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The Stanford prison experiment was led by Philip Zimbardo with the purpose of studying the psychological effects of being a prisoner and a prison guard. The participants of the research study were male college students. Once selected, a coin toss determined which males would be prisoners and prison guards. The experiment took place at Stanford University, where a mock prison was crafted. Zimbardo acted as the warden or superintendent of the mock prison.
In 1971, Philip Zimbardo set out to conduct an experiment to observe behavior as well as obedience. In Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison experiment, many dispute whether it was obedience or merely conforming to their predesigned social roles of guards and prisoners that transpired throughout the experiment. Initially, the experiment was meant to test the roles people play in prison environment; Zimbardo was interested in finding out whether the brutality reported among guards in American prisons was due to the sadistic personalities of the guards, disposition, or had more to do with the prison environment. This phenomenon has been arguably known to possibly influencing the catastrophic similarities which occurred at Abu Ghraib prison in 2003.The
The Stanford Prison Study The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted by a team of researchers, led by Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University, from August 14th to August 20th, 1971 (“Stanford prison experiment,” n.d.). 24 individuals were selected to play the roles of either prisoners or guards from a substantial group of 70 volunteers. All participants lacked a criminal background, weren’t suffering from psychological implications, and weren’t experiencing adverse medical issues. The experiment took place in a mock prison located in the basement of the Stanford Psychology building briefly after each individual was randomly assigned their role in the study.
Back in 1971 there was a prison experiment that took place in Stanford University and it explains clearly why these cases happen in the prison and jail environment. Philip Zimbardo, a psychologist did this study to show what kind of behavior happens when they people are given authority and it also shows how they use their power affecting the situation they are put into. In this research paper we are going to visit the case of Los Angeles Men’s central jail and find out what went wrong. We will also take a look into what happened in Abu Gharib prison and see if this is an ongoing trend in the correction facilities. We will then look back on the Stanford Prison study conducted by the psychologist Philip Zimbardo in 1971 to see if this experiment truly proves that behavior does change resulting in the abuse of the inmates by the officers.
Before the experiment began, all participants went through a psychological evaluation to make sure they were of sound mind (Onishi & Herbert, 2016). Once the experiment began the “prisoners” were arrested and taken to a simulated prison where they were stripped searched and demoralized. During the 6 days that the study lasted, conduct between both sides, prisoners and guards, was less than expectable. Both sides “acted as though a punishment was justified as an acceptable response to a breach of the rules” (Onishi & Herbert, 2016), rules that were vaguely explained.
Stanford Prison Experiment: "Evil" by Nature vs. "Evil" by Circumstance? Overview of the Experiment The "Stanford Prison Experiment" was conducted by a psychologist at Stanford University known as Philip Zimbardo. The experiment itself was conducted in order to find out the effect of becoming a prison guard and being a prisoner from a psychological standpoint, and Zimbardo was interested in seeing how good people acted in an evil and oppressive regime. The test subjects voluntarily joined the experiment; the prison guards were paid a low sum of money for their participation, while the prisoners were undergraduates attending Stanford University.
Discussion 3 The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted in 1971, at Stanford University, California, in which a group of students were recruited to act as prison guards and prisoners to study the psychological effects of imprisonment. The experiment was supposed to last two weeks, but it was terminated after only six days due to the harmful outcomes. The prisoners suffered mental breakdowns, while the guards developed sadistic behavior, imposing physical and emotional abuse on the prisoners, violating their basic human rights. The study highlighted the power of situations and systems to transform normal individuals into abusive ones.
Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted by Professor Philip Zimbardo in August 1971. During this experiment, Zimbardo and his colleagues created a prison atmosphere by using realistic methods. College students participated to either become prisoners or guards; they were used to see how people react in certain social situations where a person has more power than another. This experiment revealed how much people’s personalities change when given the opportunity to act superior over another person. This experiment began with the Palo Alto police arresting the group of college students who were the “prisoners.”
Even though there are people willing to risk it all to go back to the life they had, there are some that become submissive and stop fighting. In Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by Stanford phycology department. They recruited college students to run a mock prison so they could study the effect of becoming a prisoner and a prison guard. In this experiment that was supposed to run for two weeks ended up being stopped by the researchers on the six day because it was getting out of control. This is stated by the heads of the experiment Philip Zimbardo, Craig Haney, W. Curtis Banks, and David Jaffe in their report of the experiment.
Stanford Prison Experiment Philip Zimbardo questioned, “What happens when you put good people in an evil place? Does humanity win over evil, or does evil triumph?” (Zimbardo, 1971) In 1971 a psychologist named Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment on the effects prison has on young males with the help of his colleague Stanley Milgram. They wanted to find out if the reports of brutality from guards was due to the way guards treated prisoners or the prison environment.
The Stanford Prison Experiment was a Psychology experiment conducted by Phillip Zimbardo to simulate imprisonment in the Stanford basement. The was performed to achieve the result that a humans environment can take over a persons interpersonal characteristics and make that person act out of line. The experiment had healthy college students take part in a two week job that pays $15 a day to simulate imprisonment effects. The experiment ended abruptly due to concerns of ethics and the student’s health. Our environment affects our behaviors and values hand in hand.
Zimbardo the main psychologist/researcher in this experiment advertised for volunteers to participate. Applicants and were given diagnostic interviews and personality tests to eliminate candidates with psychological problems, medical disabilities, or a history of crime or drug abuse. The study involved 24 male college students (chosen from 75 volunteers) who were paid $15 per day to take part in the experiment. Participants were randomly assigned to their role. The prison simulation was kept as real as possible.
The Stanford Prison Experiment portrayed that a prison environment conflicted personalities and roles of an individual to act out of character. From an inmate’s perspective in the American prison system they were powerless. From a guard’s perspective it was the need to instill fear to obtain order in such a hostile environment over dangerous criminals. Considering the fact that the expected two week long experiment only lasted a week, suggests that conditions were more harsh than expected. Dr. Zimbardo challenged ethical principles of psychology dealing with human relations, and resolving ethical issues within a prison environment.
To demonstrate, in 1971, young men were divided into the roles of Prisoner and Guard and put in a prison-like environment in the basement of the Psychology Department at Stanford University. The study was meant to last two weeks. But the brutality of the Guards and the suffering of the Prisoners was so intense that it had to be terminated after only six days. The study provided a graphic illustration of the power of situations to shape individuals' behaviour. This infamous observation of the animosity between prisoners and their guards is known today as the Stanford Prison Experiment.
The Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by psychologist Philip Zimbardo in 1971 illustrated the direct relationship between power of situations and circumstances to shape an individual’s behavior. During this study 24 undergraduates were grouped into roles of either a Prisoner or a Guard, the study was located in a mock correctional facility in the basement of Stanford University. Researchers then observed the prisoners and guards using hidden cameras. The study was meant to last two weeks. However, the brutality of the Guards and the suffering of the Prisoners was so intense that it had to be terminated after only six days.
