The Stamford Prison Experiment

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

Social psychology is an empirical science that studies how people think about, influence, and relate to one another. This field focuses on how individuals view and affect one another. Social psychology also produces the idea of construals which represent how a person perceives, comprehends or interprets the environment. Construals introduce the idea that people want to make themselves look good to others and they want to be seen as right. It is also said that the social setting in which people interact impacts behavior, which brings up the idea of behaviorism. Behaviorism is the idea that behavior is a function of the person and the environment.

1. What police procedures are used during arrests, and how do these procedures lead people to feel confused, fearful, and dehumanized?

The Stanford prison experiment (SPE) was study organized by Philip George Zimbardo who was a professor at Stanford University. Basically, SPE was a study of psychological effect. He studied about how personality and environment of a person effect his behaviour. Experiment he performed was based on prison and life of guards. He wants to find out whether personality get innovated in person according to given environment (situational) or due to their vicious personalities that is violent behaviour (dispositional). The place where the whole experiment was set up Philip Zimbardo and his team was Stanford University on August 14Th to August 20th in the year 1971 (Wikipedia).

When put into an authoritative position over others, is it possible to claim that with this new power individual(s) would be fair and ethical or could it be said that ones true colors would show? A group of researchers, headed by Stanford University psychologist Philip G. Zimbardo, designed and executed an unusual experiment that used a mock prison setting, with college students role-playing either as prisoners or guards to test the power of the social situation to determine psychological effects and behavior (1971). The experiment simulated a real life scenario of William Golding’s novel, “Lord of the Flies” showing a decay and failure of traditional rules and morals; distracting exactly how people should behave toward one another. This

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

The Stanford Prison Experiment was to determine how conformity and obedience could result in people behaving in ways that are counter to how they would at on their own. The main goal of the experiment was to see how social norms and social convections might influence the behavior of participants who are playing the roles of prisoners and prison guards. The study really elaborates on the relationship between the abuser and the abused. It is interesting to see how easily the human psyche gives repetitive abuse and is conditioned to receive it and accept it. This paper will discuss the motives, procedures, findings, ethical issues, and informed consent the Stanford Prison Experiment concluded on.

The Stanford Prison experiment was performed to discover the phycological impacts of a prison environment. Conducted by Dr Philip Zimbardo on August 14,1971, 12 prisoners and 12 guards were chosen and each payed $15 per day. Intending to run for a period of two weeks the experiment abruptly stopped due to unforeseen outcomes of increasingly damaging and disturbing behavioural activity. Displaying a failed attempt in following ethical guidelines, the experiment violates withdrawal rights, harm was present and informed consent was not obtained. The study does not pass the standards necessary to be considered a true “scientific experiment” and could not be reperformed today as it shows little ethical merit.

The year was 1971 and an experiment that has not been replicated since was concluded early on the campus of Stanford University. A total of twenty-four mentally stable college students participated in this groundbreaking psychology study. The study involved some students to play a role as mock prison guards and the rest of the participants became the inmates. The study was designed to be realistic with the local police “arresting” the inmates followed by issuing an inmate identification number, uniform, and being deloused. A mock prison was setup in the basement of psychology department on the campus.

Was it ethical to conduct this study? The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted by psychologist Philip Zimbardo. The aim of this experiment was to study human behavior by laying down up a fake experiment in a basement in one of Stanford university buildings (Musen & Zimbardo, 1991). The participants of the experiment were asked to assume either the role of a prisoner or a prison guard.

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)

Results from this study suggest that when people, such as police officers, are given the authority to use whatever force deemed necessary by an authority such as the police department, they feel justified using their “power” however they feel. David Lester conducted a study in which he found police officers attain an “expectation of harm” through their schooling at police academies (Lester 186). Lester found “shifts in…attitudes during both academy training and the period of working” (Lester 186) to officers being less willing to admit to the existence of police brutality. It seems that the departments do not see the occurrences as brutal, but as self-defense.

In a theoretical integration study, Maskaly and Donner (2015) attempts to explain police shooting of unarmed suspects using TMT and the Social Learning theory (SLT). Some of the biggest media events of the past years revolves around the shooting of black minors by police officers; the reasons behind such shootings have been the main topic of debate in the public, resulting in outrage and chaos all over the U.S Officers are thoroughly trained in what is “right” and “wrong” in their fields. They must adhere to these beliefs and conform to the judicial system they work in. Police officers are expected to be aggressive and forceful and to learn when force is acceptable or not, this conformity makes officers more vulnerable to MS (Engler, 2014); this is the SLT part of Maskaly and Donner’s (2015) theory. Due to the nature of their jobs, some may find themselves conditioned to be skeptical and action-oriented. Although TMT has not been directly investigated in police, the circumstances officers find themselves in resemble the high tension situations that TMT has been studied in (Maskaly & Donner, 2015). TMT research has shown that during times of great pressure, people are more willingly to apply force and utilize extreme means to end the problem. The burden of their duties, coupled with the frequent reminders of death (i.e.:

The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted by Phillip Zimbardo using college students in 1971. He wanted to see the psychological effect of perceived power with guards and prisoners. He saw over time that the students morphed into what they perceived was the role they were trying to fill and over time they were more comfortable with their actions. This demonstrates to the relationship between law enforcement and the community because law enforcement has perceived power over the community. There is a lot of research currently being conducted on this topic between self control and the actual dangers of that power. Overall, there was a consensus between these sources about the psychological dangers of granting power over others as well as the problem of misconduct in law enforcement.

During the Stanford prison experiment video I did notice a few similarities of a particular experience I had when I was in the Marines, that experience was just how putting on a certain uniform can alter the way a person. A uniform of authority can shift the way a person acts or even behaves oppose to not wearing a uniform of authority. when you’re not covering your identity with some article of clothing you hold an image that you want to try and protect and an image that is relatively consistent to your normal behavior, however when you shield that self-image and put let’s say a mask over which conceals your identity that can completely change everything about you including the way you conduct yourself.