The Stanford Prison Study

The Stanford Prison Experiment has been one of great controversy since it took place in 1971. Originally established to observe and record the psychological effects the criminal justice system has on prisoners and guards, the experiment went awry due to the neglect of Zimbardo, the scientist holding the experiment. The Stanford Prison Experiment or SPE consisted of 18 students and 6 alternatives recreating regular prison life by being randomly assigned the roles of prisoner and guard. Due to his gross misconduct, Zimbardo is personally responsible for the stripping of scientific value from his “experiment.” He is remembered not his contributions to the scientific community, but for being memorably cruel and resulting in a full re-establishment of the ethical guidelines of the Institutional Review Board.

As dozens of participants seen and experience some of the abuse and its effects and said nothing as Zimbardo stated (Zimbardo, p. 130). If one of his colleagues hadn’t been dropped by and saw what was happening the experiment would have continued and many people would have lost their mind (Zimbardo, p. 131). The experiments consist of 24 participants, the volunteers were randomly delegated to play the role of prisoner or guard in a setting made to take a sense of the psychology of imprisonment. Zimbardo infused dramatic realism in the study. The “prisoners” were given identity numbers, stripped naked and saturated. While the guards had to wear that looks similar to a prison guard. (Zimbardo, p. 129). Ethics committees at universities have put an end to these types of an experiment for the reason of potential danger to participants (Zimbardo, p.

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

In the 2015 movie, “The Stanford Prison Experiment”, audiences are shown a reenactment of the notorious true story. In August of 1971, psychologist, Philip G. Zimbardo, at Stanford University was interested on the psychological effect that prison’s have on human behavior. Therefore, Zimbardo put an ad in the newspaper reading, “Male college students needed for psychological study of prison life. $15 per day for 1-2 weeks beginning Aug. 14. For further information & applications come to Room

Second off, the method which was used, required Dr. Zimbardo to make his “prison” the most a like to an actual prison. Even though the subjects knew they weren’t in actual prison the researchers wanted to stimulate an actual prison experience. For this he was able to get a ex-con as a consultant. The prison which was built was made as to look as much as possible as an actual prison. This experiment lasted for 2 weeks. Even a secure yard was created were all the subjects were allowed to interact and eat. They also built a solitary room where the prisoners would be sent if they misbehaved. In this jail when the subjects had to use the restroom they were lead to it by a guard and were blind folded. This was done so the prisoner wouldn’t know were they were. Intercoms and cameras were also installed to analyze and supervise the guards and prisoner’s comportment. The way the found the prisoners was by putting Ads out in newspapers and saying they’d pay them $15 a day. Take note, this study was done in the 70s $15 dollars was equivalent to $75 dollars a day. After checking the backgrounds of all who applied out of the hundred, 24 college-age

Designed and led by renowned psychologist Philip Zimbardo, the Stanford prison experiment in 1971 is a case study that illustrates the overriding power of the situation to transform good people into authoritarians and sadists (McLeod, 2016). The study illuminates the dark side of human nature, which can emerge under the right set of circumstances. This experiment is truly a classic psychology study and is best known for its realism which provided a setting that simulated the confinement of prisoners and guards. Throughout the experiment, Zimbardo implemented multiple research methodologies including primary and secondary research tools. In the beginning, the Stanford Psychology Department interviewed middle class, white males that were both physically and mentally healthy to pick.

This treatment made other people look at prisons bad as well as social experimenters. So. Scientists can put their hypothesis to the test. These social experiments are especially beneficial to psychologists and sociologists. Although, the trauma done to the volunteers and the thoughts put into society make the bad outweigh the

Initially, the experiment was supposed to last for two weeks, but it ended up being discontinued on the sixth day only due to it not feeling like an experiment anymore. This experiment shows that people will easily adapt to social roles that society expects them to play. This experiment also shows that one’s surroundings has a huge impact on their mindset and behavior. The prisoners became so involved in their roles that they lost their identity in the process. Most of the prisoners didn’t even know about their darkest side and what they were actually capable of doing before the

More than 70 applicants responded to the ad and were given interviews and personality tests which eliminated people with psychological problems, medical disabilities or a history of drugs or crime. Participants of the experiment. Where possible, participants (or their legal guardians if person is unable to give consent themselves) must be informed about the nature of research including the general aim, procedures used, possible risks, who and where results will be shared with. This must all be documented. Participants of the experiment had agreed to the prison stimulation for the duration of time stated but Dr Zimbardo failed to communicate the basic operations of the experiment. Prisoners of the experiment didn’t consent to being ‘arrested’ in their own homes. Zimbardo himself didn’t know what results the experiment would show but he was interested in finding out if the brutality of guards reported in American prison was due to guard’s sadistic personalities or had to do with the prison environment. The basic practices of the ethical code standards aren’t present in the experiment and is

Nonetheless, starting off with a widely known and controversial study is Zimbardo’s Stand Prison Study. With Zimbardo and several other associates of his wanting to test his belief that the environment around you, the situation, often determines how you behave than who you are that is your internal dispositional nature. Zimbardo took a step outside of his comfort zone and many others and created a simulated prison with randomly assigned, typical college students in the role of guards and prisoners in the basement of Stanford’s psychology building. However, this simulated prison was more than just a study but was foreseen as the real thing. While recording, observing, and analyzing behavior Zimbardo called off the 2 week study after 6 days due to the powerful atmosphere and behavioral change the mocked prison gave to those in it. Despite not concluding

Psychology Professor Philip Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment of August 1971 quickly became a classic. Using realistic methods, Zimbardo and others were able to create a prison atmosphere that transformed its participants. The young men who played prisoners and guards revealed how many circumstances can distort individual personalities

In 1971, a Stanford professor named Philip Zimbardo conducted a study in the basement of the psychology building at Stanford University. He designed a 2-week long study in which he recreated a prison environment in a single corridor of the basement. After the study was finalized, Zimbardo sent out an ad in the local newspaper, which asked for male volunteers to participate in a psychological study that paid $15 a day. Over 70 applicants responded, and after extensive screening to find the “most mature, emotionally stable, normal, intelligent young men,” 24 of them were selected to participate in the prison experiment (Zimbardo). Twelve of these men were randomly selected to play the prison guards, and the other dozen were the prisoners.

If someone offered me a spot in the Stanford Prison Project for two weeks I would respectfully deny. I would not want to waste two weeks of my summer stuck in a small, stupid, smelly, prison. I would not find that enjoyable at all. That would be like living in literal hell! If I was forced to participate in the experiment I would rather be a prisoner than a guard. I’d rather be a prisoner because I wouldn’t want to have the responsibility of being a guard. The guards have to do such mean and cruel things to the prisoners. The prisoner guards in the Stanford Prison Project were like the devil’s assistance and they did all the dirty work for him. I also wouldn’t want to be responsible for making the prisoners to all the chores. Although, being

In 1971, Stanford Researchers, led by psychology professor Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment to understand the relationship of the prison environment on behavior (Thistlethwaite & Wooldredge, 2010). The intentional focus on the experiment was how people react in a powerless situation, not specifically aimed at just the guards (Ratnesar, 2011). The experiment's subjects were volunteers who were split into two groups - “guards” and “inmates.” The prison was a makeshift jail built in the basement of Stanford's psychology building. The guards were given very broad authority in maintaining order and control of the prison. The inmates were stripped of their identities by wearing prison gowns and caps and were referred by only their inmate number, not by their names. During their detainment, they were sleep deprived, kept to a strict routine of bathroom breaks and offered three meals per day. Over the course of thirty-six hours, the boundaries of the

Throughout history there have been hundreds upon hundreds of influential figures, although not all of them have devoted their career to understanding the human mind. Of the few who have devoted their time to this hugely important task, Dr. Philip G. Zimbardo’s theories and experiments have made him stand out, and differentiate himself from the rest in his profession. Zimbardo 's area of expertise in the field of psychology is social psychology, the branch that deals with social interactions, including their origins and their effects on the individual. Zimbardo may be most well known for his Stanford Prison experiment, an experiment that seems to address the definition of social psychology perfectly. In this experiment Zimbardo had clinically healthy and sane people volunteer for the position of a prison guard or a prisoner and see how they behaved, for fifteen dollars a day. The prison was actually the basement of the Stanford psychology building, where the experiment would take place for a planned 14 days. As said before, the prisoners and guards were all tested as mentally healthy, and for the sake of the experiment were arrested, and processed on a random morning, August 14th 1971. (Zimbardo, 2007, p. 23). The results of this experiment are outstanding, shocking, and somewhat disturbing, making this one of, if not, the most unethical psychological experiments. Although the experiment is considered wildly immoral, Zimbardo is one of the most influential psychologists