The psychologist, Philip Zimbardo, took up an experiment in 1971 where he sought to identify how readily individuals would adapt to the roles of prisoners and guards as assigned by the researchers. It is commonly reported that prison guards exercise brutal punishments towards the convicts. Therefore, the main aim of the study was to identify whether these atrocities were from sadistic personalities or from the environment. The hypothesis in question are dispositional state where personality causes vicious behavior or situational state where the environment creases aggressive behavior among both prisoners and guards. The study randomly selected roles of prisoners and guards to 24 male college students from Stanford University, but only 10 prisoners and 11 guards were left from 75 volunteers (McLeod, 2016). The participants were to receive $15 per day for their roles in the mock prison set in a basement in the psychology building of the institution.
The guards were instructed to ensure law and order in the prison using any necessary means though they were not allowed to use physical violence. The chosen prisoners were arrested, booked and jailed from their own homes to ensure that the experiment was similar to real life. Within a few hours the convicts and the guards were noted adjusting to their new roles. Guards were seen harassing prisoners while the latter engaged in rebellious behavior (McLeod, 2016). This would only result in more aggressive behavior from the guards who became more derisive towards the prisoners. The study was to take place for a fortnight but was terminated after only six days with a number of prisoners demonstrating signs of emotional disorder that would have a long-term effect. The research experiment showed that the environment had significant impact on the behavior of both guards and prisoners as individuals are inclined to take up the strong stereotypes (McLeod, 2016). The fact that none of the guards showed sadistic behavior prior to the study is a clear indicator that the study advocates for the situational explanation in causing brutal behavior.
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Ethical Violations
Lack of Informed Consent
From the processes of the experiment, it is evident that the researcher, Dr. Philip Zimbardo did not receive the full consent of the participants particularly from those who would take the role of prisoners. At the beginning of the study, Dr. Zimbardo asks each of the volunteers which of the roles they would prefer to undertake (McLeod, 2016). Though each of them chooses a desired role, the selection is made randomly and without bias. The members are not prepared about what to expect of the chosen roles (Zimbardo, 2008). Issues ranging from the attire to be worn and the treatment they should expect as prisoners is not conveyed to the prisoner participants.
The researchers wanted to ensure that the experiment is as real as possible. The element of surprise that criminals experience would be enhanced when the volunteers of the study were arrested from their homes. However, the researchers state that this took place partly due to the fact that the local police department did not approve for the practice until only a few minutes before the start of the experiment (Zimbardo, 2008). Through these actions, Zimbardo was breaching his contract of ethics that he the participants had signed. In light of this, the experiment is in violation of the psychological code of conduct of failing to gain full consent of the prospective participants partly due to the lack of knowledge about what to expect ( Ethical Principles , 2016).
Emotional Distress
According to the American Psychological Association’s ethical principles and code of conducts, psychologists are required to take appropriate steps that would ensure prospective participants are not affected from the adverse consequences of the experiment ( Ethical Principles , 2016). This ethical principle in research is evidently violated by the researchers in this study. Zimbardo admits that he wanted to create a setting that is quite similar to that of a real prison. It is for this reason that he gave the ‘prisoners’ attire that was similar to that worn by convicts while the ‘guards’ were dressed in a fashion to the authoritative figure.
This depiction of the participants of the study had immense impact on the experiment. The prisoners were publicly humiliated when told to fully undress before and forced to undertake vicious punishments. Though Zimbardo had informed the guards that physical violence would not be allowed in the study, they alternatively chose to torment the mental state of the ‘prisoners’ (McLeod, 2016). The researchers did not involve themselves in preventing this psychological harm. Within 38hours after the start of the experiment, one of the prisoners had to drop out of the study due to burst of anger, screaming and crying.
Proportionality Factors
The American Psychological Association also requires psychologist to demonstrate human care in the treatment of research subjects whether they are animals or human beings. In this prison study, Zimbardo is in clear violation of proportionality factors as he identifies that the benefits of the research outweigh the consequences realized. The study in question sought to identify how individuals who appear normal can be influenced to demonstrate undesirable behavior ( Ethical Principles , 2016). The experiment draws from reports of police brutality in prisons which are not addressed partly because the individuals affected are hardcore criminals. Therefore, the researchers should have expected some sought of vicious behavior from guards and taken significant measures to prevent harm of the prisoner participants (McLeod, 2016). The harm that is reported among the actual criminals in real life should be a critical factor that prompts the researchers to alleviate psychological and emotional distress.
References
Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct . (2016) American Psychological Association. Retrieved from http://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index.aspx
McLeod, S. A. (2016). Zimbardo - Stanford Prison Experiment . Retrieved from www.simplypsychology.org/zimbardo.html
Zimbardo, P. (2008) The Psychology of Evil . TED. Retrieved from https://www.ted.com/talks/philip_zimbardo_on_the_psychology_of_evil/transcript?language=en
