Zimbardo Experiment and Its Results. The Zimbardo

¶ … Zimbardo experiment and its results.

The Zimbardo Experiment was one of the most insightful psychological experiments related to prison and correctional culture. It helped to elucidate various mechanism of power and the manipulation of power that are at work within prisons. It helps to explain instances of brutality and debauchery that oftentimes are found within correctional facilities. The results of this experiment were so shocking, convincing and deplorable that the man who conceived of it terminated it six days prior to its purported finish date. This experiment roundly reinforces the adage that power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

The premise for Professor Phillips' Zimbardo Experiment was relatively simple: he would get college students from around the Stanford area to impersonate security guards while simultaneously recruiting similar college students to act like inmates. It is important to emphasize the non-partisan nature of these students. They were selected fairly randomly and assigned to either group with no particular order or design in mind. For all intents and purposes, they were just regular, ordinary people. The only difference between them was that those in the prisoner roles would be subjected to the authority of those in the roles of the guards. This one key distinction, however, would prove to be enough to induce a disturbing pattern of behavior in which the guards would come to wantonly abuse their authority.

Essentially, Zimbardo's experiment would allude to the demeaning nature of the prison system -- which became as negative for the guards as it did for the prisoners. Largely due to the life-like replications of the prison environments which the professor was able to duplicate, those in the roles of guards quickly immersed themselves in such roles, while those in the roles of prisoners swiftly did the same. As such, the guards were prone to instances of impatience and intolerance of anything but complete and immediate acquiescence on the part of their prisoners. The prisoners, for their part, became used to such harsh treatment, and evinced signs of submission that are difficult to duplicate in any other environment outside of that pertaining to correctional facilities. After a few days, these men were no longer college students partaking in an experiment. They were guards and prisoners; the former used to having their way with the latter, and the latter readily tolerant of such abuse.