Stanford Prison Experiment Zimbardo

Feminization, Identity and Freedom in the Prison System

The Stanford Prison Experiment was an experiment performed by a Stanford psychologist (Zimbardo) that set out to see how “normal “people adapted to life in prison. The experiment was set up with two groups of people, guards and prisoners and was supposed to last 14 days. The conductors of the experiment had two roles in the experiment, Zimbardo played the role of the warden. His portrayal of a prison warden set the precedent for how the guards acted and treated “prisoners” while the rest of the conductors sat on a parole board to determine who was worthy enough to enter back into society. Although the conductors of the experiment had an impact they chose to let the prisoners handle themselves

In the experiment “prisoners” were kept in a basement hallway with no windows or ability to keep track of time. Biologically, we as humans need the sunlight not just for knowing how much time has passed but for its nutritional value as well. The “prisoners” were also stripped of comforts that would have been provided in a real prison, such as cigarettes and a decent sleep schedule. Real prisoners although kept in a less than ideal living situation still have the advantages of some personal comforts like clocks, windows and yard time. The “prisoners” in the experiment have to deal with poor sleeping conditions, physical and verbal abuse and ruthless guards, while in a real prison, prisoners experience similar but more extreme conditions. In the film 13th we see examples of how prison guards act in a real life situation. Brutality and humiliation are common place in this environment especially when race is involved. Both of these scenarios are vastly different, the 13th dealing with the prison system from a racial standpoint as well as a breakdown of how the prison system works once you are in it, while the Stanford experiment focuses on how people react under the extreme conditions of a prison environment. Both situations have to deal with the breakdown of men and how they are reprogrammed to conform to the new set of laws they must now live

The experiment was done without the presence of humanity or ethics. The way psychology was examined and performed was very different from today’s standards. The experiment was conducted in poor conditions with little intervention and a psychologist whose mind was already made up on what the outcome should be. Zimbardo wanted to push the prisoners as far as they would go to promote an idea that was already in his head instead of just studying how the experience changed people. The experiment was conducted without a control or anything to compare the experience, so in reality it was more of a simulation of what Zimbardo felt a prison experience was as compared to an experiment that examined the prison experience. This lack of human element echoes the real prison system. With guards running around on a power high, a society that doesn’t care and system that is designed to strip prisoners of freedom and individuality, prisoners are subjected to inhumane conditions for