Stanford Prison Study Zimbardo
Andrew McClarren
12/1/12
Stanford Prison Study Paper
The Stanford Prison Study was a very eye opening experiment because it was performed in 1971, before modern American Psychological Association guidelines were implemented. As young adults we’ve never seen anything like this experiment before. The power of this situation was exceptionally strong, especially to us. In the study, how easily normal students could be transformed into either a satanic guard or a submissive prisoner was astonishing. Some horrific things happened to the prisoners because of the power that the guards had over them. They assumed the identity of their issued number, were forced to be naked and sleep on concrete and were kept up all night. It seemed that just putting …show more content…
My partner and I both agree that Zimbardo’s study was a huge step forward in the research of the human mind. This experiment shows that people have traits and behaviors contrary to those that they believe to posses and that these hidden characteristics can be manifested by one’s environment. I’m sure that many of the guards that acted maliciously towards the prisoners would have described themselves as kind, amiable people prior to the beginning of the study. Not to say that this experiment proved that they would have been lying, but rather that we all possibly have the ability to become more hostile, cold, and callous towards others if placed in certain environments. As a modern day example, we can consider nearly any war or military conflict, regardless of nationality or ethnicity or even just training. Service men and women are pushed and placed in an environment where they must change their behavior in order to survive. In Zimbardo’s study however, the environment is significantly less hostile than a war zone, so what would cause the guards to behave the way they did? Perhaps the power they had over the prisoners produced their aggressive, dominant attitudes. On the other end, the prisoners, whom in reality had no real reason to submit to the desires of the guards, became even more submissive as the study continued. A point was reached were the prisoners no longer felt bonded by their common status. Three out of four prisoners refused to stand up to the guards and surrender their sheets to help their mate that was “in the
12/1/12
Stanford Prison Study Paper
The Stanford Prison Study was a very eye opening experiment because it was performed in 1971, before modern American Psychological Association guidelines were implemented. As young adults we’ve never seen anything like this experiment before. The power of this situation was exceptionally strong, especially to us. In the study, how easily normal students could be transformed into either a satanic guard or a submissive prisoner was astonishing. Some horrific things happened to the prisoners because of the power that the guards had over them. They assumed the identity of their issued number, were forced to be naked and sleep on concrete and were kept up all night. It seemed that just putting …show more content…
My partner and I both agree that Zimbardo’s study was a huge step forward in the research of the human mind. This experiment shows that people have traits and behaviors contrary to those that they believe to posses and that these hidden characteristics can be manifested by one’s environment. I’m sure that many of the guards that acted maliciously towards the prisoners would have described themselves as kind, amiable people prior to the beginning of the study. Not to say that this experiment proved that they would have been lying, but rather that we all possibly have the ability to become more hostile, cold, and callous towards others if placed in certain environments. As a modern day example, we can consider nearly any war or military conflict, regardless of nationality or ethnicity or even just training. Service men and women are pushed and placed in an environment where they must change their behavior in order to survive. In Zimbardo’s study however, the environment is significantly less hostile than a war zone, so what would cause the guards to behave the way they did? Perhaps the power they had over the prisoners produced their aggressive, dominant attitudes. On the other end, the prisoners, whom in reality had no real reason to submit to the desires of the guards, became even more submissive as the study continued. A point was reached were the prisoners no longer felt bonded by their common status. Three out of four prisoners refused to stand up to the guards and surrender their sheets to help their mate that was “in the