Sometimes, certain situations alter normal behavior and make human beings to act in evil ways. Most of these situations tend to be distressing and bring out the most evil of behavior. Such situations are forceful and make people react in unacceptable manners. For example, they could turn out to be excessively defensive or even become violent. This paper summarizes Zimbardo’s article titled The LUCIFER EFFECT: Understanding how good people turn evil. Finally, it gives an analysis of this article and highlights its importance in the field of psychology.
The article explains a psychological study of human behavior in a prison with clinically sane prisoners and guards. During this study, there is a mock arrest of the participants who have been randomly assigned to act prisoners. Initially, the study is scheduled to take two weeks but it lasts for six days because the participants are overwhelmed by emotions while in prison (Hong, 2012). When the study continues the guards attempt to control the prisoners even though they have not been given specific instructions. Zimbardo experiences many quarrels between the prisoners and guards during the study. At one point, the prisoners are stripped naked and this makes them embarrassed. However, all the participants are united at the end of the experiment as the guards had control over the prisoners (Zimbardo, 2007).
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I don’t agree with the issues posed during this study as Zimbardo seems to have been extreme in creating the prison condition for the experiment. One could actually argue that the experiment fails because it does not last for the planned time. The stripping naked of prisoners and denying them bathroom facilities is problematic. It breaks the ethical considerations that must be adhered to during an experiment in psychology. Further, Zimbardo himself takes part in the study as a supervisor and in turn makes him biased. The experiment needed to follow the required ethical considerations or it to yield perfect results (Hong, 2012).
The article presents evidence on how good people can turn into evil people. The participants are good when the study begins but end up changing their behavior. This is significant in psychology as it warns against exposing people to painful circumstances. Circumstances that are inhabitable change human behavior as they probably just want to survive. In the Abu Ghraib detention torture there is blame on the existing policies at that time. No one seems to take responsibility of the torture that occurs as no one in the prison is in charge of the creation of policies. It is wrong to follow commands by authority figures blindly. The teachers keep using the electric shocks to punish their students in the Milgram experiment. Their motivation to punish the students who fail is the confederate’s voice which urges them on. There is a suggestion that some teachers wished to stop using the shocks but hearing the voice that encouraged them to use the shocks (Zimbardo, 2007).
Zimbardo’s experiment evidently experiments the impact of situational force on human behavior. It is such forces that end up making human beings stressed and angry at everything. Consequently, there is need to protect human beings from emotional outbursts that could be overwhelming. This can be done through creating a peaceful environment for harmonious existence.
References
Bloom, H. K. (1997). The Lucifer principle: A scientific expedition into the forces of history .
Hong, J.K.(2012).The Lucifer Effect: Understanding how good people turn evil. Army Lawyer, 55-58 Retrived rom Academic OneFile database
Zimbardo, P. G. (2007). The Lucifer effect: Understanding how good people turn evil .
