The Stanford Experiment
The goal of the Stanford experiment was to assess the development of norms and the implications of social expectations, roles, and labels (Stanford Prison Experiment, n. d.). I think that the Stanford experiment was a worthwhile study. The experiment explains many occurrences in real-life situations. For example, the results of this study can be used to explain incidents of child abuse or intimate partner violence. For example, it is hard to fathom why a boyfriend, girlfriend, wife or husband would continue staying with his or her abuser for years. In the Stanford experiment, the prisoners quickly embraced their assigned role, and passively accepted the psychological torture they were subjected to by the officers (HeroicImaginationTV, 2011). When it comes to domestic violence, a partner comes to accept his or her predicament. He or she may think that he or she deserves what is happening to him or her. The individual may even defend his or her tormentors against family members and law enforcement officers.
References
HeroicImaginationTV. (2011). The Stanford prison experiment. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZwfNs1pqG0&has_verified=1
Stanford Prison Experiment. (n. d.). The Stanford prison experiment: A stimulation study on the psychology of imprisonment. Retrieved from https://www.prisonexp.org/
Dear Samantha Francisco
I agree with you that the Stanford Prison Experiment was brutal and inhumane. However, I believe that you focused too much on the cruelty of the experiment and forget to apply sociological imagination when watching the study. For instance, you have stated that the prisoners in the Stanford Experiment were given a number to be identified by as opposed to their names. This is what dehumanization happens in many situations. For instance, serial killers have to dehumanize their victims before they end the life of the latter. At the same time, the Stanford Prison Experiment wanted to know why some Germans agreed to carry out the plot aimed at killing many Jews (HeroicImaginationTV, 2011). It would not have been possible for some Germans to agree to kill Jews without first dehumanizing the latter. Besides, it would not have been possible for scholars to understand the thinking behind Germans without the Stanford Prison Experiment.
References
HeroicImaginationTV. (2011). The Stanford prison experiment. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZwfNs1pqG0&has_verified=1