Stanford Prison Experiment - Edited for the Classroom

Summary

The Stanford Prison Experiment, conducted by psychologist Philip Zimbardo in 1971, explored the impact of social situations on individuals. Volunteers were assigned roles as guards or prisoners in a simulated jail. The guards quickly adopted authoritarian behaviors, subjecting prisoners to humiliation and abuse. The experiment, intended to last two weeks, was ended after only six days due to the severe psychological distress it caused the participants. It highlighted the power of authority and the potential for ordinary people to commit cruel acts when placed in certain roles.

Takeaways

• 🏫 The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted by psychologist Philip Zimbardo in 1971 at Stanford University to study the psychological effects of perceived power on participants.
• 👥 Participants were randomly assigned roles as guards or prisoners, with the guards given uniforms, sunglasses, and nightsticks to establish authority.
• 🔒 The experiment aimed to understand how 'good' people react to an oppressive environment and whether they would conform to the role or resist.
• 👀 Zimbardo was inspired by Stanley Milgram's obedience to authority experiments, which showed that ordinary people could be induced to act against their conscience under orders.
• 📉 The experiment quickly spiraled out of control with guards becoming increasingly abusive and prisoners experiencing severe psychological distress.
• 🚨 The rebellion by prisoners was met with harsher treatment, including solitary confinement and physical and verbal abuse by the guards.
• 🛑 The experiment was originally planned to last two weeks but was ended after only six days due to the extreme emotional and psychological impact on participants.
• 🌐 The experiment highlighted the power of situational forces in shaping behavior, suggesting that 'good' people can be led to act 'evilly' in certain circumstances.
• 📚 The aftermath of the experiment led to significant changes in ethical guidelines for psychological research, emphasizing the need to protect participants from harm.
• 🤔 The experiment raised questions about the nature of human behavior, suggesting that individuals' actions are heavily influenced by their social roles and the environment.
• 🔄 The Stanford Prison Experiment continues to be a subject of debate and discussion in psychology, with implications for understanding group dynamics, authority, and obedience.

Q & A

What was the main purpose of the Stanford Prison Experiment?

The main purpose was to investigate how 'good' people react when placed in an 'evil' environment, specifically to see if the situation or the individual's internal values would dictate their behavior.

Who conducted the Stanford Prison Experiment?

The experiment was conducted by psychologist Philip Zimbardo at Stanford University in 1971.

What roles were the participants assigned in the experiment?

Participants were randomly assigned to be either 'guards' or 'prisoners' within the simulated prison environment.

How did the guards in the experiment dress and what was the effect of their attire?

The guards wore military uniforms and silver reflecting sunglasses to dehumanize them and create a sense of power and anonymity.

What was the 'hole' in the context of the experiment?

The 'hole' was a small, dark solitary confinement area used to punish prisoners within the simulated prison.

What was the reaction of the participants when they were first confined?

One participant described feeling degraded and screamed loudly, expressing extreme upset and a sense of being out of control.

How did the experimenter, Zimbardo, react when the prisoners rebelled?

Zimbardo was initially stunned by the rebellion and responded by escalating the guards' authority and control over the prisoners.

What was the impact of the guards' behavior on the prisoners?

The guards' behavior led to psychological distress among the prisoners, with some showing signs of severe emotional disturbance.

Why did Zimbardo end the experiment early?

Zimbardo ended the experiment early due to the severe psychological effects it was having on the participants and the ethical concerns that arose.

What was the role of the 'snitch' in the experiment?

The 'snitch' was a prisoner who was asked by Zimbardo to provide information about the other prisoners in exchange for preferential treatment.

What were the ethical implications of the Stanford Prison Experiment?

The experiment raised significant ethical concerns about the treatment of participants, leading to changes in guidelines for psychological research involving human subjects.

What did the experiment reveal about human behavior?

The experiment showed that people can easily adopt roles and behaviors that are contrary to their personal values when in certain situations, suggesting that the environment can have a powerful influence on behavior.

Outlines

00:00

🏫 The Stanford Prison Experiment

The paragraph discusses the infamous 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment led by psychologist Philip Zimbardo. The experiment aimed to explore how ordinary people react to being in positions of power or submission. Zimbardo converted the basement of Stanford University's psychology department into a simulated prison, with participants randomly assigned to be either guards or prisoners. The guards were given uniforms and sunglasses to dehumanize them, and the environment was designed to be oppressive. The experiment was inspired by previous research into obedience to authority, like Stanley Milgram's electric shock experiment, which showed that people could be induced to commit acts against their conscience under orders from perceived authority figures. The Stanford experiment was conducted amidst a backdrop of civil rights activism and anti-war protests, reflecting a societal challenge to authority.

05:01

👮‍♂️ The Role of Guards and Prisoners

This paragraph delves into the dynamics between the guards and prisoners in the experiment. The guards, dressed in military uniforms and sunglasses to obscure their identity, were given the power to maintain order and were instructed not to use physical violence. The prisoners, on the other hand, were subjected to harsh conditions and arbitrary punishments. The experiment quickly took a dark turn as the guards began to assert their authority aggressively, and the prisoners rebelled against their treatment. One prisoner, referred to as 8612, was put in solitary confinement as punishment for his role in a rebellion. The guards' tactics escalated, and the experiment began to mirror a real prison environment more closely than anticipated.

10:02

🚨 Rebellion and its Consequences

The third paragraph narrates the events following the prisoners' rebellion. Prisoner 8612, a leader of the rebellion, was told he could not leave the experiment, which he communicated to the other prisoners, leading to a heightened sense of hopelessness. His emotional state deteriorated rapidly, and he was eventually released, marking a significant ethical dilemma in the experiment. Zimbardo's immersion in his role as prison superintendent clouded the line between reality and the experiment, and his actions influenced the guards to be more oppressive. The guards' response to the rebellion was severe, and they began to harass the prisoners further, leading to a breakdown in the prisoners' morale and unity.

15:04

🍽️ The Hunger Strike and its Impact

Paragraph four describes the situation where a new prisoner, referred to as 416, joined the experiment and was quickly subjected to the guards' aggression. The guards' behavior became increasingly cruel, inspired by a movie character. Prisoner 416 felt a loss of identity and was driven to a hunger strike as a form of protest. The guards' reaction to the hunger strike was to punish the other prisoners, further fracturing any sense of solidarity among them. The guards gave the prisoners a choice to release 416 but at a cost, revealing the guards' manipulation and control over the prisoners.

20:06

🔍 The Visitor's Revelation

In this paragraph, a fellow psychologist visits the experiment and is horrified by the brutality she witnesses. The guards had the prisoners in chains and were marching them in a degrading manner. The visitor's emotional response led to a confrontation with Zimbardo, who was criticized for allowing the abuse to continue. This intervention prompted Zimbardo to end the experiment early, highlighting the ethical concerns and the psychological impact on both the guards and prisoners.

25:09

📜 The Legacy of the Experiment

The final paragraph reflects on the aftermath of the experiment. It discusses the ethical debates that arose from the experiment and the changes in guidelines for human subject research that followed. Zimbardo acknowledges his mistake in taking on dual roles and the suffering of the participants. A meeting with all participants after the experiment revealed the lasting effects on individuals, with some guards expressing regret for their actions. The experiment underscored the power of situations to corrupt and the difficulty for victims to stand up against abuse, raising questions about human nature and the capacity for cruelty.

Keywords

💡Stanford Prison Experiment

The Stanford Prison Experiment was a study conducted by psychologist Philip Zimbardo in 1971 to understand the psychological effects of perceived power on participants. It involved randomly assigning college students to be either 'guards' or 'prisoners' in a simulated prison environment. The experiment had to be terminated early due to the severe psychological distress it caused, illustrating how quickly people can adopt roles and behaviors that align with assigned social hierarchies. In the script, the experiment is central to the narrative, showing how good people can become cruel in certain situations.

💡Philip Zimbardo

Philip Zimbardo was the lead researcher of the Stanford Prison Experiment. He aimed to explore how individuals respond to the roles they are assigned within a power structure. Zimbardo took on the role of the 'prison superintendent' in the experiment, which later raised ethical concerns about his dual role. The script mentions Zimbardo's reflections on the experiment and the realization that his role may have influenced the outcome.

💡Milgram's Experiment

Stanley Milgram's experiment, conducted in the 1960s, was designed to measure the willingness of participants to obey authority figures even when asked to perform acts that conflicted with their personal conscience. The script references Milgram's work to draw parallels with Zimbardo's experiment, both highlighting the power of authority and the potential for ordinary people to commit acts they would not normally consider under different circumstances.

💡Authority

Authority in the context of the video refers to the power or right to give orders, make decisions, and enforce obedience. The script explores how participants, when given roles of authority (as guards), began to exert control and dominance over others (prisoners), demonstrating the corrupting influence of power and the potential for abuse when in a position of authority.

💡Dehumanization

Dehumanization is the act of depriving a person of their individuality or humanity. In the script, it is exemplified by the guards' treatment of prisoners, such as forcing them to clean toilets with their bare hands and addressing them by numbers instead of names. This process is a key element in the guards' ability to exert control and cruelty.

💡Power Corrupts

The concept of 'power corrupts' suggests that when individuals are granted power, it can lead to moral degradation and a tendency to abuse that power. The script illustrates this through the guards' escalating cruelty and the prisoners' increasing submission, showing how the power structure of the experiment led to ethical violations and psychological harm.

💡Ethical Guidelines

Ethical guidelines in research refer to the principles and rules that govern the conduct of scientific studies, particularly those involving human subjects. The script discusses how the Stanford Prison Experiment raised questions about the ethics of psychological research and led to changes in ethical guidelines to better protect participants from harm.

💡Role-playing

Role-playing in the context of the experiment refers to the participants' adoption of the roles assigned to them as either 'guards' or 'prisoners.' The script shows how quickly participants immersed themselves in these roles, leading to the manifestation of behaviors typical of such roles, such as the guards' authoritarian behavior and the prisoners' submissiveness.

💡Oppression

Oppression is the unjust treatment or control exerted over a group of people. In the script, the term is relevant to the way prisoners were subjected to harsh and arbitrary treatment by the guards, mirroring oppressive power dynamics seen in real-world scenarios. The experiment aimed to explore how people respond to oppressive regimes.

💡Conformity

Conformity is the act of matching attitudes, beliefs, and behaviors to group norms. The script describes how prisoners and guards in the experiment conformed to the expectations of their roles, leading to a self-reinforcing cycle of oppression and submission. This conformity was a key factor in the escalation of abusive behavior.

💡Dual Role

A dual role refers to an individual taking on two distinct roles or responsibilities within the same context. Zimbardo's dual role as both the prison superintendent and the principal investigator of the study is highlighted in the script as a significant ethical lapse, as it compromised the integrity of the research and the well-being of the participants.

Highlights

The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted in 1971 at Stanford University by psychologist Philip Zimbardo.

The experiment aimed to understand the behavioral effects of perceived power and authority on 'guards' and 'prisoners'.

Participants were randomly assigned roles as guards or prisoners, simulating a real prison environment.

The experiment quickly escalated into a situation where guards became abusive and prisoners experienced severe psychological distress.

Guards wore military uniforms and reflective sunglasses to dehumanize prisoners and assert authority.

The experiment was designed to test whether individuals' morality could resist the corrupting influence of an oppressive environment.

The 'prisoners' rebelled on the second day, leading to harsher treatment from the 'guards'.

One prisoner, referred to as 8612, experienced a breakdown and had to be released early.

Zimbardo took on the role of the prison superintendent, which later was seen as a conflict of interest.

The experiment was ended prematurely after only six days due to the extreme psychological effects on participants.

The experiment raised ethical concerns about the treatment of participants and the power dynamics in research.

The findings suggested that 'good' people can be corrupted by the power dynamics of a situation.

The experiment's results were used to explain the behavior of individuals in oppressive regimes, such as the Holocaust.

The aftermath of the experiment led to significant changes in ethical guidelines for psychological research.

Zimbardo later reflected on the dual role he played, acknowledging it as a mistake that could have been avoided.

The experiment highlighted the importance of situational forces in shaping human behavior, challenging the notion of inherent goodness.

The Stanford Prison Experiment is considered one of the most infamous in psychology due to its ethical implications and real-world parallels.

Transcripts

I was the first one to be picked up so

they put me in a Cell

they locked me in there and this

degrading I never screamed so loud in my

life never been so upset in my life it

was an experience of being out of

control Stanford University Northern

California one of America's most

prestigious academic institutions and in

1971 the scene of one of the most

notorious experiments in the history of

psychology

I was interested in what happens if you

put good people in an evil place

does the situation outside of you the

institution could come to control your

behavior or does the things inside of

you your attitude your values your

morality allow you to to rise above a

negative environment the negative

environment Zimbardo chose to test his

ideas was a prison he would convert the

basement of the university's psychology

department into a subterranean Jail

we put prison doors on each of three

office cells in the cells

there was nothing but three beds and and

it was very actually very little room of

anything else because they were very

small and here we had solitary

confinement which we call the hole and

in the hole was was the place where

prisoners would be put for punishment it

was a very very small area when you

close the door it was totally dark

all the guards wore military uniforms

and we had them wear these silver

reflecting sunglasses and what it does

is you can't see someone's eyes and so

that loses some of their human eyes the

humanity in general we wanted to create

a sense of power that as the guards as a

category are people who have power over

others in this case power over the

prisoners a decade earlier psychologist

Stanley Milgram had also looked at how

we respond to Authority in order to

understand how people were induced to

obey unjust regimes and participate in

atrocities such as the Holocaust he set

up an experiment volunteers were told

they were taking part in scientific

research to improve memory separated by

a screen the teacher would ask the

learner questions in a word game and

administer an electric shock when the

answer was incorrect he was told to

increase the voltage with each continue

please the experiment requires you

continue teacher please continue

participants didn't know that the

learner was really an actor and the so

called shocks harmless

I mean take the responsibility of paying

the apples of that gentleman I'm

responsible for anything that happens

here continually and nicely slow walk

dance truck music two-thirds of

volunteers were prepared to administer a

potentially fatal electric shock when

encouraged to do so by what they

perceived as a legitimate authority

figure in this case a man in a white

coat Milgram's findings horrified

America they show that decent American

citizens were as capable of committing

acts against their conscience as the

Germans had been under the Nazis like

Milgram Zimbardo was interested in the

power of social situations to overwhelm

individuals his experiment would test

people's responses to an oppressive

regime where they accepted or act

against it

Zimbardo experiment was conducted

against a backdrop of civil rights

activism and protest against the Vietnam

War there was a sense of student power

student dominance and student rebellion

against against Authority in general it

was from the student body that Zimbardo

selected his participants after passing

tests to screen out anyone with a

psychological abnormality they were paid

$15 a day each was randomly assigned to

the role of God or prisoner was a prison

to me it still is a prison to me I don't

look on it as an experiment or a

simulation but just as a prison that was

run by psychologists instead of run by

the state I was 20 and that September I

was going to college and it would be

nice to have a summer job but there sure

wasn't a lot of time left and I looked

in the want ads and I found this thing

which was just going to fit it was just

two weeks when you put a uniform on

and are given a job to keep these people

in line you really become that person

what you put on that khaki uniform you

put on the glasses you put on it you

take the nightstick I was on summer

break from my first year in college and

I was looking for a job

had to choose between that and making

pizzas that sounded like a lot more fun

as well as running the experiment

Zimbardo took on the role of prison

superintendent he began by briefing the

gods I said you have to maintain law and

order if prisoners escape the study is

over and you can't use physical violence

prisoners were brought to the basement

prison blindfolded to confuse them about

their whereabouts call me I recall sort

of walking up and down the very short

hallway which was the prison hall and

looking in on the prisoners in there

basically lounging around on their beds

I felt it was like the day in summer

camp the first day I said this might be

a very long very boring experiment

because it's conceivable nothing will

happen

I arrived independently at the

conclusion that this experiment must

have been put together to prove a point

about prisons being a cruel and inhumane

place and therefore I would do my part

ya know to to help those results and

come about I was a confrontational and

arrogant

eighteen year old at the time and you

know I said somebody oughta stir things

on the second morning the prisoners had

decided to stir things up as well the

guards found some of them had used that

beds to barricade their cell Prisoner

eight six one two was one of the

ringleaders of the rebellion initially I

was stunned I didn't expect the

rebellion because not much happened and

we wasn't clear what they were what they

were rebelling against but they were

rebelling against the status rebelling

against being anonymous against having

to follow orders from from these these

other students as punishment for the

rebellion prisoner eight six one two was

put in the hole and the guards turned on

the other prisoners the guards felt that

they now have to up the ante of being

tough the prisoners made the mistake of

beginning to use profanity against the

guards in a very recently woken in the

middle of the night the guards made them

do menial physical tasks and clean out

toilets with their bare hands we made it

a point to not give them any sense of

comfort or what to expect that it you

know that anything could happen to them

at any time including being rousted from

their sleep at any hour and forced to

stand up in a line and have me hurl

insults at them and make them do

exercises when you interrupt people's

sleep they tend to become a little

disoriented and since there was no

daylight in the prison they had no idea

whether it was night or day I think that

I was the instigator of this whole

schedule of harassment the harassment of

the guards took its toll on rebellion

leader eight six one two he told

Zimbardo he wanted to leave the

experiment Zimbardo responded not as a

psychologist but as a prison

superintendent I said well I can see to

it the guards don't hassle you

personally and in return all I would

like is some information from time to

time about what the prisoners are doing

so essentially I'm saying I'd like you

to be a snitch an informant and I said

think it over and if you still want to

leave fine confused

prisoner eight six one two returned to

his cell and told the other prisoners

that no one could leave it wouldn't let

him go although we've never said that

but the fact that he was a ringleader of

the rebellion and he told the other

prisoners they won't let you leave net

really transformed the experiment into a

prison I was told that I couldn't quit

and at that point I just felt totally

hopeless more hopeless than I've ever

felt before

soon after returning to his cell

prisoner eight six one two started

showing signs of severe distress

it starts with make-believe and then

he's doing it and cursing and screaming

and you know whatever that little

boundary is that he he moved to cross

not that he became really crazy but it

became you know excessively disturbed I

mean it's so much so that we immediately

said we have to release him as an

experience it was unique I've never

screamed so loud in my life

I've never been so upset with my life

and it was an experience of being out of

control the boundary between reality and

make-believe was to become blurred even

for Zimbardo a rumor circulated that

released prisoner eight six one two

would return with friends to liberate

the remaining prisoners I quickly

convinced myself that you know my most

important function was you know not to

allow this prison liberation to occur

and what could I do to keep my prison

going not the experiment gone

the prison was dismantled and the

prisoners moved to another part of the

building Zimbardo waited in the empty

corridor preparing to tell 861 - and his

friends that the study was over when a

colleague appeared and began asking

questions about the scientific basis of

the research I'm trying to get rid of

him and then he says what's the

independent variable I get furious

because he doesn't understand that

there's riot about to take place that

this prison is about to erupt and had

totally lost this whole other identity

of scientists researchers psychologists

the room at jailbreak never materialized

the guards had dismantled the prison for

nothing and had to rebuild it they took

their frustration out on the prisoners

they escalated again the level of

control the level of dominance the level

of humiliating behavior 8 1 9 was the

next prisoner to rebel against the

harassment of the guards he barricaded

himself in his cell and refused to take

part in the [ __ ] for 8 1 9 s

disobedience the guards made his

cellmates do mindless work this

undermined any vestige of solidarity

amongst the prisoners who now chose to

accept the tyranny of the guards rather

than risk further harassment

I was one of the surprising things to me

is that there was so little that the

prisoners did to support one another

after we started our campaign of you

know divided conquer

isolated and distraught prisoner a-19

told Zimbardo he wanted to leave while

i'm interviewing 8.9 and saying okay you

know it's all over thank you for your

participation you know I'll give you

money for the whole for the whole two

weeks even though you're leaving early

he hears the prisoners shouting 8:1 not

a bad thing he said I can't leave and

he's crying he says I can't leave I mean

you can't leave he said no I have to go

back because I don't want them to think

that I'm a bad prisoner and that's

that's when I really flipped out but in

such a such a short time you know hey

college students thinking could become

so distorted I said you're not a bad

president United prisoner and this is

not a prison and it was this thing where

he opened his eyes that was just really

like a cloud being lifted seeing things

clearly prisoner 81:9 reverted to his

original request and was released to

replace him the experiment is called in

one of their reserves from the standby

list I got a phone call saying are you

still available as an alternate kind of

a cheery female secretary voice I said

yes sure and so she said could you start

this afternoon I said yes sure and my

role in the experiment really began

I was blindfolded and then stripped and

supposedly deloused he came into a

madhouse full-blown all of us had

gradually acclimated to increasing level

aggression the increasing powerlessness

of the president is increasing dominance

of the guards and he comes in and says

what's happening here at the other

prison I said yeah you better not make

trouble it's really terrible it's a real

prison and and he says yeah I'm out of

here I don't and they said none denied

you can't leave once you hear you stuck

this is a real prison prisoner for 1/6

was soon subjected to the harassment of

Davey Shulman

nicknamed John Wayne because of his

macho attitude

I made the decision that I would be as

intimidating as cold as cruel as

possible I just watched a movie called

Cool Hand Luke and the mean intimidating

you know southern prison warden

character in that film really was my

inspiration for the role that I created

for myself

it's my name to review video

you speak

he was creative in his evil he would

think of very ingenious ways to degrade

to demean one of the best guards what

was also on that shift and instead of

confronting this bad guard the sadistic

guard essentially because he didn't want

to see what was happening he became the

gofer he would go out to get the food

and things of this kind and that left

the John Wayne kick guard in another

guard and that shift to be dominant we

were continually called upon to act in a

way that just is contrary to what I

really feel inside the madness of the

experiment started to affect prisoner

for 1/6

I began to feel that I was losing my

identity until finally I wasn't clay I

was 416 I was really my number and 416

was gonna have to decide what to do

prisoner 4 1 6 decided to go on a hunger

strike

they were pushing my limits but here was

a thing that I could do that could push

their limits

after I had missed a couple of meals I

saw that this was not a matter of

indifference to the guards I was making

headway they were upset

I thought how dare this newcomer come in

and try to change everything that we had

worked for the first three days to set

up and by god he was gonna suffer for

that frustrated by his continued

defiance John Wayne through prisoner

four one six into the hole after

punishing the other prisoners for his

disobedience John Wayne encouraged them

to vent their anger at four one six

directly we would use our night sticks

to bang on the door and we would kick

the door so hard that you know it must

have you know shaken him very seriously

inside scared the life out of him he

yelled at me and threatened me and

actually sort of smashed sausage into my

face to try to get me to open up but I

didn't have any intention of eating

until I was out for one six should have

been at some level of hero because he's

willing to impose the authority of the

system in fact the prisoners except the

guards definition of him as before when

a six was still in the hole

John Wayne made a final attempt to break

him by giving his fellow prisoners a

choice they could vote to release him by

making a small sacrifice stay another

day

now what would it be what would it be

over here

how about five or six we got three

favorite easy to play we got three

against one keep your bike for one six

we got to be in there for a while but

the study shows that power corrupts and

how difficult it is for people who are

the victims of abuse to stand up and

defend themselves why doesn't anybody

who was being abused by a spouse or

something like that just say stop it and

we realize now that that's not as easy

as it sounds by the end of the fifth day

four prisoners had broken down and been

released for one six was on the second

day of his hunger strike and the

experiment still had another nine days

to run

at this point a fellow psychologist

visited Zimbardo's basement prison and

would witness the brutality of the

experiment firsthand the guards had

lined up the prison is to go to the

toilet had banks over the head chains on

their feet and we're marching by and I

looked up and I saw this this circus

this parade and I said hey Chris you

know look at that I looked up and I just

began to feel sick to my stomach I had

this just chilling sickening feeling of

watching this and I just you know I just

turned away and I just let loose in this

emotional Tyree I just lost it

I was angry scared I I was in tears and

I'm furious I'm saying you're supposed

to be and then we had a big argument to

be a psychologist this is this

interesting dynamic behavior in such a

few day but I'm going through this whole

thing the power of the situation says no

no it's it young boys are suffering and

you are responsible you let even happen

I said oh my kind of question or right

the next day Zimbardo ended the

experiment studies like his stimulated

heated debate about the ethics of using

human subjects clearly young men

suffered verbally physically prisoners

felt shame and they're all guards felt

guilt so in that sense it's it's

unethical that is nobody has the right

the power the privilege to do that to

other people in the wake of experiments

like Zimbardo's and Milgram's ethical

guidelines changed introducing greater

safeguards to protect participants in

the stanford experiment

Zimbardo might have spared his

volunteers distress had he not taken on

a dual role in the study if I was going

to be the prison superintendent I should

have had a colleague who was overseeing

the experiment who was in a position to

stop it at any point or I should have

been the principal investigating it and

get somebody who was going to be the

prison superintendent I realized that

was a big mistake to play both those

roles in the shifting back and forth

after the experiment Zimbardo brought

all the participants together to talk

about their experiences John Wayne would

now come face to face with the hunger

striker he had tormented I was a little

worried I said oh my god he's really

gonna come down on me hard now now that

we're on equal footing

it harms me how did it how does it harm

me it just officially I mean that people

can be like that yeah it let me in on

some knowledge thing that I've never

experienced firsthand because I know

what you can turn into I know what

you're willing to do when I look back on

it now I behaved appallingly yeah no I

it's just a horrid to look at I think I

tried to explain it was the time that

you know what you experienced and what

you hated so much was was a role that I

was playing that that's not me at all he

was trying to dissociate himself from

what he had done that did make me angry

everyone was acting out apart playing a

role prisoners guards staff everyone was

acting out apart it's when you start

contributing to the script that's you

and thus it's something you should take

responsibility for it was it was

degrading and that was that was part of

my particular little experiment to see

how I could your particular little

experiment oh yes I was I was running a

little experience of my own tell me

about your little experiments okay I

wanted to see just that kind of verbal

abuse that people can take before they

start objecting before they start

flashing back if I have any regret right

now it's that you know I made that

decision because it would have been

interesting to see what would have

happened had had I not decided to

divorce things it couldn't be that I

only accelerated them that the same

things would happen

but we'll never know if the extreme

nature of Davis woman's behavior tested

the prisoners it also presented the

other guards with a choice to intervene

or not they just accepted myself and no

one questioned my authority at all it

really shocked me why didn't people say

what I started again abuse people so

much I started to get so profane that

and still people didn't say anything

there were a few guards who hated to see

the prison suffer they never did

anything which would be demeaning of the

prisoners the interesting thing is none

of the good guards ever intervened in

the behavior of the guards who gradually

became more and more sadistic over time

we like to think there is this core of

human nature that good people can't do

bad things and that good people will

dominate over bad situations in fact one

way to look at the Stanford Prison study

said we put good people in an evil place

and we saw who won well the sad messages

in this case the evil place won over the

good people

it did show some very interesting and

maybe some unpleasant things about human

behavior it seems like you know every

century of a decade that we go through

you know we're suffering the same kind

of atrocities and you need to understand

why these things happen you need to

understand why people behave like this