The Stanford Prison Experiment is one of the psychological approaches that were used to answer the age-old question of why good people do bad things. In this experiment, perceived power differences were introduced to this research team and the results were then observed (Kulig, Pratt, & Cullen, 2017). This paper evaluates the experiment and applies it to modern-day life.
In this experiment, a mock prison was created where research participants role-played between guards and prisoners. The full act was instituted, as prisoners were arrested and charged. Furthermore, they were transported to the prison where they were given new identities, clothes and living quarters. The guards were also given appropriate surroundings to enforce their roles, such as batons, lounging areas and oversight authority. The result of the experiments showed that the guards – although being the most psychologically stable individuals before the experiment – showed sadistic tendencies as the experiment progressed. This included denying prisoners sleeping areas, access to toilets and clothing. In fact, most guards were upset after the experiment was cut short at six days (Bottoms, 2014).
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The experiment concluded that the situation of the experiment, rather than the individual personalities of those involved, prompted the actions of the individuals. Extrapolating the results of this experiment, therefore, it is noted that the power of authority affects every individual differently. When this experiment was repeated in real prisons, the effect was the same. Therefore, considering a personal involvement in such a scenario, it is possible to act in similar manner to the guards that were there. Increasingly sadistic tendencies are certain to come up. However, this is not because of a personality flaw, but because of the apparent power difference and the intoxicating effect of perceived authority over another person. Again, considering that of fifty participants within the SPE experiment, only one blew the whistle and raised ethical concerns. It is possible that I would blow the whistle depending on the role played in the experiment.
References
Bottoms, S. (2014). Timeless Cruelty: Performing the Stanford Prison Experiment. Performance Research, 19(3) , 162-175.
Kulig, T. C., Pratt, T. C., & Cullen, F. T. (2017). Revisiting the Stanford prison experiment: A case study in organized skepticism. Journal of Criminal Justice Education, 28(1) , 74-111.
