Stanford prison experiment

Essay by feli23College, UndergraduateA, November 2014

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Stanford Prison Experiment 6

The Stanford Prison Experiment

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INTRODUCTION

Understanding human beings, their thoughts, feelings, and behaviors has always been a fascination of society. While human beings, as animals, are dependent upon a certain number of biological imperatives; the most basic needs, wants, and desires. Psychology looks not solely at the physical but the psyche of human beings. They seek to understand why some people react differently to differing situations and are some behaviors able to be triggered based on a scenario or created environment. Psychology has always simulated environments in order to gauge people's responses or to see if certain responses could be recreated. That is exactly what was done in the Stanford Prison Experiment in 1971. The concept, organized and oversaw by psychologist Philip Zimbardo, of the experiment was to place a number of student volunteers to portray prisoners and another number to portray prison guards (Lee, 2010).

However, the experiment itself produced some interesting results, it also brought about a number of ethical questions; these questions are why this experiment remains controversial to this day.

DISCUSSION

Zimbardo was the student of another psychologist, Stanly Milgram, who studied the nature of "obedience experimentation." He hoped to adapt on his work and expand upon that work. The experiment would involve creating a genuine prison environment. The idea was to determine how people's ethics, morality and behaviors may change when either deprived of their rights and freedoms or granted power over others who are deprived of rights and freedoms. In other words will good people do bad things when forced into such a situation? The mock prison was erected in the basement of the Stanford University psychology building. He then selected 24 student participants; they would portray either a prisoner or...