During the experiment, the prisoners were sent back to their homes where they would wait. Police officers were sent to retrieve the inmates and bring them to the jail. Seeking the full treatment, the inmates were told to sanitize by rinsing themselves with a spray in case of lice or other germs. As the guards began the process, they were told to humilate the inmates by making them wear dresses such as these. Along with the dresses, they were given a chain to wear around their right ankle. They wore rubber shoes and nylon stockings over their hair. The chain represented the actually handcuffs they would wear. The stocking was to represent having a bald head and taking away their individuality. Not all of these things would happen in an actually prison, but the point was to show that real prisoners are humilated with the process they go through.
The quards were told to do what they thought guards did. When the prisoners began to rebel, the guards got more violent.Punishment could include: push-ups of any given number, solitary confindment (a small closet) humiliation from inmates, ext... 36 hours into the experiment, a prisoner was dignosed with acute emotional disturbance. He was removed from the experiment. By the sixth day, the experiment was ended. The prisoners were interviewed and all stated that they started losing their identies. In the end there were already 2 inmates who suffereed from emotional disturbances and guards that had a higher rate of temper.
The reason I found an interest in this article was because it has to deal with everything we've been learning during both this and the past week. This experiment wouldn't be an ethical experiment because it can cause both physical and emotional harm. Even though the prisoners were on a volunteer notice the experiment isn't completely ethical. This experiement also deals with cognitive, behavioral and learning persepectives.
That was a good experiment, although completely unethical. There is no way those inmates left the experiemnt in the same condition as when they arrived. I wonder who this would be useful to? I doubt people care that much about people that end up in prison to change their treatment.
ReplyDeleteI read a similar experiment, and it was in reference to the Nurmberg Trails and how people reacted with power, when they are told to humilate a human being.. It was very similar to this experiment the way it was set up, and I found it interesting how you can have to very similar experiments that are able to test two completely different things. (with history in mind)
ReplyDeleteI agree, this is a great example of an unethical experiment. Last year, my sociology class watched a movie on this, or a very similar experiment. We all began to feel sorry for the inmates, as if we could stop the experiment. I began to question why were we even watching this. Why were the guards acting the way they were? Why was this experiment being run? What did it even prove? All those questions led me to think; should there be laws against running unethical experiments?
ReplyDelete