Pros And Cons Of Being A Good Guard

Improved Essays
1. If I were a guard, I would be a good guard for the most part. The good guard that would do small favors for the detainees and never rebuff them. I would take into account the prisoners’ feelings and emotions and adjust to help them rehabilitate. I am about 50% sure that I would remain a good guard for only two days, then transition into a guard that were antagonistic, discretionary, and creative in types of detainee embarrassment. The evil guard would not do small favors for the detainees and always rebuff them. The evil guard’s object would be to dehumanize all the prisoners quickly as possible and not keep in mind the most important aspect of prisoner rehabilitation. I am most certain to find myself as either a good guard or evil guard, not in-between the two personas. The only real way to find out my actions would be to conduct another prison study with myself in it as a prison guard.

2.
…show more content…
If I were a prisoner, I would not have been able to endure the experience. I am most certain that I would attempt to pull a fast one similar to prisoner #8612. I found prisoner #8612 as an intelligent individual because he was released less than 36 hours into the experiment due to symptoms of intense enthusiastic unsettling influence, disarranged considering, wild crying, and absolute anger. I would have done two things differently than the actual subjects did. I would most likely keep in mind that a prison study experiment is taking place, and I would tell Philip Zimbardo that I want to quit the experiment. Furthermore, I would actually go ahead and attempt to execute the escape plan. The escape is pointless since it is not an actual prison, but the attempt to escape from the experiment speaks for itself in a way. The only real way to find out my actions would be to conduct another prison study with myself in it as a

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    However, if the experiment went the way it actually did, I think I would be the guard that would try to help the prisoners whenever possible. This is because there is a balance of discipline and freedom, and when that balance is broken bad things happen. If I were a prisoner I would follow the directions of the guards the best that I can from the beginning. I would keep following directions until the punishments would become unreasonably harsh/cruel.…

    • 479 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Zimbardo Evaluation

    • 1774 Words
    • 8 Pages

    Zimbardo conducted a study whereby he aimed to investigate whether individuals would conform to roles of either a guard, or prisoner, in a simulated prison setting. The participants were recruited by a newspaper advertisement in the Palo Alto Times and The Stanford Daily offering…

    • 1774 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    Zimbardo wanted to see how quickly the guards would adapt to their role as actual prison guards and assert their authority and dominance on the prisoners. He saw that they adapted too quickly; they developed the “authoritarian personality” (pg. 231). The prison guards tormented the prisoners so much that Zimbardo had to end the experiment after one week instead of…

    • 1338 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    For most people if you approach them and ask them if they would intentionally harm someone they would respond with the logical response which would be no, of course not. The majority of college students would also respond the exact same way, well what if you actually put it to the test and isolate them in a group with others and are told not to cause any physical and or mental health to the individuals. Would they obey these orders? Or would they see how far they can take things before they are caught or told not to? With Zimbardo’s Stanford experiment we can see first-hand how a group of men with said power behave.…

    • 880 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Trap Heap Analysis

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages

    There are still occupational hazards that come with being a guard, such as having bodily fluids thrown on you (including being ejaculated on by prisoners. Ewww.), being injured, or even being killed on the job. Guards mentally have to be in a certain place in order to do their job. Also, there are still times when prisoners have to roughly handled or incapacitated because of their behavior.…

    • 445 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A basement was turned into a mock prison, and hired students to be the guards and prisoners. The prisoners were grabbed at their homes by the guards and brought in and treated like real criminals to keep the experiment as real as possible. The guards worked in groups of threes for eight hour shifts and then switched. Zimbardo monitored everything and acted as the prison's warden, both the prisoners and guards adapted quickly to their new found roles. Within hours some guards started acting in a brutal and sadistic manner, and soon after more joined in.…

    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Evil In Lord Of The Flies

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages

    The prisoners were treated as a real inmate would be, they wore uniforms, ate prison food, and slept in cells. On the other hand the guards wore reflective sunglasses, uniforms, and conducted daily activity in the “prison”. This experiments effects set into place so quickly that what was meant to last for two weeks only lasted six days due to the extreme effects on both the prisoners and the guards. In an interview with The New York Times Magazine Zimbardo states, “They start off playing a game, and then there is a point at which they each, one by one, flip and become more and more extreme.” (Zimbardo).…

    • 1236 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    ‘Guards’ were given minimal guidelines so their interaction with ‘prisoners’ would be genuine in their role. The only explicit direction they received was regarding the prohibition of physical punishment towards the ‘prisoners’ to maintain the safety of all subjects within the mock prison. The behavior of both groups, was analyzed per the “transactions between and within each group of subjects, recorded on video and audio tape as well as directly observed; and individual reactions on questionnaires, mood inventories, personality tests,…

    • 963 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Stanford Prison Experiment What prevented "good guards" from objecting or countermanding the orders from tough or bad guards? The good guards were unable to object or countermand the bad guards because of the fear of what it would do to the guards’ authoritative role in the eyes of the prisoners. If they showed disunity as guards the prisoners could take advantage of the unstructured and create chaos within the walls of the prison. By objecting to the bad guards, they take the risk of the prisoners not taking the guards orders seriously.…

    • 1004 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Great Essays

    In the past there have been experiments conducted that have done more harm and little to no good. There is a line that can be crossed between a toll being taken for the greater good versus people being exploited and put in harm’s way. There can be a larger benefit to society for the sacrifice that people have made. However, there are several experiments that cross that line and have little to no benefit to society or the greater good. People should not suffer for trivial findings, nor should people be treated in an unethical way for an experiment.…

    • 1539 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    In order to obtain candidates for the experiment, an advertisement was placed in the newspaper for anyone who wanted to participate in the study of how life was in prison. Seventy-five men were interviewed for the roles, but of those seventy-five, only twenty-four were chosen. They were selected at random to take and perform the roles of either prison guards or inmates. The experiment was meant to last two weeks’ time, but at the end of just six days, it was apparent that it should come to a close. Phil Zimbardo, the conductor of this experiment, was a teacher of psychology at the university.…

    • 885 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    On August 14, 1971 Philip Zimbardo conducted an experiment called the Stanford Prison Experiment took off. Young men were offered $15 a day to take part in a mock prison experiment in the basement of the Stanford University Psychology Department. The men were divided into either prison guards or prisoners, this experiment was only to last two weeks. Upon the prisoners arrival at the make shifted prison they were stripped off their clothes and sprayed with disinfecting spray. Each prisoner was issued a dress as a uniform with their prison identification number on the back and front.…

    • 1406 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Great Essays

    I would only serve the role of a sociologist/psychologist, and avoid any sort of conflicts of interest. I would have a third person party serve as the warden while I just watched from the outside. The distance and detachment from the experiment would give me a more proper mental state to see what was going on. I would be able to stay away from bias, and see the experiment from a more logical…

    • 1207 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    This experiment went wrong and led to mental problems. These problems became so extreme that the experiment was discontinued after 6 days instead of 2 weeks. The Stanford Prison Experiment called into question the idea of Good vs Evil. The experiment showed how situational journey can cause an individual to “compromise” their beliefs. This change in behavior lead to psychological conflict among the “guards” and “prisoners.”…

    • 869 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The Stanford Prison Experiment conducted by Phillip Zimbardo (1972) gave us notable understandings into human behaviour, even though considered an unethical study. In the scandalous experiment, a group of participants completed a study in a mock prison environment. Some of the participants took on the role of prisoner, and others acted as the guards. The guards behaved in an inhumane and demeaning way towards the participants acting as prisoners. They were not given full details e.g. on what to expect and how to behave.…

    • 931 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays