Procedure:
Take random college students and put them into a prison-like environment. Assign men to the roles of guard or prisoner. See how they act. See if the institution of "prison" would change how they acted.
Philip Zimbardo: Stanford Prison Experiment
The Stanford Prison Experiment was an experiment to understand the development of norms and the effects of roles, labels, and social expectations in a simulated prison environment.
Philip Zimbardo was even in the experiment with a role as Prison Superintendent.
Philip Zimbardo
Did you know?
That the college students were actually arrested and booked by real cops. They were then blindfolded after their arrest and booking to be taken to the basement that would be their makeshift prison.
The Stanford Prison Experiment would never be redone today. Because it is so unethical and mentally harmful to the participants.
Prisoner #8612
This prisoner less than 36 hours into the experiment began to have an emotional breakdown. Cursing, screaming, and going into a fit. The psychologists finally realized they had to let him out.
The men as they were standing in line before the "guards."
Did you know?
The guards could say anything to the "prisoners." Call them names, trash talk them, anything. The only thing they could not do was physically hurt them in any way.
Quote by Philip Zimbardo:
"The line between good and evil is permeable and almost anyone can be induced to cross it when pressured by situational forces."
This is when the volunteers for the experiment were arrested.
Key Vocabulary:
Aggression-any verbal or physical behavior meant to hurt or destroy.
Discrimination-Unjustifiable negative behavior toward a group and its members