact confidences and ego’s that we as humans posses.

This research is also known as The Stanford Prison experiment; it was the study of the physical effects of becoming the person and person guard. This experiment was conducted in the Stanford University on August 14, 1971, by a team of researcher led by psychological professor Philip Zimbardo using college students. The main purpose of this whole study was to understand the development of the effect of roles of rebel and social expectations in stimulated prison environment. Professor Zimbardo then set an experiment by making 12 student as the prisoners and 12 as to play the role of prison guard. But as soon as the experiment started after few hours the station for the prisoners become difficult because of the abusive behavior of the prison

The aim of the Stanford Prison experiment was to investigate how readily people would conform to the roles of guard and prisoner in a role-playing exercise that simulated prison life. In 1971, Philip Zimbardo, the leader of the experiment, converted a basement of the Stanford University psychology building into a simulated prison. He advertised for students to play the roles of prisoners and guards for a fortnight. Subjects were randomly assigned to play the role of "prisoner" or "guard". Those assigned to play the role of guard were given batons and special sunglasses, making eye contact with prisoners impossible. However, we learnt that “The study created more new questions than it answered, about the amorality and darkness that inhabits the human psyche.”(Shuttleworth, no date).

In the summer of 1971, students were picked up and brought to a make shift prison at Stanford University’s psychology department. Dr. Zimbardo created a functional simulation of a real prison by adding aspects of dehumanization, humiliation, and degradation. He accomplished this by issuing the prisoners a dress, or smock, which each subject wore at all times with no underclothes. On the front and back of the smock was the “prisoners” ID number. The subjects were only to be referred to by their number, not their name. The prisoners had a nylon cap placed on their head to replicate their head being shaved, further taking their identity. Lombardo also locked a chain and padlock around the prisoners right ankle to remind prisoners of the oppressiveness of their environment. The experiment started with nine guards and nine prisoners. The guards would work eight hour shifts and alternate. The prisoners were in the prison for all 24 hours in the day. They occupied a little cell containing three cots, and not room for much else. When the experiment first started, the prisoners and guards were becoming acquainted with their roles and not much occurred. The second day arrived and conflict started to occur. The prisoners had barricaded their cells with their cots and refused to leave their cells. The guards who didn’t know how to react ended up

The 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, led by Philip Zimbardo, was the study on the psychology of imprisonment and the investigation of abusive power through military guards and its effect on prisoners. Prisoners were forced to be placed into caps and numbered gowns. Some were humiliated by either being forced into dresses or being taunted by guards. It was arranged to be a 14 day long experiment but however, was stopped at 6 days due to psychological break downs of the prisoners and harm of health. The second day had been constructed of rebellions and loss of guard control. Prisoners were punished and put back into place. Many prisoners had suffered through starvation as an act of rebellion, and or spending much time in a confined space for hours and or days. Good people turned bad due to an overabundance of power they were given and the selfish use of it.

The guards in the prison experiment were encouraged by the experimenter to dominate and mistreat the prisoners, while the prisoners had their self-control, and their dignity, stripped from them through the abuse by the guards. The testimonies of the participants detailing their feelings of guilt and trauma only contributed to the negative spotlight that had been put on this experiment and the field of social psychology. The experiment was followed by stronger ethical guidelines put in place to protect participants in

A psychology professor, Mr. Philip Zimbardo from Stanford University conducted a two week prison experiment to study the psychology of imprisonment. According to the professor, their goal is to investigate how people would conform to the roles of prison guard and prisoner in a role playing exercise that simulated prison life.

Topic and Hypothesis: The Stanford Prison Experiment is the topic that is under discussion. It entails the study of prisoners that were in a make-believe prison. It is common knowledge that when one is in prison, they lose freedom and there are rules that they have to conform to under the stewardship of the guards who look after them round the clock. The hypothesis that Dr. Zimbardo had is that anonymity, depersonalization and dehumanization of prisoners promotes their submissive and docile nature. Prisoners deserve this kind of treatment because of their failure to lead a normal life in society and hence will also lead an unhealthier life in prison. The guards are the instruments in carrying out these vile acts on the prisoners who

The experiment was conducted by Philip Zimbardo to study the behaviors of participants in a brutal jail environment. Twenty-four middle class males deemed to be healthy and psychologically stable were chosen for the experiment. Twelve of them were assigned to guard roles and the other twelve were assigned to prisoner roles. Both groups were dressed as their roles. At the beginning of the experiment, the prisoners suffered humiliation and emasculation from the guards by being “stripped and searched, ‘deloused,’ and then given a uniform—a numbered gown, which Zimbardo called a ‘dress,’ with a heavy bolted chain near the ankle, loose-fitting rubber sandals, and a cap made from a woman’s nylon stocking” (Konnikova, 2015). This was all meant to establish hierarchy between the guards and prisoners. By making the prisoners feel like they are below guards, they become more submissive. Although Zimbardo may have exaggerated the results, at least some of the prisoners lost the ability to “clearly differentiate between role -playing and self,” meaning that some of them fully conformed to their roles as prisoners (Konnikova, 2015). The realistic hierarchy of the mock prison experiment led to some tyrannical treatment from the guards and some submission from the prisoners. In real prisons, the abuse and altered mentalities of

Professor Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment to figure out whether the brutal tendencies of prison guards were due to their personalities, or simply their environment. In this experiment, Zimbardo converted the SU basement into a replica of a prison. Following this, he advertised the experiment asking for students to participates in the “prisoner and guard” scenario. About 75 students responded to the ad, and were tested and interviewed in order to checked for psychological disorders or any other disorder which would interfere with the experiment and its results. Out of the 75, 25 students were chosen to participate and were each given $15 a day for their troubles. They were then randomly assigned to one of two roles: prisoner or prison guard. The prisoners and guards were all in groups of three; prisoners in the “cells”, and the prison guards doing their jobs as guards. The prison experience was intended to be as real as possible, prisoners were treated as such. They were arrested, fingerprinted, stripped, and blindfolded. Their personal possessions were confiscated, they were to wear uniforms, and they were referred to by their “ID numbers”. As for the guards, they were all dressed in khaki uniforms, they carried a whistle and a billy club. They were to wear sunglasses to prevent eye contact with the prisoners and were instructed to do whatever

Although Zimbardo intended for the Stanford Prison Experiment to last for two weeks, the experiment was terminated after six days due to the dark and corrupt nature that came forth from within the prison guards. (The Study, 2008). As days passed in the experiment, prisoners began to experience demoralizing and humiliating punishments from the guards; this is, in turn, caused many of the prisoners to develop forms of mental and physical distress. (Shuttermouth, 2008). On the second day of the experiment, prisoners lead a massive revolt against the conditions in the prison, this revolt later led to guards using fire extinguishers to settle the dispute. (Zimbardo, P. G, 1999-2017). The events that occurred on the second day demonstrated the prisoners and guards were conforming to their experimental roles because all the actions taken on that day were not coordinated or prompted by Zimbardo. (Zimbardo, P. G, 1999-2017).