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Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment (1971) (Findings: (P quickly…
Zimbardo's Stanford Prison Experiment (1971)
Aim:
How readily ppl would conform to the social roles of guard and prisoner
In a role-playing exercise that stimulated prison life
Sampling:
75 ad respondents
24 male volunteers chose
Paid $15 a day
Advertised to last a fortnight
No ptps had criminal records, medical conditions or psychological disorders
Ptps randomly assigned G or P
Findings:
The guards created a brutal atmosphere
Despite being only a simulation
P tried to find ways to please G
Would tell tales on other P
5 prisoners had to be released early
Bc of extreme reactions to the situation
But the rest endured the study until it was ended after 6 days
P quickly became passive and negative in their attitudes
While the guards became more active
Prisoners adopted prisoner-like b/h
Talked about prison issues a great deal of the time
Talked of being stuck there
Even with it being a psych experi
Had the ability to leave the study
Started taking prison rules v seriously
Some even began siding w/ G against P who did not obey the rules
G showed
pathology of power
=They enjoyed the absolute power they had over P
Exhibited by many actions
Made toilet visits a privilege
Making P do press-ups
Conclusion:
G, P and Zimbardo all conformed to their roles within the prison
Roles were very easily taken on by the ptps
Who found themselves b/hing as if they were in a prison rather than a psych study
The fake prison situation can create a realistic role play
To study the relationships between P and G
And its destructive effect on human nature
Haney et al. believed they had shown how normal people are changed by the prison situation to show extreme reactions
Supporting Zimbardo's
situational hypothesis
He went on to campaign for prison reform
Situational vs Dispositional Hypothesis
Pop view at time was that criminals were bad by nature or disposition
Therefore needed correction
Harsh prisons were the way to do this
Zimbardo believed the opposite
Bad situations, such as prisons, could create bad b/h
Improving prisons would improve prisoners
Reicher and Haslam (2006)
BBC prison experiment
Challenged this view
Said it was the strength of the
social identity
with the role
That lead to the formation of group identity
In their study, it was the prisoners who were the stronger group
Procedure:
Stimulated prison created in basement of Stanford University psychology department
Deindividuated to become anonymous members of their groups
Guards
Military style khaki uniforms
Silver reflecting sunglasses
Making eye contact impossible
Prisoners
Stripped naked on arrival
Loose fitting smocks w/ ID no on front and back
Only referred to as these numbers
Prisoner's arrival
Arrested by real police
Taken to the station where they were fingerprinted
Blindfolded and taken to the mock prison
G arrived first to decide rules and set up
No physical violence permitted
Zimbardo acted as prison warden
To observe the b/h of P and G
Evaluation
Strengths
Control
This was high in this observation
Where everything was filmed and recorder
Consent
This was given
But ptps were not fully informed
E.g. prisoners were not aware they would be arrested at home
Weaknesses
Ecological validity
Real prisons are worse
Clearly an artificial setting
So lacked validity
Ethics
There were severe reactions by the prisoners
Although
very thorough debrief
afterwards
Haney et al. failed to
protect
ptps
Observer bias
Zimbardo has since admitted he lost his objectivity as the prison governor and got too involved
Not all guards b/hed brutally
Some guards did not degrade or harass the prisoners
Some even did small favours
Suggests their personality/morals were a bigger influence
They chose to b/h
Rather than blindly conform to their social role
Contradicting study
Haslam and Reicher (2006)
Said it was the strength of the
social identity
with the role
That led to the formation of a group identity
In their study it was the prisoners who were the stronger group