Zimbardo And Asylum Analysis

TOTAL INSTITUTIONS Umass Boston has similar characteristics as those seen in Zimbardo and Asylum. Goffman in his book, he talks of 'the Asylum ' as a mental institution which is like a prison and 'total ' in its aim to shape, define and repress their peoples’ self. It portrays some similarity with Boston where most people adopt behaviors that their peers have. People of different cultures converge there but end up having similar behaviors. Another similarity is that most higher learning institutions have one major purpose which is to educate. This indulges in mind of the students that the only purpose of going to such institutions is to learn, hence bringing a similar sense of thought in all those students. This is the same as those people …show more content…
Also, in Boston, it is a place where people with high intellectuals are brought to expand their intellectual capabilities while in the mental hospitals, the sick are brought to correct their ill behaviors. (Zimbardo 1998) Another difference is on the treatment of inmates by staff and students by teachers. The inmates are poorly treated by staff members while the students are treated with care and concern. There is a stereotype in the prison as seen in the Zimbardo Prison Experiment where the inmates are seen as less fortunate in the society while the students in higher learning institutions are seen as the most successful and containing high intellectual capacity. (Zimbardo 1998) The impact on staff as seen in Milgram experiment where a teacher and a learner are put under electric shock to determine who is more knowledgeable than the other, then the staff experiences some sort of similar behaviors with the inmates. This is due to the situations they are all subjected to. Continuous stay in enclosed environment with certain daily routine subjects ones behavior to a specific behavior. (Milgram …show more content…
This limits them from expanding their knowledge on new and emerging things. The staffs, in their whole life tend to perform one duty which is monotonous and tiresome. Also, some laxity is experienced due to continuous performance of a duty. The environment they are subjected to also affect their way of life especially those in mental hospitals and at some point adopting some characteristics of these inmates. (Haney & zimbardo 1998) While the impact on an inmate as seen in Asylum by Goffman shows how inmates can be affected when they stay in an enclosed environment and have people behave in a particular manner. They tend to adopt similar behaviors and end up confined in a certain way of thinking. Inmates could adopt bad behaviors that are harmful and ill to the community. It is these behaviors that over the years are adopted either knowingly or unknowingly due to continuous interaction of the inmates daily. (Goffman 1968)
A positive impact on inmates is that they have a common goal which they encourage each other to achieve. These include a change of character from a bad one to a good character or achieve an academic excellence in case of a student. The inmates also get exposure on certain issues which they may not have gained from their earlier lives. This expands their thinking capacities and a capability to tackle more challenging situations in life. (Gosmann