The term Total Institutions was created by Erving Goffman. In the book titled, Sociology: A Brief Introduction, A Total Institution is defined as “an institution that regulates all aspects of a person’s life under a single authority, such as a prison, the military, a mental hospital, or a convent” (Schaefer 94). Typically a Total Institution is also not allowed to socialize with the rest of society. In all Total Institutions there are two qualities found; One is confined 24 hours/ 7 days a week, with no outside contact, the other quality is that one is under total authority and control of those in power. One instance where these two qualities took place was the “Stanford Prison” Study. Zimbardo advertised that he needed students to play
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Everyone in this experiment took on a new social role, letting this new role take total control of their minds. Thus the term Total Institution and how this prison represented one. It can be argued that this study shows and proves how U.S. military personnel at Abu Ghraib let the power get to their heads, leading to them torturing and mistreating prisoners. This could be the same case as well for other settings. I think the study has a big say in with with what happened in Abu Ghraib, as well as other settings, because the guards in the prison study were given power, with no restrictions, letting them believe they could do whatever they wanted to whoever they wanted. For the soldiers at Abu Ghraib, they were put in new positions as guards, watching over their prisoners. The acts performed there by those soldiers, were similar to what went on in the Stanford Prison. However, the soldiers at Abu Ghraib went much further than the guards in the Stanford study. But with every passing day, the guards in both cases got worse and more aggressive. Thus, it can be considered that the Stanford Prison Study, has a big say in what goes on in real life situations that have total institutions, such as at Abu
Everyone in this experiment took on a new social role, letting this new role take total control of their minds. Thus the term Total Institution and how this prison represented one. It can be argued that this study shows and proves how U.S. military personnel at Abu Ghraib let the power get to their heads, leading to them torturing and mistreating prisoners. This could be the same case as well for other settings. I think the study has a big say in with with what happened in Abu Ghraib, as well as other settings, because the guards in the prison study were given power, with no restrictions, letting them believe they could do whatever they wanted to whoever they wanted. For the soldiers at Abu Ghraib, they were put in new positions as guards, watching over their prisoners. The acts performed there by those soldiers, were similar to what went on in the Stanford Prison. However, the soldiers at Abu Ghraib went much further than the guards in the Stanford study. But with every passing day, the guards in both cases got worse and more aggressive. Thus, it can be considered that the Stanford Prison Study, has a big say in what goes on in real life situations that have total institutions, such as at Abu