Sociology

Stanford Prison Experiment

2006

The individual shapes society as much as society shapes the individual People play different roles depending on the demands society places upon them while , at the same time , every individual person changes society by his or her unique actions and decisions

In 1971 , Dr . Phillip Zimbardo embarked on an unprecedented psychological experiment that sparked international attention and controversy . The so-called Stanford Prison Experiment was designed to create a psychological analysis of the behavior of both guards and prisoners in a prison situation . Dr . Zimbardo , himself took

on the role of Superintendent ' and participated in the experiment completely . The experiment was prematurely terminated and lasted for only six days . In those six days , both the prisoners and the guards were dehumanized and transformed in persons they entered into this experiment . The participants were all college students who were cleared by the research team to be stable and without any violent tendencies . It would also be interesting to note that when asked for their preference , most of the participants to be a prisoner than a guard . This evidences their lack of aggression before the experiment began . By the time the experiment began , all this would change

The participants were divided randomly . Half were to act as guards while the other half were to act as the prisoners . The guards were not given any clear-cut instructions on how to conduct the prison . All that was asked of them was to keep and discipline in the prison

On the very first day , the guards already took their roles seriously They performed strip-searches on the prisoners and deloused them . The guards would be fully dressed as such and they carried batons with them as weapons . To further distance themselves from the prisoners , the guards were asked to wear sunglasses to avoid any uncomfortable eye contact with the prisoners

The prisoners also took their roles seriously and complied with the s of the guards . They were assigned numbers to replace their names adding to the dehumanization process . The prisoner 's hairs were either shaved off or wrapped in a nylon stocking to simulate baldness . They were also clothed in dresses without any underwear , causing them serious discomfort and uneasiness . Lastly , they were ed to wear chains around their ankles to serve as a constant reminder that they were prisoners

All these factors turned the college students into either a person in complete authority or a nameless prisoner . An initial attempt by the prisoners to resist the guards was quelled and was never repeated with the same intensity . The guards would later resent the prisoners and they would become more sadistic in how they treated or punished these prisoners . The guards would force the prisoners to do physical exercise deprive them of food or sleep , have them clean the toilets with their bare hands , and even force them to simulate homosexual acts

The roles would have been so well-absorbed that both the guards and the prisoners forget that this was only...