The Stanford Prison Experiment: Philip Zimbardo

1496 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The controversial side of stanford prison experiment

You’re sitting at your house, you hear a knock at the door. You go and open it and to your surprise it’s the police. They’re turning you around and placing cold metal handcuffs on you while you’re getting read your miranda rights and spread eagle against the cop car while you’re searched. You’re being slung into the back of a cop car and driven to the police station, sirens wailing. When you arrive you get your picture taken, but you don’t smile. They take your finger and dip it in ink, then push it down hard on a piece of paper. They then put you back into the police car and drive you to another location. You’re still handcuffed, and you’re taken in. They put you in a dress, they put cold, heavy, loud shackles on your ankles. They make you put pantyhose on your head, and put rubber shoes on your feet. Then, last but not least, they place you in a small room with a bed thats nailed to the floor and a metal toilet which is also nailed to the floor. They close the metal bars behind you and it’s loud. Then all you can hear are the chains of your neighbors. All of this, and you're innocent. These are the events that happened to twenty four college males who participated in the Stanford Prison Experiment. This is just one example of many controversial psychological experiments. Certain psychological experiments suggest major controversy and their methods should be reconsidered.
The example above took place in 1971. Philip Zimbardo, the head administrator of Stanford University in Palo Alto, California conducted this experiment with the help of some other professors at the university, and twenty four male college students from the university. The initial purpose of the experiment was to examine the effect of roles. Zi...

... middle of paper ...

...ough for six days, and probably the rest of their lives, shouldn’t have been legal. There are large amounts of psychological experiments that are controversial and it’s apparent their methods should be reconsidered.

Works Cited

Cherry, K. (n.d.). The stanford prison experiment an experiment in the psychology of imprisonment. Retrieved from http://psychology.about.com/od/classicpsychologystudies/a/stanford-prison-experiment.htm

Gray, P. (October , 2013 19). Why zimbardo’s prison experiment isn’t in my textbook the results of the famous stanford prison experiment have a trivial explanation. Retrieved from http://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/freedom-learn/201310/why-zimbardo-s-prison-experiment-isn-t-in-my-textbook Zimbardo, P. (2014). A simulation study of the psychology of imprisonment conducted at stanford university. Retrieved from http://www.prisonexp.org/

Show More
Related

  • The Implications of the Stanford Prison Experiment

    737 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Stanford Prison Experiment: Taking a Deeper Look

    801 Words  | 2 Pages

    Zimbardo, P. G. (2007). Revisiting the Sanford Prison Experiment: A lesson in the power of

    Read More

  • The Power of Force: Human Behavior Under Pressure

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Comparison Of The Stanford Prison Experiment

    840 Words  | 2 Pages

    Phillip Zimbardo conducted the Stanford experiment where 24 physiologically and physically healthy males were randomly selected where half would be prisoners and the other half prisoner guards. To make the experiments as real as possible, they had the prisoner participants arrested at their homes. The experiment took place in the basement of the Stanford University into a temporary made prison.

    Read More

  • Stanford Prison Experiment Zimbardo

    487 Words  | 1 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Stanford Prison Experiment Review

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    In the Stanford Prison Experiment, a study done with the participation of a group of college students with similar backgrounds and good health standing who were subjected to a simulated prison environment. The participants were exposed completely to the harsh environment of a real prison in a controlled environment with specific roles of authority and subordinates assigned to each individual. The study was formulated based on reports from Russian novelist Fyodor Mikhailovich Dostoevsky. Dostoevsky had spent four years in a Siberian prison and his view on how a man is able to withstand anything after experiencing the horrors of prison prompted Dr. Philip Zimbardo a Professor of Psychology at Stanford and his

    Read More

  • Social Psychology and the Stanford Prison Experiment by Philip Zimbardo

    2259 Words  | 5 Pages

    The ideas of social psychology mentioned above can be applied to the Stanford Prison Experiment; in which the environment, the participants, and construals brought about behaviors that may not have been how the participants actually would behave in real life.

    Read More

  • The Stanford Prison Experiment by Philip Zimbardo

    1885 Words  | 4 Pages

    The ideas of social psychology mentioned above can be applied to the Stanford Prison Experiment; in which the environment, the participants, and construals brought about behaviors that may not have been how the participants actually would behave in real life.

    Read More

  • The Ethics of the Stanford Prison Experiment

    923 Words  | 2 Pages

    To begin the experiment the Stanford Psychology department interviewed middle class, white males that were both physically and mentally healthy to pick 18 participants. It was decided who would play guards and who would be prisoners by the flip of a coin making nine guards and nine prisoners. The guards were taken in first to be told of what they could and could not do to the prisoners. The rules were guards weren’t allowed t o physically harm the prisoners and could only keep prisoners in “the hole” for a hour at a time. Given military like uniforms, whistles, and billy clubs the guards looked almost as if they worked in a real prison. As for the prisoners, real police surprised them at their homes and arrested them outside where others could see as if they were really criminals. They were then blindfolded and taken to the mock prison in the basement of a Stanford Psychology building that had been decorated to look like a prison where guards fingerprinted, deloused, and gave prisoners a number which they would be calle...

    Read More

  • Pros And Cons Of The Stanford Prison Experiment

    1279 Words  | 3 Pages

    Would you go into prison to get paid? Do you believe that you will come out the same or become different? Do not answer that. The Stanford Prison Experiment was an experiment that was conduct in 1971 by a team of researchers led by psychology professor Philip Zimbardo. Seventy applicants answered the ad and were narrowed down to 24 college students, which half were assigned either to be guards or prisoners by random selection. Those 24 college students were picked out from the of 70 applicants by taking personality tests and given diagnostic interviews to remove any candidates with psychological problems, medical disabilities, or a history of crime or drug abuse. The experiment lasted six days but it was supposed to last two weeks, it was so traumatizing that it was cut short. Zimbardo was the lead researcher and also had a role in pretend prison. Zimbardo’s experiment was based on looking

    Read More

  • Effects Of Solitary Confinement

    1482 Words  | 3 Pages

    Today’s correctional institutions, policy makers, and supreme courts still continue to ignore the studies displaying the psychological effects of prisons. For example, in recent case challenges against the eighth amendment over solitary confinement have rarely succeeded. This is due to the regulation that conditions must deprive prisoners of at least one identifiable human physical need to be declared unconstitutional. Studies have shown that depriving proper mental stimulus results in extreme mental harm, but because it’s not physical damage courts rarely recognize the extreme mental harm in conditions retaining to confinement. Many court cases related to the psychological damages were inspired by the famous Stanford Prison Experiment that

    Read More

  • Social Roles in Society

    724 Words  | 2 Pages

    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...

    Read More

  • Stanford Prison Experiment Essay

    425 Words  | 1 Pages

    The Stanford Prison Study (Haney et al., 1973) is a study that suggested that humans can very likely become monsters towards their fellow humans when the chips are down (Leithead, 2011). The study also concluded that humans on the receiving end can also be easily broken in dangerous situations. The Stanford prison experiment was designed and overseen by social psychologist Phil Zimbardo, who wanted to study the effects of imprisonment on human beings in 1971. The study rocked the world of Psychology. A group of students were divided into prisoners and guards and forced to live in a makeshift jail (Leithead, 2011).

    Read More

  • Zimbardo Stanford Prison Experiment

    300 Words  | 1 Pages

    The story I have chosen is titled Stanford prison experiment continues to shock. Forty years ago a group of student went to Stanford University to do an experiment in the study of human psychology. The idea was to take a group of people and divide them into two. The half of them will be prisoners and the other half warders and watch they will do.

    Read More

  • Psychological Analysis: Beautiful Mind and Stanford Prison Study

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    Zimbardo, P. G. (2013). A Simulation Study of the Psychology of Imprisonment Conducted at Stanford University. Retrieved from Stanford Prison Experiment: http://www.prisonexp.org/

    Read More

More about The Stanford Prison Experiment: Philip Zimbardo

Open Document