Research Paper On The Stanford Prison Experiment Philip Zimbardo

The Stanford Prison Experiment was an experimental study that was conducted in 1971 by Philip Zimbardo in the basement of the Stanford University in Stanford, California. The basement of the university was turned to look like a prison and Zimbardo used 25 students from the summer term of 1971 as the prisoners and the prison guards who were randomly assigned and paid 15$ a day. Zimbardo carried out this experiment with the goal to determine the consequence of putting normal people in an evil place such as a prison. To be more precise, the goal was to investigate how people would conform to the roles of prison guard and prisoner in an experiment that simulated prison life. Zimbardo was interested in finding out whether the brutality in prisons

The three main groups being the prisoners, the prison guards (including the prison super intendant) and the research scientist. The prisoners and the prison guards roles were played by 24 students who were paid 15$ dollars each, and the prison super intendant and the research scientist were both play by the same person being Zimbardo himself. The prisoners were stripped naked, had all their personal possessions removed and locked away, and were given prison clothes and bedding, as soon as they arrived to the prison. They were issued a uniform, and referred to by their number only, their name was never used to identify them. The use of ID numbers was a way to make prisoners feel anonymous and dissociate them from their real life. They also had a tight nylon cap to cover their hair, and a locked chain around one ankle. The guards on the hand, were all dressed in identical uniforms of khaki color, and they carried a whistle around their neck. Guards also wore special sunglasses, with reflective glasses, to make eye contact with prisoners impossible. Making the guards have more authority. Three guards worked shifts of eight hours each. Guards were instructed to do whatever they thought was necessary to maintain law and order in the prison. No physical violence was permitted. Zimbardo observed the behavior of the prisoners and guards (as a researcher), and also acted as a prison super intendant. The prisoners had the ethical expectations to adopt prisoner like behavior, and they did. They started taking the prison rules very seriously, some even began siding with the guards against prisoners who did not obey the rules. The guards also had the ethical expectation to act has real prison guards in real prison, this happened as soon as the prisoners started to become like real prisoners themselves. The guards taunted the prisoners with