The Role Of A Guard And A Prisoner - 1405 Words

Why do people typically act the way they do when in a specific situation? Answering a question similar to this one was the aim of this experiment. Brutality among American prison guards toward prisoners had been reported and psychologists were interested in finding out what motivated their actions. In 1971, psychologist Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues set out to create an experiment that looked at the impact of becoming a prisoner or prison guard. The aim of this experiment was to investigate how readily people would conform to the roles of a guard and a prisoner. In this role playing simulation, individual would experience prison life. Zimbardo was interested in finding out whether the brutality reported among guards in American prisons was dispositional: due to the sadistic personalities of the guards, or Situational: having more to do with the prison environment. For example, prisoner and guards may have personalities which make conflict inevitable, with prisoners lacking resp ect for law, order, and any authoritative figure and guards having domineering and aggressive personalities. Alternatively, prisoners and guards may behave in a hostile manner due to the rigid power structure of the social environment in prisons. If the prisoners and guards were not aggressive towards one another this would support the dispositional hypothesis, or if their behavior was similar to those in real prisons this would support the situational explanation. To study the roles peopleShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of The Guard And Prisoner Roles On Men878 Words   |  4 Pagesstudy of prisoners and guards in a simulated prison was conducted by the United States Department of the Navy. The study took place in 1971 at Stanford University. The study examined the effects of the guard and prisoner roles on men who each had similar characteristics. They were an â€Å"average group of healthy, intelligent, middle-class college males.† (Haney, Banks, Zimbardo, Jaffe, 1971) They single hypotheses of the author was â€Å"That the assignment to the treatment of guard or prisoner would resultRead MoreZimbardo s The Zimbardo Essay1106 Words   |  5 Pagesup a bunch of students to play the roles of prisoners and guards. Zimbardo wanted to investigate how readily people would conform to the roles of guard and prisoner in a role played situation that would be equivalent to prison life. (McLeod 1) During this experiment that lasted six days, Zimbardo found out that the guards treated the prisoners horribly (McLeod 1) This turned the tables and Zimbardo became interested in finding out if the brutality of the guards were due to their malicious personalitiesRead MoreThe Stanford Prison Experiment1006 Words   |  5 Pagesinto two groups, guards and prisoners. Once at the prison the environment became harsh. â€Å"There were no windows or clocks to judge the passage of time, which later resulted in some time-distorting experiences† (Zimbardo 6). The pris on environment, the harsh ruling of the guards, and the stress being in jail took a tole on the prisoners. As Zimbardo once said, â€Å"We wanted to see what the psychological effects were of becoming a prisoner or prison guard† (4). It was not only the prisoners that paid theRead MoreThe Stanford Prison Experiment Essay1207 Words   |  5 Pageswere randomly split into two groups’, guards and prisoners. Participants who were selected to be prisoners were arrested, blindfolded and sent the Stanford prison. The prisoners had to strip down and put on a prisoner uniform. The guards had to have a uniform also. Their uniform was composed of silver reflective sunglasses, handcuffs, whistles, billy clubs, and keys to all the cells and main gate. Prisoners had no freedom, rights, independence and privacy. Guards had social power and the responsibilityRead MorePrison1200 Words   |  5 PagesMcLeod  Ã‚  published  2008 Aim:  To investigate how readily people would conform to the roles of guard and prisoner in a role-playing exercise that simulated prison life. Zimbardo (1973) was interested in finding out whether the brutality reported among guards in American prisons was due to the sadistic personalities of the guards or had more to do with the prison environment. Procedure: Zimbardo used a lab experiment to study conformity. To study the roles people play in prison situations, Zimbardo converted a basementRead MoreThe Ethics Of Science Based Medicine1618 Words   |  7 Pagespsychological effects 13 of becoming a prisoner or prison guard under the typical restraints and conditions of a regular 14 prison. The experiment was conducted at Stanford University from August 14–20, 1971, by a 15 team of researchers led by psychology professor Philip Zimbardo. This study was funded by 16 the U.S. Office of Naval Research for the results were of much interest to both the U.S. 17 Navy and Marine Corps as the causes of conflict between military guards and prisoners may be 18 able to be haltedRead MoreReview Of Philp Zimbardo s Stanford Prison Experiment 1472 Words   |  6 Pagesconducted by Philp Zimbardo and the objective of the experiment was to study the Psychological affects that the prison atmosphere has on both independent groups, the guards and prisoners of the Stanford prison experiment (6. Grievances. n.d.). The other objective of the experiment was see how labels affect both the prisoners and guards in either negative or positive ways while being incarcerated. The experiment consisted of twenty-four college students ranging from U.S. and Canada, those twenty-fourRead MoreStanford Prison Experiment Essay1222 Words   |  5 Pagesexpectations of their role. The men involved in the experiment were assigned either the role of a prisoner or a guard to represent positions in society, both with power and without. More specifically, the conductors of The Stanford Prison Experiment focused on analyzing the different behavioral outcomes produced depending on what role the men were assigned. The men that were assigned the role of prison guards displayed surges of power and status over the prisoners. The prisoners themselves experiencedRead MoreThe Psychological Impact Of Imprisonment For Two Weeks1487 Words   |  6 Pagessituation overwhelm the good people?† Psychologist Philip Zimbardo proves throughout his research that when people are put into certain roles they feel a need to conform to that role. Everyone can harbour an evil side of th eir 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 canRead MoreDas Experiment Essay919 Words   |  4 Pagesaffects the behavior of prisoners and guards and the perception of their roles. As the scientists trusted and soon learned to fear, the volunteers immediately fell into their, anticipated, roles. The guards abused their power and the prisoners let free what tugged them into their reality as humans. The study was stopped before the two weeks, however it proved to be too late. A group of volunteers is divided into guardians and prisoners in a simulated jail. The guards slip into uniforms complete