Uniforms: The Stanford Prison Experiment

The Stanford prison experiment was terminated after only six days, originally it was suppose to run for fourteen days, because the situation had gotten out of hand. Students portraying guards became more violent and degrading towards the student prisoners. The guards were waking the prisoners up in the middle of the night to do counts, cleaning toilets with bare hands, taking blankets, pretending to be Frankenstein’s monster, etcetera. All of the acts the guards made the prisoners do was to dehumanize them.
The symbolic interactionism shows social behavior and its subjective understanding. The guards wore matching uniforms: khakis, clubs, whistles, and sunglasses too dark to see their eyes. The job of the guards was to maintain law and order in the prison, do whatever necessary to uphold that, but no physical violence was permitted. Prisoners also had matching attire: nylon caps, chains around one ankle, a smock with identification numbers. The differences in uniforms shows the opposing power and makes it clear that the prisoners and the guards are not on equal footing. The uniforms symbolize the roles the students are playing in the sociological experiment. …show more content…
At 2:30 the first night, the guards made the prisoners do counts to familiarize themselves with their identification number. On the following day, the prisoners began a rebellion barricading their doors, ripping off their caps, and identification numbers. In retaliation, the guards sprayed a fire extinguisher at the prisoners and stripped them. In the social conflict, it is clear that the guards and prisoners are opposing each other and the guards are exerting their social power and it is more of a struggle for prisoners to obtain