Stanford Prison Experiment Philip Zimbardo

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Over the years there have been some controversial psychology experiments over many decades. Experiments are a way to find an answer for life’s unanswered questions and to make a difference in this world. Although, not every experiment ended in a wonderful way, instead it is the complete opposite. One of the most controversial experiments is the Stanford Prison Experiment. This experiment was assembled by Stanford professor Philip Zimbardo who directed this examination in 1971. This is the most well-known experiment that Zimbardo has ever done. Zimbardo did this experiment to demonstrate the psychology impacts of turning a prisoner or guard. “Zimbardo was interested in finding out whether the brutality reported among guards in American prisoners…show more content…
More specifically put, the experiment was done to test the hypothesis that inherent personality traits of the guards and prisoners are the main cause of abuse that takes place within the prison. This experiment was scheduled to last up to two weeks and only consisted of male participants. Out of 75 respondents for the experiment, 24 were picked out specifically because they were believed to be the healthiest and psychologically stable for the experiment. Zimbardo and his group intentionally picked a group without a criminal background, psychological impairments, or health problems. 12 of the participants were to be prisoners, and the other 12 were to be the guards of the prisoners. The participants also received 15 dollars a day for each day of the experiment (University, 2011). Zimbardo specifically told the guards that they were not to hit the prisoners at all, instead find psychological ways to get the prisoners under control. There were several prison rules that Zimbardo wrote that the guards and prisoners needed to follow, such as, “prisoners must never refer to their condition as an “experiment” or a “simulation”. They are in prison until I paroled” (Zimbardo, Prisoner Rules,…show more content…
Though some good came from this experiment, bad things also came with it. The results that were found from the experiment were shocking. The guards started treating the prisoners very badly, setting up ways to punish them such as locking one of them in a closet, while the other prisoners were supposed to pound on the door and continue to yell the prison number of that prisoner. The guards also referred to each of the prisoners by their assigned prisoner number as a form of new identity. One of the prisoners was driven insane due to the conditions, and was called off of the experiment. Some prisoners were forced to be naked as a form of degrading. On the second day, the prisoners already blocked the door and barricaded themselves inside their prison room. The entire experiment only lasted 6 days (Brownson, 2014). They were able to find the answer and conclude that it was situational attribution of behavior instead of inherent personality traits and dispositional attribution. In other words, it was the circumstances the participants were under that caused the participants behavior, and not their own characteristics. “Remember that these were good kids! These were, for the most part, peace-loving, war hating hippies and it took only a little of permission to help them along the dim path of rank dehumanization” (Scholzman, 2011). The experiment went on even when the participants did not want it to
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