Stanford Prison study is an experiment that occurred forty years ago where a crowd of individuals volunteered to take part in a psychological test conducted by Prof. Philip Zimbardo. Yet, this research aimed to split the crowd of people into two groups, so one-half of them were considered to be convicts, and the other half were prison officers. Still, this experiment should have lasted two weeks; nonetheless, it lasted six days owing to mental collapses, an outburst of “sadism,” and a starvation strike.
The experiment causes numerous harm to the participants as it turned out to be serious and real-life incarceration where it was just a study. So, among the sufferings caused by the research, those include a sudden collapse of mental health—namely, those who played as prisoners, an outburst of sadism wherein some of them derive pleasure—namely sexual indulgence—from wrecking pain, hardship, or indignity on others, and a starvation strike as a response to how severely they were treated (Leithead, 2011, para. 1).
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Zimbardo observed the guards’ reactions to the prisoners when they attempted to resist. To illustrate, “Suddenly, the whole dynamic changed as they believed they were dealing with dangerous prisoners, and at that point, it was no longer an experiment, said Prof. Zimbardo” (Leithead, 2011, para. 2). Besides, “It began by stripping them naked, putting bags over their heads, making them do press-ups or other exercises, and humiliating them” (Leithead, 2011, para. 2). So, the prisoners were forced physically to go beyond their strength as a form of punishment. Still, some participants believed that the experiment was acceptable, but it should not have exceeded the second day as day after day, it became harsher. Consequently, scientists, the public, and the media should have stopped it in a couple of two days to avoid the harm caused by the