The Stanford Prison Experiment
This notorious experiment has spawned books and movies such were the shocking conclusions.
In 1971, Psychologist Philip Zimbardo constructed a fake prison under (ironically) the Stanford psyche department and kitted it out with survey cameras so all the action could be filmed.
He recruited 24 undergraduates to either play the part of an inmate or that of prison guard. Whereas the prisoners were kept in their cells 24/7 the guards were rotated on 8 hour shifts.
The guards were instructed to be strict and not to tolerate any trouble makers or disobedience.
It didn’t take them long to follow their instructions when on day 2 the prisoners rebelled and blockaded their cells.
The two week experiment lasted a mere 6 days when the ‘prisoners’ were pulled out as the Zimbardo started to fear for not just their safety, but their lives.
6 days was all it took for the guards to resort to shocking tactics of sexual humiliation as well as psychological and physical abuse.
Some prisoners were already showing signs of learned helplessness and depression.
The Take Away
As human beings we all have the capacity to act in appalling ways under extreme circumstances.
These students weren’t unusual and if you’d been one of them you would have almost certainly acted in a similar manner – even though you probably think you wouldn’t.
