Lucifer Effect: Philip G. Zimbardo

¶ … Lucifer Effect: Philip G. Zimbardo The review of Philip Zimbardo's the Lucifer Effect starts by briefly describing the psychological experiment that sparked Zimbardo's initial nterest in the underpinnings of evil. The Stanford Prison Experiment consisted of 24 students, half acting out the role of prison guard and the other half as prisoners. The experiment's incredulous outcome was devastating. Five 'prisoners' were discharged early on account of "extreme depression, disorganized thinking, uncontrollable crying and fits of rage." One even developed a psychosomatic rash after being rejected from his mock parole hearing.

This experiment shockingly demonstrated the power of situations and how xtreme situations can overpower personality traits, values, rationale, and common sense. years after Zimbardo conducted this experiment, he published a book that attempts the explain the psychology behind this effect. In the Lucifer Effect, Zimbardo applies the lessons learned from the Stanford Prison Experiment to disasters in our history. The disasters described are those in which typically good people succumbed to the psychological demands of evil situations and subsequently performed sadistic acts.

One of the most famous tragedies Zimbardo chronicles is the torture performed by U.S. Military personnel on Abu Ghraib prisoners. In his book he reveals that it is commonplace for humans to act badly in certain situations. However, to instill some hope in the reader, Zimbardo concludes his book with a demonstration of how the same psychological concepts that activate the "Lucifer Effect" can be redirected to cultivate goodness.

"Altruism, like evil, is readily responsive to situational forces." "Children in Low-Income, Urban Settings" While urbanization can provide some incredible opportunities for families and their children, it often times has repercussions on the mental health and well-being of children and teenagers. In order to understand the mental health challenges imposed on children growing up in poverty, psychologists propose two different, yet complimentary theoretical frameworks. The first is a Structural Model, emphasizing the structural differences inherent in dense populations.

Structural theorists attempt to link structural data with children's mental health and well-being. The other theoretical model typically used to describe urbanization is the Ecological Model. This model highlights how a variety of systems interact to influence children. The two authors of this article describe possible intervention strategies to improve the influence of urbanization on the mental health and well-being of children. Most of these interventions attempt to include community and family support. Benefits of this type of intervention include the increased availability of support for the children.

These support groups can work together, as well as independently, in order to keep children motivated to succeed. Many children in urbanization are unmotivated and susceptible to getting involved with negative groups.