Stanford Prison experiment was conducted in 1973 by Zimbardo who was interested to find out the reason behind brutality reported by guards of American prisons. He wanted to know whether causes were dispositional or situational. This study was performed in the basement of the Stanford University Psychology building which was converted into a mock prison. Twenty four (24) Participants were chosen through advertising the ad and subsequent diagnostic interviews and personality tests. These participants were assigned the roles of guards and prisoners in a replicated prison environment. The guards were given duty in sets of three via assigning each set an eight (8) hour shift whereas set of three (3) prisoners were housed in each room with an extra …show more content…
It has also been used in organizations that provide shelter to abused women. The study has been applied to literate the Navy SEAR program’s typical interrogators to prevent them from danger resulting from misuse of their power and authority. The implications by the Abu Ghraib Prison Guards and the Stanford Prison Experiment guards with the conclusions on situational forces that dominated dispositional aspects of those guards because of their abusive actions have converted this study in a national debate (Brady & Logsdon; 1988). It has been well received as a relevant contribution to understanding the various situational reasons for this kind of aberrant/unpredictable behavior. The study demonstrates that how situational factor contributes to good people to change theirs into abusive behavior converting their healthy minds emotionally disturbed (Brady & Logsdon; 1988). Therefore, Stanford Prison Study messages have been underlined in my social sciences books. It has been delivered in the classroom around the Globe and covered by the media as …show more content…
Researchers are always a handful for social development and possible amendments in the social norms. They are also helpful for finding a unique methodology or causes behind a particular event or behavior. As Stanford Prison Experiment instead of few flaws took a great part in understanding and differentiating between situational and dispositional scenarios. It outlined the major aspects of particular behavior drawn by a specific group of the society, therefore, ignoring the minimum ratio of flaws and considering the high ratio of benefits; research of this nature should be continued but having possible precautionary measures before conducting it. When there is the more beneficial outcome of an action than harm and that action is useful for the people, it should be carried out. Similarly, ethical rules while doing such research must not be kept aside as they can trigger serious issues while conducting the study. After all human life and emotions are far valuable than other any elements, therefore, they should not be put at risk for any research work. As after Stanford Prison study, it was decided that ethical guidelines for any research be provided by American Psychological Association and reviewed by an institutional board (US) and ethics committee
The Implications of the Stanford Prison Experiment In 1971 Dr Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment in the basement of Stanford University. This involved imprisoning nine volunteers in a mock up of Stanford prison, which was policed by nine guards (more volunteers). These guards had complete control over the prisoners. They could do anything to the prisoners, but use physical violence.
Zimbardo, P. G. (2007). Revisiting the Sanford Prison Experiment: A lesson in the power of
In this study Zimbardo chose 21 participants from a pool of 75, all male college students, screened prior for mental illness, and paid $15 per day. He then gave roles. One being a prisoner and the other being a prison guard, there were 3 guards per 8 hour shift, and 9 total prisoners. Shortly after the prisoners were arrested from their homes they were taken to the local police station, booked, processed, given proper prison attire and issued numbers for identification. Before the study, Zimbardo concocted a prison setting in the basement of a Stanford building. It was as authentic as possible to the barred doors and plain white walls. The guards were also given proper guard attire minus guns. Shortly after starting the experiment the guards and prisoners starting naturally assuming their roles, Zimbardo had intended on the experiment lasting a fortnight. Within 36 hours one prisoner had to be released due to erratic behavior. This may have stemmed from the sadistic nature the guards had adopted rather quickly, dehumanizing the prisoners through verbal, physical, and mental abuse. The prisoners also assumed their own roles rather efficiently as well. They started to rat on the other prisoners, told stories to each other about the guards, and placated the orders from the guards. After deindividuaiton occurred from the prisoners it was not long the experiment completely broke down ethically. Zimbardo, who watched through cameras in an observation type room (warden), had to put an end to the experiment long before then he intended
The prisoners were given prison uniforms and number. The prisoners were subjected to numbers over their names and required to remember their names as ordered by the guards. When they reached the prison, they were blindfolded, stripped naked and forced to wear a dress as humiliation and entertainment
The Stanford Prison Experiment commenced in 1973 in pursuit of Zimbardo needed to study how if a person are given a certain role, will they change their whole personality in order to fit into that specific role that they were given to. Zambrano significantly believed that personality change was due to either dispositional, things that affect personal life and make them act differently. Or situational, when surrounded by prisoners, they can have the authority to do whatever they want without having to worry about the consequences. Furthermore, it created a group of twenty-four male participants, provided them their own social role. Twelve of them being a prisoners and the other twelve prison guards, all of which were in an examination to see if they will be able to handle the stress that can be caused based upon the experiment, as well as being analysis if their personality change due to the environment or their personal problems.
These occurrences can be analyzed using social psychology because the environment, the situation, and those holding the authority influenced the behavior of others. Due to these influences, prisoners and guards acted on the roles they were given, in the way that society sees them. The description, in itself, is the definition of social psychology.
When put into the position of complete authority over others people will show their true colors. I think that most people would like to think that they would be fair, ethical superiors. I know I would, but learning about the Stanford Prison Experiment has made me question what would really happen if I was there. Would I be the submissive prisoner, the sadistic guard, or would I stay true to myself? As Phillip Zimbardo gave the guards their whistles and billy clubs they drastically changed without even realizing it. In order to further understand the Stanford Prison experiment I learned how the experiment was conducted, thought about the ethical quality of this experiment, and why I think it panned out how it did.
Nine prison guards, and nine prisoners. The study is done by Philip Zimbardo
The Stanford Prison Experiment violates research methods in several ways. Both the ethics to protect research participants and to avoid the harming of research participants was violated during the experiment on many instances. For example, researchers did not fully disclose the purposes nor the nature of their research. The participants were not made aware of the conditions and procedures in which they would endure. Researchers also failed to protect participants.
The Stanford Prison Experiment was a point of interest mental investigation of the human reaction to imprisonment, specifically, to this present reality conditions of jail life. It was directed in 1971 by Philip Zimbardo of Stanford University. Subjects were arbitrarily alloted to assume the part of "detainee" or "monitor". Those allocated to assume the part of watch were given sticks and shades; those relegated to assume the detainee part were captured by the Palo Alto police division, deloused, compelled to wear chains and jail pieces of clothing, and transported to the storm cellar of the Stanford brain science office, which had been changed over into a temporary correctional facility.
15 men participated in The BBC Prison Study. At the beginning of the experiment there was a possibility for the prisoners to be promoted to guards, therefore, prisoners did not identify with their group. After 3 days, prisoners started to work together, they noticed that guards could not agree on decisions and prisoners overthrown guards. Guard groups had a deviant – the over-disciplined guard. Then everyone came up with an idea of equality, but that did not work either and the experiment was stopped. This experiment’s conclusions differ from Stanford’s Experiment and therefore it opened up a discussion once
An important part of psychological research is the ethical factor. There is always a moral responsibility to protect research participants from harm when conducting experiments, but there weren’t always rules to protect them. Many famous experiments are known for changing the ethical rules and considerations of psychological research, at the sociocultural level of analysis. Some of the most famous and controversial studies are the Zimbardo Stanford Prisoner experiment and the Milgram shock experiment.
The Prison Simulation, studied by Haney, Banks & Zimbardo is quite impressive as to how extensive the study actually is. Due to lack of length in this paper the synopsis dealing with this study will be brief. The experiment consisted of 24 voluntary men who were divided into two groups: Guards and Inmates. Both groups were given uniforms to encourage their roles in the prison scenario. The subjects immediately began to take on rolls as to how they thought they should act. The prison had a much greater impact on all persons than could have been anticipated. The study was supposed to last 14 days, but due to extreme emotional depression the study ended after 6 days. In the spring of 1998, my Law a...
This experiment gathered twenty-one young men and assigned half of them to be “prisoners” and the other half to be “guards”. Simply put, the point of the experiment was to simulate a prison and observe how the setting and the given roles affected the behavior of the young men. The men who were given the roles of guard were given a position of authority and acted accordingly. This alone strongly influenced the behavior of both the guards and the prisoners. The guards had a sense of entitlement, control, and power, while the prisoners had a feeling of resentment and rebellion. Social pressure also played a crucial role in the experiment. Many of the guards began to exploit their power by abusing, brutalizing, and dehumanizing the prisoners. Some of the other guards felt wrong about this abuse, but did nothing to put an end to it. Finally, the situation and setting of the experiment immensely altered the conduct of both the prisoners and guards. The setting of being in a prison caused many of the volunteers to act in ways that they may have normally not. Even though the setting of being in a prison was essentially pretend, the volunteers accepted the roles they were given and acted as if it was all a reality. The prisoners genuinely behaved as if they were indeed real prisoners, and the guards treated them likewise. The situation these volunteers
The guards were given military uniforms with a whistle and sunglasses (to eliminate the ability to see into their eyes). Prisoners were given clothes that contained an ID number, a cap, and a chain to wear on their ankle. The goal of the uniforms was to give the guards a sense of power, while making the prisoners feel emasculated. The guards were not trained on how to act and they were told to do what they thought necessary to keep order within the prison, without the use of physical violence.