In 1971, a psychologist named Phillip Zimbardo had the idea to hold an experiment that would study the impact of becoming a prisoner or a guard at a prison. Zimbardo’s main focus was to expand on Milgram’s study of situational behaviors. A newspaper ad was put out asking for volunteers to be in a psychological study. Those that responded were picked up at their homes as if they were being arrested. They were completely convinced that they were actually being arrested.
To what extent is human nature malleable? Does evil triumph over humanity or does humanity win over evil? The Stanford Prison Experiment, known as one of the most notorious experiments in the study of human psychology, was conducted at Stanford University in 197l. Philip Zimbardo, a psychology professor, and a team of researchers wanted to study the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard. Twenty-four undergraduate male students out of over 75 were selected to play randomly assigned roles of prisoners and guards in a mock prison located in the basement of the Stanford psychology building.
The prison contained prison cells, a toilet room, an eating and exercise area, a solitary confinement room and an intercom used to make announcements to the prisoners. Researchers observed the guards and prisoners through secretly placed video cameras and microphones. Researchers randomly divided the 24 volunteers into two separate groups. One group was assigned to be guards while the other group was assigned to be prisoners. Volunteers that were assigned as prisoners found out about their acceptance into the experiment when they were arrested in their home or on campus by real police.
The effect of social discrepancies was evident in Zimbardo’s prison experiment. In the experiment, average college students were chosen to play the roles of prison guards and prisoners for two weeks. Within a few days the superior guards began to abuse the prisoners. They stripped the prisoners naked, made them clean their toilets with their hands and sexually taunted them. (Zimbardo Ted Talks) This experiment has shown how average students can be driven to abuse their fellow citizens when they are in roles of superiority.
9) Outside of the real prison walls, what kind of psychological prisons do we create for ourselves and others? Think about ethnicity, marriage, sexism, ageism, poverty and other social institutions. 10) Do you think this study was ethical? Was the suffering right to trade for the knowledge we learned from this experiment? Answers 1.
Zimbardo-Stanford Prison Experiment The Stanford Prison Experiment was made because Zimbardo was interested in finding out whether the brutality reported among guards in American prisons was due to the sadistic personalities of the guards or had more to do with the prison environment. Since Zimbardo wanted the experiment to feel real, he had the students, who were assigned as prisoners, to be arrested at their own homes, without any warnings. They were first taken to a real jail where they were fingerprinted, photographed and “booked” before being blindfolded and taken to the “prison” where the experiment would take place. Each prisoner had their personal possessions removed and locked away; they were given prison clothes and were referred to by their number on their uniform. The Stanford Prison Experiment was a mock prison experiment where they had chosen 24 Male Students selected from the 75 who volunteered to join the experiment.
The experiment was conducted from August 14-20, 1971. Zimbardo’s goal was to understand the psychological effect to people in abusive prisons. Twelve students were selected out of 75 to play the prisoners and live in a mock prison in the basement of the Stanford psychology building. Another twelve of the same 75 were selected to play
Sanctioning a person means that they are locked up in a centre (jail) taken away from the general populations so they cannot commit any further crimes. The aim of locking them up is to rehabilitate the criminal so that when released they can go back into the community and live a productive, crime free life. A quotation from a policy paper published by the British Government (1988) when Margaret Thatcher was prime minister. It defines three principles of punishment for serious crime: 1. 'Restrictions on the offender's freedom of action - as a punishment' (retribution, incapacitation?
Raritan Valley Community College 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment Submitted by: Alexander Angeles Submitted on: September 18, 2015 Phillip G. Zimbardo conducted the 1971 Stanford prison experiment from August 14 to August 20. The experiment was a study of the psychological effects of becoming a prison guard. It was financed by the U.S. Office of Naval Research and was of enthusiasm to both the U.S. Naval force and Marine Corps as an examination concerning the reasons for struggle between military gatekeepers and detainees. The members adjusted to their parts well past Zimbardo's desires, as the prison guards authorized dictator measures and at last subjected a detainees' percentage to mental torment.
Social Psychology Assessment Section A 1) Describe how the sample was recruited in Reicher and Haslam’s prison study The sample was obtained from an advert for male volunteers in the national press and leaflets. The advert included the warning that there would be hunger and hardship. A Full weekend assessment was carried about by independent clinical psychologists which included psychometric tests that measured social and clinical variables such as depression and dominance. Medical and character references were obtained and police checks were conducted. 2a) Describe one way the researchers tried to ensure ethical guidelines were upheld One way in which the researchers tried to ensure ethical guidelines were upheld was by having two independent clinical psychologists monitoring the study throughout and had the right to see any participant or demand a participant be removed from the study at any time.