Stanford Prison Experiment
Props were used to perpetuate the guards and inmate’s roles and behaviors by giving the guards uniforms, mirror-reflecting sunglasses, whistles, handcuffs, and big Billy clubs and when they had them they felt they had the power. The glasses were mirror-reflecting and made the guards appear less human. They were given the title prison guard and they had control over the prisoners. Prisoners were stripped of their clothes and dignities. They were dressed in cheap smocks and allowed no underwear. They were to be addressed by and answer to only their identity numbers. They also had a small chain around one ankle to remind them that they were inmates in a correctional facility. They felt they were dehumanized by the guard’s actions. In
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On the first day the guards felt awkward giving orders and the prisoners would laugh and mock the guards until a guard started to be more extreme. One guard kept quiet even though he disagreed with what the cruel guards were doing. Instead of stepping in and protesting the bad treatment of the prisoners, the guard simply left because he did not want to disturb or shatter the feeling of unison amongst the guards. Another example of group think was when prisoner 416 rebelled and went on a hunger strike, and the other prisoners pressured him to give up and eat instead of supporting him.
The leadership style of the guards would be authoritarian because one guard started to be more extreme and once the other guards noticed how the prisoners were obeying him, they started being like him and followed his lead.
No one really anticipated how the experiment would end. If they did, nobody would have signed up for it. The prisoners began to suffer a wide array of humiliations and punishments at the hands of the guards, and many began to show signs of mental and emotional