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The Stanford Prison Experiment Philip Zimbardo

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The Stanford Project
In 1971, a psychology professor named Philip Zimbardo created a truly evil experiment. It was called The Stanford Prison Experiment. The study took place in August of 1971. Zimbardo put an ad in the newspaper asking students to participate. The advertisement called for young men to take the position as guards or prisoners. More than 70 students applied for the experiment. They chose 24 men and paid them $15.00 a day. Their neighbors, friends, and family were told they were arrested for crimes such as armed robbery or theft. They were randomly assigned guard positions or prisoner positions. “In reality, the Stanford County Prison was a heavily manipulated environment, and the guards and prisoners acted in ways that were largely predetermined by how their roles were presented. To understand the meaning of the experiment, you have to understand that it wasn’t a blank slate; from the start, its goal was to evoke the experience of working and living in a brutal jail.” (Konnikova)
On the first day, all the prisoners were stripped naked and searched. The prisoners were only allowed to be called by their ID numbers; they no longer …show more content…

They began removing their stocking caps, and ripped of their numbers. Then they moved their beds to go against the doors, so the guards could not get in. The guards then decided to get a fire extinguisher, so they could force the prisoners away from the doors. Once the guards got into their cell, the prisoners were brutally punished by beatings. As the experiment continued, the violence became increasingly worse. “Prisoner#8612 had to be released after 36 hours because of uncontrollable bursts of screaming, crying and anger. His thinking became disorganized and he appeared to be entering the early stages of a deep depression. Within the next few days three others also had to leave after showing signs of emotional disorder that could have had lasting

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Other guards joined in, and other prisoners were also tormented. The prisoners were taunted with insults and petty orders; they were given pointless and boring tasks to accomplish; and they were generally dehumanized. The prisoners soon adopted prisoner-like behavior, too. They talked about prison issues. ” The prisoners assume the roles they are given due to the environment, and so do the guards.

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The Stanford Prison Experiment: Human Nature and the Power of Social Roles Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment (as well as Milgram’s obedience study) are absolutely fascinating. In fact, their studies are largely the reason why I became interested in pursing psychology as my major. I have seen numerous documentaries about the psychology of evil, as well as read many books and articles pertaining to this area. I find these types of social psychology studies enthralling because I have trouble wrapping my mind around the idea that normal people are capable of such heinous acts. Moreover, theses classic studies leave me constantly questioning whether or not I would have behaved in a similar fashion.

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In the end there were less than half of the original inmates left, and one of the stand-by inmates had gone on a full blown food strike, and was severely reprimanded for it. The guards posed the other inmates against him and made him look as if he was the bad guy. Guards started to make his cell mates force and mock him in order to get him to eat. This tactic was to no avail, so they ended up putting him “in the hole” for three hours, even though the established limit was only one hour. It is completely understandable why the men that played the inmates were so enraged, there were established rules that were by no means followed throughout the experiment.

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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.

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The guards were instructed to maintain order anyway they wanted without using physical violence. Zimbardo wanted the guards to seem intimidating while the prisoners were made to look inferior and were to be referred to with their ID number only. After the prisoners were assigned their roles and the guards took their post was the effect of the experiment finally setting in. On the morning of the second day the prisoners began to rebel against the guards by ripping off their ID numbers and barring the doors while taunting the guards. This event was the first step down the slippery slope that would follow.

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After talking with the guards and asking if he could leave, he was refused and asked to become an informant. He went back and told the other prisoners that they were not able to leave, and it was not until he started having uncontrollable fits of rage, screaming, crying, and cursing, that the researchers decided that they should let him leave the experiment. Four days later, a guard detained prisoner #436 in a 2x2 foot closet for the night, without informing the researchers about the situation while instructing other prisoners that the only way the closet would open would be if they gave up their blankets and slept on their mattresses. This is one of the many forms of harassment that the guards inflicted on the

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The guards were cruel and even made the prisoners do menial tasks. The prisoners also broke and could no longer control their emotions, some prisoners also went into depression. For example, one prisoner had to be released after 36 hours because of uncontrollable bursts of screaming, crying and anger. But, the experiment had long term effects that Zimbardo thought to be superior to the short-term effects, hence he decided to continue the experiment. Zimbardo chose to get the long-term effects instead of worrying about the short-term effects.

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They also concluded that the environment of the prison played a vital role in the way the guards treated the prisoners. It is believed that this experiment changed the way some U.S. prisons are

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The Stanford prison experiment was conducted in 1971 at Stanford University. The experiment was directed by Professor Philip Zimbardo. The purpose of the study was to understand the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prisoner guard. Professor Zimbardo divided the volunteer participant students into the role of prisoner and guard, and he puts them in a prison-like setting in the basement of the psychology department at Stanford University. The study was planned to last for a couple of weeks, but it ended after six days that has happened because of the cruelty of the guards and the suffering of the prisoners.

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The Stanford Prison Experiment, conducted by Dr. Philip Zimbardo in 1971, remains one of the most controversial and influential studies in social psychology. The experiment aimed to investigate the psychological effects of perceived power and control within a simulated prison environment. While the experiment generated valuable insights into the dynamics of human behavior, it also raised ethical concerns and exposed the potential dangers of conducting such research. Dr. Zimbardo designed the experiment to examine the impact of situational factors on individual behavior. Participants were randomly divided into prison guards and prisoners, with guards instructed to maintain order and prisoners encouraged to adhere to the rules.

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790 Words | 4 Pages

Though the guards’ and prisoners knew that the experiment was a ‘mock’, they all eventually adapted to their surroundings and assumed their roles as if it was the ‘real thing’. The guards became drunk in power and administer supremacy and control over the prisoners to the extent that they were discombobulated at the thought of the experiment expiring. Meanwhile, the prisoners rebelled against the guards at first but eventually gave into the guard's commands. What was noticeable in the experiment was that the guards did not share their personal confabulation with that of their colleagues. Quite interestingly enough, the same also occurred with the prisoners as they too were confined to their own cells and only spoke of what was transpiring in the prison

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1000 Words | 4 Pages

They were divided into two groups; guards and prisoners. Over time some guards treated the prisoners brutally. They sought to 'humiliate the prisoners and deprive them of their rights' (Haslam and Reicher 2006a). As a result, the 14 day experiment was cut short to 6 days. Zimbardo gave instructions to the guards; don't let the

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657 Words | 3 Pages

Guards were told they could not physically harm the prisoners. On the first day, guards displayed no change in their actions or personality towards the prisoners. Zimbardo says in a cover story for Stanford’s Alumni, “The guards had this antiauthority mentality. They felt awkward in their uniforms. They didn't get into

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1659 Words | 7 Pages

The men who agreed to be prisoners in the experiment were treated as real life criminals. To make it as realistic as possible the men were arrested in their homes at random times without warning. They were taken to the local police station where they were fingerprinted, and had their photograph taken and put into police records. They were then blindfolded and taken to Stanford

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904 Words | 4 Pages

Although the conductors of the experiment had an impact they chose to let the prisoners handle themselves

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