Society In Stanford Prison Experiment

The police procedures they used on the experimental subjects were as real as the real procedure the cops used on criminals. The experimental subject was to arrest and treat like every other criminal, being arrested at their own homes, without warning or notices, and taken to the local police station. They were fingerprints, photographs, and ‘booked the experimental subjects. `` Then they were blindfolded and driven to the psychology department of Stanford University, where Zimbardo had the basement set out as a prison, to be set as a real prison should be. Here the deindividuation process began. It started with the police showing asserting authority by asking the prisoners to remove all their clothes and belongings in front of them that made the prisoners feel uncomfortable. The police gave them uniforms (with id #) that look like dresses (no undergarments) that look like a sack of potatoes. This act dehumanized the prisoners and other acts were taunted by the police. All guards were dressed in identical uniforms of khaki, and they carried a whistle around their neck. Guards also wore special sunglasses to make eye contact with the prisoners impossible. Three guards worked shifts of eight hours each and the rest on call. The guards were directed to use their best judgment they thought was necessary to maintain law and order in the prison. They also were instructed to their best judgment to maintained or command the respect of the prisoners. And no physical violence was permitted. But through the experiment, we continue to witness more negative impacts than positive. Another negative impact of the experiment we see is when prisoner #8612 Less than 36 hours into the experiment, started getting emotional disturbance, disorganized thinking, uncontrollable crying, and rage.

If I was a guard, I want to believe that I would be a noble guard but I’m not sure about it. After seeing the experience and results is hard to believe that I will get the same results I wish for. As a human when faced with difficult situations we find it easier to adapt to our environments and one survival instinct kick in.

Some of the reasons that prevented 'good guards' from objecting or countermanding orders from tough or bad guards are. 1.The main reason why the “good guards” did not object to the tougher guards was that their brutal treatment was not directed towards them but to the prisoners. 2.The good guard probably fear that if they object those brutal treatments will be done to them too if they oppose the sadistic guard. 3. Another reason why the good guard didn’t object to the sadistic treatment is that they may fear the sadistic treatment may get worse for the prisoners.

If I was a prisoner, I don’t think I will be able to endure the experience as me. I may be able to handle it if I can change my personality to adapt to the environment. It’s hard to say how I will change or react in the situation since I haven’t experienced it but as I have stated before we as humans find it easier to adapt to our environment when one survival instincts kick in. I don’t think I would be able to take “real” 5 years or more in prison without me existed. I as now I’ll cease to exist. The person who survives and leaves prison would be a completely different person.

The reason why prisoners try to work with the arbitrary prison system to effect a change in it. Because they felt they didn’t have a voice outside but inside they did and were able to represent. They probably fear that if they were to contact others from the outside to reveal how they were really treated; this could have led to far worse treatment than what they were already experiencing. They already suffered a great deal in prison that they can put those events behind and return to outside but if they reach out to the outside world besides being humiliated that they couldn’t put that behind. There isn't a place to run to.

The factors that will lead prisoners to attribute the guard’s brutality to the guard’s disposition or character, rather than to the situation is to make them feel the same they did. The prisoners will dehumanize the guards and make them believe the actions took were terrible and because they are horrible people.

Identity is your sense of who you are, the way you think about yourself and others, Also the way you are viewed by the world. The way others self-identity you is by your behavior, attitudes, and actions. According to this experiment, it took 6 days for all the experiment subjects to dramatically change. So quite easy is to remake any given person into someone with a new identity.

Kids from an urban working-class environment probably wouldn’t have broken down emotionally in the same as the middle-class prisoners did. The kids may have encountered abuse before, they may be used to not having rights, or may be used to tougher environments compared to the middle-class prisoners. It was hard to persist because kids from an urban working environment aren’t all the same or facing the same issues or all of them don’t have rights or freedoms at the same time as the prisoners. And for women, it depends on the background of the women or what they're used to.

I believe that after the study, the prisoners and guards felt that those who participated as the guards would feel a sense of guilt and awkwardness when seeing those who acted as prisoners. As for prisoners, they may feel conflicting because they may not know how to feel since they know it was experimenting more than the real thing. Both it made both parties realize how much one can change under different situations and how people can change into a negative state so maybe they will also feel a sense of shame.

When we move beyond physical prisons built of steel and concrete the psychological prison, we create for ourselves and others is our perceptions limit ourselves and others, our worldview and ideas of how the world works, and what we think we're capable of.

As a society, we are constantly degrading people by social media or other methods, as they do in prisons. We are always telling each other that a part of their identity isn’t good enough for society, and we punish them for it or ourselves. For example, our rights to express ourselves, but are limited. We are scared to truly express our self, so we build a prison for ourselves and others.