The Stanford prison experiment was done by a social psychologist called Philip Zimbardo. This was in the year, 1971. The experiment involved a prison simulation created in Stanford University. The number of subjects included in this experiment was 24 males that were chosen for the experiment that would last for a period of two weeks. The chosen number of males was based on healthy individuals with no form of legal issues. The plans he aimed at the educated, middle-class individuals and college-rated persons. The chosen persons were to part with $15 per day in the event.
The experiment involved two groups of individuals in the prison, that is, those who were guards and some prisoners. Zimbardo accredited every single subject to take the person of a guard or prisoner through the flipping process of a coin. Since the experiment started, personality differences were found to be unmeasurable. Zimbardo took charge as a warden in the experiment. Nonetheless, the prison simulation was real and therefore, the arrest of prisoners and their subsequent sentence is natural. Moreover, 12 subjects as guards were provided with the original gears they wore. Initially, the researchers thought the subjects would not take up the experiment with the seriousness required. It came out evidently that the subjects acted swiftly as their real-life colleagues. The prisoners were thoroughly mistreated by the guards in the fake parole board evidently.
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Within a span of 36 hours or less, a single subject had to be taken out due to extreme depression, uncontrollable crying, rage fists and disorganized thinking. As the days progressed to the third day, the release of more prisoners occurred as they faced same consequences of anxiety symptoms. Another discharge of a fifth prisoner happened because he had shown psychosomatic rash on his whole body. This was a bodily reaction due to the parole board rejecting his general parole appeal. Nonetheless, the behavior displayed by the guard was more bothersome. They all displayed flexed powers to different higher levels. They subjected the prisoners to show obedience on always inconsistent rules and regulations that were moreover, trivial. They were then forced to undertake pointless, tedious work that included transferring cartons from a single closet to the other or incessantly picking from blankets thorns (a disgusting task that the guards did through pulling down the blankets and passing them on thorny bushes). In addition to this torturous moment, the prisoners were commanded to laugh or sing or even cease to smile; to malign and curse each other on the public domain; to ensure that the toilets were cleansed through their fingers and hands all together. Nonetheless, they were commanded to perform push-ups endlessly with either the other inmate’s or guard’s foot on them while they did the push-ups.
The inmates were engulfed into the situation. They went further in the hearing by the fake parole board to tell that they would not take the money they were owed and would rather suggest for their release. This was a suggestion from a majority population in the experiment. They would have quit if it were not for an experiment at the Stanford University and not in a real-life prison (Woodward, 2017). Nonetheless, Zimbardo was trapped myopically while playing the warden role. It should be noted that the participants had no clear instructions on what and how to do. Hence, they did a lot of own behavior modifications. He became more struck by the disturbed prisoners and the strict prison rules on breaking out.
What went amiss during the experiment was about the extreme levels Zimbardo had realized he had found himself into. The study was canceled instantly when a certain woman Zimbardo had contact with and who had currently achieved her doctorate, tipped him on how beyond human-thinking he had got. The observations made were hunger strike and the non-cooperation towards the guards by the prisoners. Approximately, one-third of the population of the guards displayed sadistic tendencies. This made Zimbardo sense some power levels creates aggressiveness towards the speechless prisoners who are further frustrated due to severe humiliation. Hence, the experiment lasted for only six nights and days yet he had set it to 7-14 days.
The ethical issues within the provided scenario included the prisoners being able to do things right as commanded or not when the people on authority do so by ordering or, on the other hand, when it comes to personal morals and values, what influences any decisions made. Nonetheless, it shows that the person on the helm of authority gives harsh punishment for even minor crimes (Woodward, 2017). This depicts a clear version of individuals who are either conformists to their duties or roles and those who are obedient to their authorities. Moreover, it gives an idea on how people with good health begin facing pathological reactions and the others who have a good background on good character change and become criminals. The provided assumption about the experiment was that people will quickly adapt their roles socially when given if the roles they are assigned are really sensitive and controlled conventionally like those of prison guards.
The end results of the experiment concern the fact that many court cases of high profiles have shown and tried out over the subsequent years need to have very clear guidelines and instructions coming from the authorities above like the Supreme Court, otherwise abuse of prisoners may happen. In addition, the experiment is very strong as it depicts what happens in the prisons if laws are not placed properly to take charge on ethical issues.
Reference
Woodward, V. (2017). Stanford Prison Experiment. The Encyclopedia of Corrections, 1-3.
