The Stanford Prison Experiment ( Spe ) - 974 Words

Prisons in the United States have been labeled as places where cruel and unusual punishments occur and are rightfully labeled as such; not because of the demeanor of certain group of people, but because of the specific situation and scenarios these people are in. The Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) was set up to help understand the development and growth of the norms based on certain roles, labels and expectations in a simulated prison environment. This paper is going to explain and describe the experiment Philip Zimbardo set up and how it relates to the real world in non-experimental situations in regards with the controversy of prisoner abuse in Abu Ghraib, Iraq. Philip Zimbardo and the Stanford Prison Experiment Philip Zimbardo was born on March 23, 1933, in New York City, New York. Born to the parents of former Sicilian immigrants. Zimbardo would grow up and study at Brooklyn College and completing BA in the studies of psychology, anthropology, and sociology in 1954. He would soon study at Yale where he would receive his M.A. (M.S.) in 1955 and Ph.D. in 1959 both in psychology. Philip would soon become a professor at Stanford University in 1968, where he will hold his infamous experiment in three years. Zimbardo was offered a government grant from the United States Office of Naval Research to help understand the importance of the effects of certain environments; this is what would be known as the Stanford Prison Experiment. The experiment was setup in such a wayShow MoreRelatedA Critical Review Of Zimbardo s Stanford Prison Experiment And The Bbc Prison Study1510 Words   |  7 PagesA critical review of Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment and the BBC Prison Study Introduction Tyranny is defined: an unequal social system involving the arbitrary or oppressive use of power by one group over another (Reicher Haslam, 2006). The link made between groups and tyranny has a long history in social psychology being prominent nearly 2,400 years ago with the Greek philosopher Aristotle. Aristotle believed that collective rule leads to moral irresponsibility, haphazardness and isRead MoreA Study On Stanford Prison Experiment Essay838 Words   |  4 Pagesstarted class by stating that we would be learning about the Stanford Prison Experiment. We spent the entire day learning and discussing how this experiment influenced the world today. I was so infatuated with everything there was to learn. From the actual situation they were placed in to how the participants were effected. This experiment is one of the main reasons I fell in love with psychology. b. Relevance: The Stanford Prison Experiment demonstrated the theory that in certain situations peopleRead 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 MoreSocial Roles Have An Influence On People s Behavior1940 Words   |  8 PagesStanford Prison Experiment Professor Philip Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) was conducted to determine how social roles have an influence on people’s behavior. This paper examines how this experiment was conducted and what can be learned from it. In 1971 Professor Zimbardo wanted to ascertain why prison guards in the U.S. prison system were perpetuating brutality. Was it due to the natural characteristics and biochemical makeup of the guards, or did it have to do more so with the prisonRead MoreThe Stanford Prison Experiment : Summary1131 Words   |  5 PagesStanford Prison Experiment Summary of the milestone The Stanford prison experiment (SPE) was study organized by Philip George Zimbardo who was a professor at Stanford University. Basically, SPE was a study of psychological effect. He studied about how personality and environment of a person effect his behaviour. Experiment he performed was based on prison and life of guards. He wants to find out whether personality get innovated in person according to given environment (situational) or due to theirRead MoreThe Field Of Social Psychology1378 Words   |  6 Pageseffects of aggression would be Stanford University’s Dr. Philip Zimbardo’s study of prisoners and guards in a simulated prison. His research was conducted along with two of his graduate assistants by the name of Craig Haney and Curtis Banks. Their research was done in 1971. Zimbardo had selected a group of college students to perform the experiment on, half of the students were the â€Å"guards† where they would act and impersonate themselves as if they we re actual guards in a prison. The other half of the studentsRead MoreThe Stanford Prison Experiment And The Milgram Experiment1007 Words   |  5 Pagesguidelines, the advantages outweigh them. This is evident from two of the most famous psychological investigations: the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) and the Milgram Experiment. This paper outlines and describes the benefits and drawbacks of ethical guidelines based on evidence obtained from the two experiments mentioned before. Advantages of Ethical Guidelines Unlike other experiments, psychological investigations rely heavily on human or animal subjects to obtain information to advance human healthRead MoreThe Lucifer Effect By Philip Zimbardo Essay1043 Words   |  5 Pagesplace during Zimbardo’s prison experiment. This experiment consisted of randomly assigning twenty-four healthy, normal intelligent college students. Twelve of the twenty-four individuals were assigned to role play the prisoners (nine plus three alternates), and the other twelve were chosen to role play the prison guards (also, nine plus three alternates). These students had no prior record of criminal arrests, medical conditions, or psychological disorders. The experiment was initially projectedRead MoreEssay The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil1788 Words   |  8 Pagesput into new behavioral settings. This book is unique in many ways. It provides for the first time a detailed chronology of the transformations in human character that took place during the experiment I created that randomly assigned healthy, normal intelligent college students to play the roles of prison or guard in a projected 2 week-long study. I was forced to terminate the study after only 6 days because it went out of control, pacifists were becoming sadistic guards, and normal kids were breakingRead MoreZimbardo Doesn t Have An Extraordinary Life1150 Words   |  5 Pagesemotional breakdowns and psychosomatic rashes all because of a mock prison experience? Surely it would be unethical and inappropriate to imprison 20 strangers into a basement of a universities’ psychology building merely to observe how they would act towards one another. But to Philip Zimbardo this unheard of experiment was just another day on the job. This young psychology major could have never predicted that his landmark experiment w ould become such a highly talked about documentation of the true