Social Psychology Phase 3(DB)

Running Head : PRISON EXPERIMENT

The Stanford Prison Experiment

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Given that the participants where all males , belong to the same age bracket , no criminal records or depressive tendencies , and mostly white Americans (only two were mentioned to be of a different race African-American and Asian , such sadistic acts from them may come off as a shock (Zimbardo et . al . 1971 . Roleplaying , power , and humiliation were among the factors that pushed both the guards and the prisoners to commit such acts . The

roles that they played were mostly from their depiction in the media as shown by the guard who imitates a character in the movies . The fact that the environment was hostile and was derogatory prompted the prisoners to rebel

The experiments ' weakness was his participation in shaping the outcome of the study as he himself played a role in the experiment being the supervisor . He admits that he got caught up with the role playing and panicked /overacted on the rumored escape . His experiment was also inhumane given today 's tight standards in using humans in experiments The conditions upon which his participants were subjected to (e .g Cleaning the toile with bare hand , defecating in buckets ) is intolerable

On the issue of Abu Ghraib , it can be argued that the experiment may explain the sadistic behavior of soldiers in Iraq . Their behavior can be attributed to the environment and circumstance rather than blaming it solely on the few who have betrayed...