The Stanford Prison Study / Experiment

The Stanford Prison study/experiment

The Stanford Prison Study is a psychological experiment that was put on by the University of Stanford to examine the behavioral and psychological concept of a prisoner and a prison guard. The study was supervised by Dr. Phillip Zimbardo who played the role of a prison superintendent. The study took place in August 1971 in a psychology lab, imitating a real prison environment with the help of some prison experts such as an ex-convict who served 17 years in prison. The prison environment was divided into three cells, guard’s room, a ward office and a superintendent office. An ad was placed in the newspaper seeking male students from all over America who will be paid $15.00 a day to part-take in the prison experiment. A diagnostic interview and psychological test was given. After which 24 middle-class, college students were selected to participate in the study. They were divided into two (2) groups of a prisoner or a prison guard.

 It was so realistic; they had real police officers going the houses of the volunteered prisoners to arrest them and take them to the police station for processing. There were neighbor standing on the outside, standing in dismay while cameras rolling.

Prisoner 1037 was the first to be picked up and was placed in a cell. They called him all sorts of names and he could not say anything. It was like a real prison situation, the guards took counts of the prisoners every day and made them do exercise in the yard. On the second day there was a rebel among the prisoners, where prisoner 8716, the rebellious leader started cursing out loud and the guards then threw him in a hole. Another prisoner, prisoner 5704 had his feet chained together. Prisoners who weren’t apart of the rebellion were given privilege cell, their uniforms returned, baths and also to brush their teeth. They were even given special meals that they refused to eat in solidarity of the other inmates. Prisoner 1037 refused to leave the hole. The prisoners thought they were in control; the guards became sterner, taking away their privileges allowing them to use the bathroom in the morning and at nights they have to defecate in buckets that weren’t disposed for hours, making the cell started to smell.

Prisoner 8612 became overwhelmed and started yelling in confusion, so they had to release him in less than thirty-six (36) hours of the experiment. He was then replace by prisoner 819 who refused to do what was told by the guards, he was then placed in the hole to be punished as a consequence of his behavior. A priest went in to assess the prisoners where they introduce themselves by their numbers. The priest provided legal counseling instead of spiritual counseling because he thought it they were real prisoners weren’t given the opportunity of exercising their rights. The experiment went on for only six day after which Dr. Zimbardo concluded some very important points drawn out from the study. One of the main points that he discovered from was “Shyness” among people that he plans to study for about 15 years and thereafter open the first shyness clinic in America at The Stanford University. He also said that the study help to promote prison reform.