Research Paper on the Stanford Prison Experiment. Summarize the experiment; analyze the ethics of the research.
The study purpose done by Zimbardo and his colleagues at Stanford University in American prisons in 1971 was to ascertain whether brutality among the correctional officers was dispositional that is due to guard’s sadistic personality or was situational due to the prison environment. The experiment, which was to take two weeks, ended only after six days due to the alarming escalation of prisoner’s mistreatment. The trial was funded by the American office of Naval Research to investigate the causes of the difficulties experience between the prisoners and the guards in the United States Marine Corps and the United States Navy.
The psychological study of prison life advertisement attracted seventy-five men. Twenty four of which the experimenters judged to be mentally and physically healthy for they had no mental issues, lacked any criminal background, and dint has any significant medical problems chosen to participate. This was done through personality tests and diagnostic interviews, and they all agreed to participate fully. They were paid $15 a day and assigned randomly to the roles of the prisoners and guards using a coin flip by Zimbardo himself, who served as the prison superintendent and divided them in equal numbers. However, one participant dropped out, and two were made reserves, leaving eleven guards and ten prisoners.
The basement of Stanford University was set out as a mock prison for the arrested prisoners with three prison cells six by nine-foot bare walls with barred windows and doors. The process of individuation here then began. Three prisoners were held in each cell while the prison wardens and jail guards utilized other rooms within the basement. There were two tiny spaces designated as solitary confinement rooms, and the other was a prison yard.
Unique sunglasses that prevented eye contact with prisoners were issued to guards. They also had a Khaki uniform that was identical with a whistle around their neck, not forgetting a borrowed Billy club from the police. The guards were also ordered not to abuse prisoners physically but to take necessary measures to maintain law and order in prison. While the other guards remained on call, only three worked on shifts of 8 hours.
Prisoners were made to wear a dress as their uniform, cover their hair with a tight nylon cap, and one ankle padlocked with a chain to keep to an oppressive atmosphere as it was Zimbardo’s intention. They were issued with ID numbers and were only referred to by their tag numbers. The experimenters secretly videotaped and observed the prisoners and guards using microphones and cameras that were hidden. The prisoners were dehumanized generally at the beginning with small orders, insults, and tasks to accomplish that was pointless and boring. Guards imposed push-ups as a collective punishment for prisoners. While they were doing their push-ups, prisoners were made to sit on fellow prisoners’ backs, or one guard was made to sit on their backs. Progressively the guards became sadistic, especially at night for they thought the cameras were off and that they could go unnoticed but were picked out by the cameras by chance.
Since no incident happened on the first day, the guards were shocked by the rebellion that caught them unprepared on the second day. Prisoners removed their caps; identification numbers were ripped off and put their beds on the doors barricading themselves inside the cells. One of the prisoners soon after realizing that parole had been turned down, he developed psychosomatic rashes all over his body. The three guards who were on standby came in as the night shift guards remained on duty voluntarily while the guards on duty had to call in for reinforcements. The guards shot a stream of carbon dioxide that was skin chilling using the fire extinguishers that forced away prisoners from the doors. This worked so well for the guards as they broke into the cells stripping the prisoners naked after that dragged the beds off and opened the doors. The solitary confinement room became homes for the rebellious prisoners’ ringleaders. After that, the prisoners were severely intimidated and harassed by the guards. A privilege cell was created from three cells where prisoners that were less involved in the rebellion were given special privileges. They were given back their beds and uniforms and allowed to brush their teeth and wash their hair too. Exceptional food was given to the privileged prisoners. However, the unprivileged once watched in disbelieve for no food was given to them at all. Here the solidarity of the prisoners was destroyed entirely.
Nevertheless, the guards managed the prisoners with punishments and systems of rewards all through to the fourth day. There was a change in the relationship between the prisoners and the guards in these few days since the prisoners were dependent totally on the guards who were firmly in control of the prisoners. Interactions within the prison were so hostile and very dehumanizing. The more assertive, abusive, and aggressive the guards became, the more submissive and obedient the prisoners became, although this made them more depressed and passive as days passed. The prisoners were held in contempt by the guards who let them know about it. They, therefore, had no option but to remain submissive as the guard’s contempt towards them grew more rapidly.
Prisoners had an hour of the visit from friends and relatives on one day, which made the guards more worried for they thought that the state of the cells might make the parents demand their sons back home. Hence the prisoners were washed, allowed to clean and polish their cells, served dinner in large quantities, and even music was played on the intercom. Immediately after the peaceful visit, a rumor of a mass escape plan leaked out and spread all over the prison. The experimenters and the guards called on the Palo Alto police department’s help, for they were afraid that they could lose the prisoners. The situation was controlled soon enough. The level of harassment of prisoners increased rapidly that they were forced to do manual jobs repetitively, even with bare hands like cleaning the toilets.
A catholic priest who previously was a prison chaplain was brought in by Zimbardo, the experimentalist, to assess and evaluate the realistic situation of the mock prison. The priest interviewed prisoners one by one individually and assured them a lawyer was the only savior to help them escape the situation. During an interview as the chaplain continued with his work, one prisoner broke down and cried hysterically. The psychologist allowed him to go and rest in the adjacent room. The cap on his head was removed, so was the chain on his foot. He ordered some food to be brought to him and see a doctor afterward. But as this was going on, one notorious prisoner lined up other prisoners and started chanting out how bad the prisoner was with the priest. Zimbardo had to intervene and made him realize that he was not a prisoner but a student and that this was not a real prison but an experiment. He agreed to this and went on as if nothing had happened to him.
Chistina Maslach, an outsider but a recent Ph.D. holder from Stanford University, conducted interviews with the guards and prisoners and vehemently objected to the abuse of the prisoners by the guards that she had seen. Christina was filled with outrage and was the only outsider who ever questioned the morality she had seen in this prison. It was at this point that Zimbardo, the researcher realized how far his thoughts went into being the prison superintendent instead of a psychological researcher.
By the end of the fourth day, some three prisoners were released as they were so traumatized. Some guards in the course of the experiment became brutal and cruel. At the same time, some prisoners were disoriented and depressed. They cried uncontrollably, went into a rage, suffered emotional disturbance, and were disorganized in their thinking. At this point, only obedience was what was demanded by the prisoners. To please the guards, since the prisoners depended on them for everything, prisoners had to tell tales to fellow prisoners.
Due to the aggression of the guards that were excessive and the prisoner’s emotional breakdowns, the experiment, which was to take two weeks, was forced to be terminated on the sixth day by Zimbardo. In his final submission to explain the prison experiment, Zimbardo proposed two processes.
Deindividuation better explained the guard’s behavior. They lost their responsibility and sense of identity and became immersed in the guards’ norms, forgetting that they were just but students. It was a group norm because the guards became so cruel that they did not think of assuming personal responsibility. And maybe the uniform they wore made them lose their identity personally. Later on, most guards were in disbelief that they did not know the other side of themselves because of how brutal they were to the prisoners. They regretted that they did such things. Some guards were so cruel, others tough but fair while others were good.
Another process that could explain the prisoner’s submission to the guards is learned helplessness. Prisoner’s actions earned little effect on the guard’s actions upon them, meaning they could not help themselves. The guard’s decision was unpredictable, and this made the prisoners give up on responding to the verdict upon them.
ETHICAL ISSUES
Immediately, this Stanford Prison Experiment, after its termination, received much criticism on ethical and methodological grounds. First, it can be cited as a form of unethical research. The experiment does not meet the American Psychological Associations code of ethics and other numerous ethical laws. The researcher acknowledged the ethical issues with the study when he suggested that the research ended a week earlier, although he did not finish it soon enough than could think of or imagine. The participants lacked consent that was fully informed since Zimbardo, and the researcher did not predict what will happen during the research period.
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