Stanford Prison Experiment Essay

In 1971, Philip Zimbardo and his associates at Stanford University conducted a highly influential and contentious study named the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE). Originally setting out to prove that positional factors affected prison conduct equally as much as or even more so than dispositional factors, the study not only supported their theory but also garnered extensive media coverage along with significant ethical ramifications. Furthermore, a docudrama thriller film of the same name, directed by Kyle Patrick Alvarez, premiered in 2015—aiming to disseminate the events of the study to a wider audience. Consequently, the SPE continues to remain highly controversial and one of social psychology’s most well-known experiments.
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With the promise of 15 dollars a day, 70 applicants answered the call and were subsequently screened using diagnostic interviews and personality tests. At the end of the screening, only 24 college men of sound mental health and intelligence remained. The flip of a coin would decide their fate. Nine men would act as prisoners, and the other nine, guards—the remaining six would be on standby in case any of the other men couldn’t continue. All men inside the basement knew that everything was a manufactured situation; however, the line between role-play and reality blurred too easily—what was meant to be a two-week study ended in six

Primum non nocere, “first, do no harm,” is forgotten and the subjects, especially the prisoners, were begotten with physical, psychological, and social harm. Furthermore, the deindividuation of the prisoners is an act that lacks the respect of person—another violation of ethical soundness. Zimbardo and his colleagues, who needed the input of Zimbardo’s then-girlfriend that what they were conducting is highly unethical, are what we call unethical researchers. They are neither trustworthy nor competent, for they let the situation escalate to that extent. Moreover, they are without a doubt, immoral, not morally