Stanford Prison Experiment

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Recommended: Social psychology

There are many different kinds of psychology, but one that has caught my eye during this semester would be Social Psychology. Social Psychology is the study of social interactions and their effects on individuals. Now there are also many different Social Psychology experiments such as, The Bobo Doll Experiment by Albert Bandura, The Obedience Experiments by Stanley Milgram, and The Stanford Prison Experiment by Philip Zembardo. The one that intrigues me the most though is The Stanford Prison Experiment. The Stanford Prison Experiment was a Social Psychology experiment ran by Philip Zembardo that took place in California in 1971. Zembardo turned the basement of the Stanford Psychology department into a mock prison. The experiment was planned …show more content…

A Yale graduate student, Gordon Bower ask Zembardo, “What is the independent variable in this study?” The independent variable was non-existent at this point. Zembardo had taken on the full role of superintendent of the prision.
The experiment continued to worsen. A priest came to visit and suggested that the men get legal help. The prisoners were continually disciplined for everything. It went so far as Zembardo having to take a prisoner, #819 into a room and remind him who he really was, that this was just an experiment. Then there was a final act of rebellion, by prisoner #416 who was a replacement for #819. The disciplinary actions ended in a ultimatum; #416 could come out of solitary, and everyone could give up their blankets, or he could stay their for the night. The prisoners decided to keep their blankets.
After the rebellion, Zembardo decided to end the experiment. Christina Maslach had reminded Zembardo that they are just college boys, that it is not a real prison. They say that she is the only one to question morality of the experiment, but when the independent variable was called into question I believed it to be a …show more content…

Although these boys were just college students, real prisoners have human rights as well. I don’t believe people who commit crimes should have special treatment, but they should at least be respected enough to have basic human rights. I believe this study was taken to far. However, I also know how difficult it can be to be put in a position of power and abuse it. It happens all the time. In this case it just so happened to be all types of abuse rather than emotionally. I think this experiment has some really important things to take away. It really shows how easily people can conform to the roles they are given, and how one person can change everything. How much longer do you think the study would have lasted if the morality was never called into question? The college men suffered a long six days, and I was glad to see them go home. I was also glad to find out that despite the emotional stress there was no lasting trauma to the participants in the study. I think that if this experiment could be altered. It would have the potential to be a successful measure to how people take on roles, but not in a prison environment. This study is one that I won’t forget. If I was ever to have the opportunity I would love to share the information about it to people. I really enjoyed researching this experiment and reading it in its

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