The Stanford Prison Project - 1390 Words

The Stanford Prison Project In the summer of 1971 at Stanford University psychologist Phillip Zimbardo conducted a behavioral experiment meant to simulate a prison. This experiment was supposed to study the behaviors both guards and prisoners go through by using student volunteers to play the parts. This experiment, conducted in the basement of a Stanford University building, began to take on a life of its own and has since gone down in infamy. This paper will look into the person responsible for this experiment, how it was conducted and the outcome of the infamous study. Philip Zimbardo is currently a well-known and highly regarded psychologist who received his Ph.D. from Yale. He has over 50 years of experience teaching psychology at many schools including the Naval Post-graduate School, Yale and Stanford University (Zimbardo,2015). Among his other accolades Dr. Zimbardo has been published over 400 times and served as the president of both the American Psychological Associatio n and the Western Psychological Association (Zimbardo,2015). In 1971 Phillip Zimbardo was a professor at Stanford University wanting to learn more about behavior between authority figures and regular people in a prison environment. To conduct his research Zimbardo created the Stanford Prison Project which was inspired by the Milgram obedience study. The results of the Milgram obedience study concluded that when regular ordinary people were encouraged by those in an authority position overShow MoreRelatedThe Stanford Prison Experiment1658 Words   |  7 Pagesmost important issues today. The Stanford Prison Experiment, conducted over 40 years ago, brought these ethical issues into the limelight and remains one of the most controversial studies in the history of studying human behavior. This paper aims to define ethics, describe risk/benefit ratio, provide a brief background on the Stanford Prison Experiment, and evaluate the impact it has had on psychological research. â€Æ' The Stanford Prison Experiment The Stanford Prison Experiment probably tops a lot ofRead MoreWhat Can We Learn from the Stanford Prison Experiment?935 Words   |  4 PagesWhat can we learn from the Stanford Prison Experiment? There is no doubt that the study conducted by Dr Philip Zimbardo in 1971 at Stanford University was extremely valuable to not only the Psychology profession, but also to all social science fields. He tested and selected participates to recreate a prison environment separating one group into two, guards and prisoners, and the results were truly ground breaking. A lot of significant information was gathered and the results help us understandRead MoreThe Stanford Prison Experiment : A Experiment890 Words   |  4 PagesThe Stanford Prison Experiment has been one of great controversy since it took place in 1971. Originally established to observe and record the psychological effects the criminal justice system has on prisoners and guards, the experiment went awry due to the neglect of Zimbardo, the scientist holding the experiment. The Stanford Prison Experiment or SPE consisted of 18 students and 6 alternatives recreating regular prison life by being randomly assigned the roles of prisoner and guard. Due to hisRead MoreThe And The Marine Corps1600 Words   |  7 Pages In 1971 a scientist known by his students as Professor Zimbardo conducted an experiment to test if the leading cause of abusive behavior in prisons was the inherent personality traits of prisoners and the prison guards (Wikipedia. â€Å"Goals and Methods†). Zimbardo beg an his experiments by selecting twenty-four of his students, twelve to be prisoners and the other twelve to be the guards. His experiment was funded by the U.S. Office of Naval Research due to the interest of both the U.S. Navy and theRead MoreThe Stanford Prison Experiment And Group Think858 Words   |  4 PagesMr. Crosetti 22/Sept/2015 A Discussion of â€Å"The Stanford Prison Experiment† and Group Think Group think is a phenomenon that occurs when group s need for consensus supersedes the judgment of individual group members. Group think often occurs when there is a time constraint and individuals put aside personal doubts so a project can move forward or when one member of the group dominates the decision-making process. In the article â€Å"The Stanford Prison Experiment†, the author Philip Zimbardo tells anRead MoreZimbardo’s Prison Study Essay1144 Words   |  5 PagesAbstract In 1971, a Stanford University psychology professor named Philip Zimbardo and a team of researchers conducted an unorthodox study involving 24 male college students who would later be convinced that they were prison inmates and prison guards in less than 24 hours. This study was voluntarily cut short after only six days due to the unexpected results which were found. Psychology Professor Philip Zimbardos Stanford Prison Experiment of August 1971 quickly becameRead MoreSocial Psychology, By Philip Zimbardo1143 Words   |  5 Pagesgreat passion for teaching and mentoring, where he became professor at Yale and then professor at New York University from the year 1960 to 1967. He further taught at Columbia University and then joined the faculty at the well-known University of Stanford in the year 1968. Zimbardo was passionate about the idea of â€Å"What happens when you put good people in evil places† and the idea of â€Å" Does humanity win over evil, or does evil triumps† He decided to dedicate his life into the development of PersonalityRead MoreThe Psychological Impact Of Imprisonment For Two Weeks1487 Words   |  6 Pagesare put into certain roles they feel a need to conform to that role. Everyone can harbour an evil side of their personality but it takes a certain environment or circumstance to bring it out. In a prison, will a guard abuse their power? Or will a prisoner have a mental breakdown? In the Stanford Prison Experiment, Zimbardo saw that when â€Å"normal† people are given too much power, they can transform into harsh oppressors within days. Although the main intent of the experiment was to test the psychologicalRead MoreThe Incarceration Of Rehabilitation Programs1319 Words   |  6 PagesPrison is used as a means of separating the crimin ally charged from the outside population. Many prisons are focused on reintroducing the prison population back into the general population. Rehabilitating criminals has become a highly-debated topic throughout the U.S. With the majority of criminals being repeat offenders, correctional institutions have made rehabilitation a top priority. Recidivism, defined as the tendency of a convicted criminal to reoffend, has become a problem in the UnitedRead MoreFinancial Contingency Planning1732 Words   |  7 Pagesï » ¿ Financial Contingency Planning: Sources of Funding AJS/522 May 12 2014 Adam Eaton Financial Contingency Planning: Sources of Funding California has the largest prison population in the United States and some countries around the world. For over 40 years, the incarceration levels have risen. The prison rates have risen 700 percent since 1970, today it is estimated that one in 100 adults are incarcerated. Who pays the bill for this large increase, tax payers have and will continue