Stanford Prison Experiment

886 Words2 Pages

A study of Prisoners and Guards in a Stimulated Prison
Introduction:
The Stanford Prison Experiment is a research that took place in 1971 by the Office of Naval Research. The purpose of this study was to see the various mechanisms employed in human aggression and conformation. Whether the aggression of the guards or the conformity of the prisoners was due to their own personality or a result of their surroundings.
The Hypotheses:
The US Naval Research under the guidance of Dr. Zimbardo tried to make an educated guess on the exact situations and circumstances that caused an individual to act aggressively by carrying out a research of his own.
The Methods:
• Dr. Zimbardo carried out a newspapers add asking for volunteers to participate in his …show more content…

Zimbardo used an environment suitable enough to be a prison.
• The roles were played over a period of one week.
The results of this study
• The longer time spent incarcerated the prisoners become more aggressive and wanted to harm each other more frequently.
• The prisoners started to think less of themselves, they became less confident with each passing day.
• The relationship between the guard and the prisoners were mostly hostile. The guards abused their power. They abused the prisoners verbally since they were not allowed to harm the prisoners physically.
• Five of the prisoners had to be released form prison because of extreme depression. The living conditions were despicable , unfit for human accommodation.
• One of the prisoners developed a rash all over his body.
• At the end of the experiment the prisoners were excited about leaving. The guards enjoyed their autonomy and was delighted to go to work every morning, they were not as happy as the prisoners after the experiment was over.
• The prisoners and guards reaction after the experiment was over testifies to the fact the surrounding did in fact affect their behaviour.
Major conclusions of the …show more content…

With that being established, this article shed light on exactly what carries on in the real prison and it is still relevant in our world today. One can gain a better understanding from history not by looking at how the higher bosses are treated but the ones who are reputed as noting. ““It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.” (Mandela n.d.).

References:
Josh Zollman's Rhetoric and Civic Life Blog. (October 29, 2012). The Stanford Prison Experiment. Retrieved on September 06, 2016 from https://sites.psu.edu/joshz/2012/10/29/the-stanford-prison-experiment/
Simply Psychology. (2008 updated 2016). Standford Prison Experiment. Retrieved on September 06, 2016 from http://www.simplypsychology.org/zimbardo.html

Good Reads (n.d.) Quotes About Prison. Retrieved on 6th September, 2015 from http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/prison

University of the people. (n.d.) Naval Research Reviews. Retrieved on 6th September, 2016 from

Open Document