Moderate Concept: Stanford Prison Experiment

Author: Andres Rodriguez

ED 304: Ed Psych & Human Development

Disclosure: No AI programs were used in the making of this section

"WHAT HAPPENS WHEN YOU PUT GOOD PEOPLE IN AN EVIL PLACE? DOES HUMANITY WIN OVER EVIL OR EVIL TRIUMPH?"

- Philip G. Zimbardo

What is the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)?

In 1973, social psychologist, Philip G. Zimbardo and his colleagues conducted a study based on reported brutality within the American prison system (Mcleod, 2023). The teams' theories were either that guards maintained sadistic personalities, or the prison environment created this opportunity for guards to act in brutal manners. Zimbardo leaned towards the idea that the environment made the guards act this way rather than their personalities.

Zimbardo and his team created a mock prison inside the basement of the Stanford University psychology building. As soon in the picture below, the team went the extra mile in replicating prison cells and establishing what looked like a legitimate prison. Once the setting was created, Zimbardo and his team sought out volunteers. Of the 75 applicants, 24 men were chosen after rejecting applicants who had "psychological problems, medical disabilities, or a history of crime or drug abuse" (Mcleod, 2023). The intent was to recruit men who were mentally and physically stable, mature, and least antisocial based on the results from their screenings.

Participants were paid $15 a day for partaking in the experiment. It is documented that the participants did not know each other, which in research meant there would be fewer biases during the experiment. Once they were randomly assigned to either a role as a guard or prisoner, the prison process took a start. Just like arrests during the 70s, the ones who were assigned as guards arrested the "prisoners" with no mercy. This included arresting them in their homes or public with no remorse. Prisoners were then blindfolded during their transportation to the prison. After being fingerprinted and given identification numbers, the prisoners were placed in cramped cells within the mock prison. Thus began the first few issues in the first hours of the experiment. 

Findings and Complications with the SPE

Within the first hours of the study, both prisoners and guards adopted their roles quickly. Even though this was explained to be a mock setting, this did not prevent guards from acting seriously about this as if it were their job. On the first night, prisoners were treated with brutality with some experiencing harassment via blasting whistles at 2:30 AM. This would be the lighter of the brutal actions committed by the guards. Prisoners were insulted and dehumanized by the guards. Guards asserted their dominance and authority by making their prisoners do meaningless tasks while striking down any prisoner who expressed open rebellion. Within days, a clear relationship was established between the guards and the prisoners as the prisoners obeyed the commands of the guards. In other words, the prisoners were stripped of their independence and depended on the guards.

Less than two days in the first prisoner to experience "emotional disturbance, disorganized thinking, uncontrollable crying, and rage" was Prisoner #8612. #8612 was forced to continue until the psychologists deemed him unfit to continue the study and let him out. This further escalated as Prisoner #819 broke down similarly to #8612; however, #819 was reluctant to leave the experiment as he had been broken into believing that he was a bad prisoner and deserved the punishment. This occurred when the guards had the prisoners chant "Prisoner #819 is a bad prisoner. Because of what Prisoner #819 did, my cell is a mess, Mr. Correctional Offier" (Haney, Banks, & Zimbardo, 1973). It wasn't until Zimbardo reminded #819 that it was all an experiment that he broke out of his trance and left the experiment.

After six days, Zimbardo chose to end the experiment due to increased guard aggression and excessive emotional breakdowns from multiple prisoners. Even Zimbardo had lost track of his role as a researcher as he adopted the mindset of a prison superintendent. In all the darkness, Zimbardo and his team learned about the psychology of what is good and what is evil. As mentioned by Zimbardo, the findings suggested that the situation leads to the actions of a person and not personalities. Based on his findings, it can be said that people are quick to accept social roles even if said social roles are heavily stereotyped. Furthermore, the behavior of the prisoners could be due to two reasons: deindividuation and learned helplessness. Prisoners had lost a sense of self and identity while accepting their new "identity" as prisoner. They also had submitted to the guards and thereby did not stand up for themselves. During interviews, all participants found it surprising that they were either brutal or submissive in ways they'd never displayed before. Overall, these actions could be in part due to reinforcement as guards were reinforcing positive and negative behavior for the prisoners.

Criticisms

A deep involvement in any project can become a benefit or a hindrance to said project. In the case of Zimbardo, he integrated himself into the role of an investigator and prison superintendent (Mcleod, 2023). A criticism in any research study is the level of involvement which may create an unethical experience for participants. Institutional Review Boards (IRBs) were not established until a year later in 1974, which meant his study began without any external regulations (Extranet, n. d.). Even though Zimbardo's study found multiple points of interest about human behavior, his results cannot be generalized due to prison stereotyping prison life. Replication of a simulated prison would not be allowed these days, so all we have is real-life occurrences and Zimbardo's study to analyze.

Any research study can become unethical if monitored improperly. The role of psychologists now is to ensure that any subject involved is treated fairly, or if there is some harm there must be a valid justification. Following the study, no guard was punished and went about having normal lives (Mcleod, 2023). Some guards felt justified in their behavior by claiming that they were "acting." We can learn from Zimbardo's study about the negative consequences of being allowed in a position of power.

What purpose did Zimbardo seek in conducting this study?

To learn about general social injustice

To determine the effect that prison brutality has on people

To understand if prison brutality stems from personality or environment

To examine the role of a prison superintendent in a rowdy prions

Who runs the IRB?

Renowned scientists and publishers

A committee within a university or organization

Your mentor overviewing the study

The federal government

Why did Zimbardo terminate the study after six days?

Guards had become aggressive and prisoners were experiencing emotional distress

A prisoner walked out and ruined the study

The IRB determined the study to be unethical and informed Zimbardo to shut down the study effective immediately

Zimbardo grew bored of the results and felt a need to discontinue the study

Keywords:

• Authority - "the capacity to influence others. Formal authority enables an individual to exert influence as a result of either high, legally recognized office (legitimate authority) or high rank in a long-established but not legally codified hierarchy (traditional authority). Informal authority is based on the individual having either attributes that facilitate the achievement of a group’s goals (rational or expert authority) or an attractive and authoritative personality serving to enhance his or her credibility (charismatic authority)."
• Brutality - "behavior that is very cruel or violent and showing no feelings for others"
  
• Deindividualization - from the noun "deindividuation": "an experiential state characterized by loss of self-awareness, altered perceptions, and a reduction of inner restraints that results in the performance of unusual and sometimes antisocial behavior. It can be caused by several factors, such as a sense of anonymity or submersion in a group." In the context of the SPE, prisoners felt a loss of self-awareness and a loss of self, leading to deindividualization.
• Environment - "the aggregate of external agents or conditions—physical, biological, social, and cultural—that influence the functions of an organism. The physical environment may be measured in terms of temperature, air pressure, noise, vibration, atmosphere, or sources of nutrients, which may be specified by a range of values (e.g., a temperature scale)."
• Evil - In the words of Zimbardo from his book, The Lucifer Effect,  “evil consists in intentionally behaving in ways that harm, abuse, demean, dehumanize, or destroy innocent others — or using one’s authority and systemic power to encourage or permit others to do so on your behalf.”
• Learned Helplessness - "a phenomenon in which repeated exposure to uncontrollable stressors results in individuals failing to use any control options that may later become available. Essentially, individuals are said to learn that they lack behavioral control over environmental events, which, in turn, undermines the motivation to make changes or attempt to alter situations."
• Sadistic - about sadism, "the derivation of pleasure through cruelty and inflicting pain, humiliation, and other forms of suffering on individuals."
• Screening - "the initial evaluation of a patient to determine his or her suitability for psychological or medical treatment generally, a specific treatment approach, or referral to a treatment facility. This evaluation is made based on medical or psychological history, mental status examination, diagnostic formulation, or some combination of these."

_{Definitions used were taken from Miriam Webster, the APA Dictionary of Psychology, and Zimbardo's book "The Lucifer Effect."}

References:

American Psychological Association. (2017, September). Frequently asked questions about institutional review boards. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/advocacy/research/defending-research/review-boards 

Extranet. (n.d.). Institutional Review Board Overview. Institutional Review Board overview. https://extranet.fredhutch.org/en/u/irb/institutional-review-board-overview.html

Hainey, C., Banks, C., & Zimbardo, P. (1973). A Study of Prisoner and Guards in a Simulated Prison. Naval Research Reviews, 30, 1–17.

Mcleod, S. (2023, May 18). Stanford prison experiment: Zimbardo’s famous study. Simply Psychology. https://www.simplypsychology.org/zimbardo.html

The story: An overview of the experiment. Stanford Prison Experiment. (n.d.). https://www.prisonexp.org/the-story