The Consequences Of The Stanford Prison Experiment

The Stanford Prison Experiment was an experiment based on the roles of people, and how easily people will fall into those roles. The prisoners were stuck in the basement all day for 6 days, and both the guards and prisoners lost their morals and individuality. The act of dehumanization also provided the prisoners with fear, anger, and helplessness. The Stanford Prison Experiment was not a physical genocide, but a psychological genocide. Genocide is the “intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethical, racial or religious groups as such” (Prevent Genocide International, 2004). There are steps to develop genocide that can be predictable but cannot be stopped. The first steps are the psychological processes to genocide. The first …show more content…
Zimbardo is a social psychologist that studies aggression, conflict, social influence, and many other topics involved with social psychology. Zimbardo joined Stanford’s Psychology Department in 1968, and then conducted the Stanford Prison Experiment in 1971 (Plous, 2013). He wanted an experiment focused on how individuals adapt to being in a powerless situation. He originally focused on the prisoners, but later noticed the psychological change in the guards too (Ratnesar, 2011). Zimbardo is a widely known psychologist because of this experiment, and to this day, people still question the morality of the …show more content…
Although real prisoners do not wear dresses, they wanted to produce the effect of humiliation and emasculation, which real prisoners do feel. Real prisoners also do not wear chains on their ankles, but it was used to remind the prisoners of their oppressive environment, and how they could not escape it, even in their dreams. The use of ID numbers and the stocking cap was to make the prisoners feel anonymous, and the cap created the effect of a shaved head which minimizes a person’s individuality (see appendix page 10). The guards were dressed in identical uniforms of khaki, and they carried around a whistle and billy club borrowed from the police. They wore sunglasses to prevent anyone reading their emotions, and to promote anonymity. These guards were given no specific training on how to be guards, and were allowed to make their own set of rules for the prisoners; they were allowed, within limits, to do whatever they thought was necessary to maintain their rules. The guards only worked eight hour shifts with three guards at a time, while prisoners occupied the three cells with three prisoners in each around the