PrisonerGuard Experiment

1
Prisoner-Guard Experiment

• Stanford University
• Summer 1971

What happens when you put good people in an evil
place? Does humanity win over evil, or does evil
triumph? Philip Zimbardo
2
Philip Zimbardo1933-present

• Educated _at_ Yale University
• Professor _at_ Stanford University
• APA President
• The Shyness Clinic

3
Procedure

• Funded by U.S. Navy
• 24 subjects chosen
• 12 prisoners and 12 guards

4
The Prison

• Consulted former prisoner
• Intercom system installed
• No clocks or windows

5
The Arrests

• Police cars arrested subjects
• Subjects fingerprinted and blindfolded

6
Humiliation

• Searched
• Stripped naked
• Deloused

7
Prisoners

• Given uniforms
• Given ID numbers
• Chain around ankle
• Rubber sandals
• Stocking cap

8
Guards

• Given no instructions
• Khaki uniforms
• Sunglasses
• Wooden batons
• Whistles

9
Out of Control?
10
Prisoners Rebellion

• Took off their stocking caps
• Ripped off ID numbers
• Barricaded the door
• Cursed _at_ guards

11
Guards Response

• Night shift guards stayed on
• On-call guards brought in

12
Guards Response

• Broke into cells
• Prisoners stripped naked
• Beds taken out
• Solitary confinement

13
Guards Make Changes

• Use psychological tactics
• Privilege cells
• Conditions worsen

14
Prisoner 8612

• Emotionally disturbed
• Offered to be an informant
• You cant leave. You cant quit.

15
Visiting Hour

• Afraid that their parents would take them away,
  the researchers made every effort to turn the
  prison into a pleasant space

16
Appeals
When one mother told me she had never seen her
son looking so bad, I responded by shifting the
blame from the situation to her son. "What's the
matter with your boy? Doesn't he sleep well?"
Then I asked the father, "Don't you think your
boy can handle this?" He bristled, "Of course he
can -- he's a real tough kid, a leader." Turning
to the mother, he said, "Come on Honey, we've
wasted enough time already." And to me, "See you
again at the next visiting time."
17
Rumors of a Mass Escape Plot

• Remember Prisoner 8612?...

18
Plan A

• After our meeting, we decided to put an
  informant (an experimental confederate) in the
  cell that 8612 had occupied. The job of our
  informant would be to give us information about
  the escape plot. Then I went back to the Palo
  Alto Police Department and asked the sergeant if
  we could have our prisoners transferred to their
  old jail. My request was turned down because
  the Police Department would not be covered by
  insurance if we moved our prisoners into their
  jail. I left angry and disgusted at this lack of
  cooperation between our correctional facilities
  (I was now totally into my role).
• -Philip Zimbardo

19
Plan B

• Then we formulated a second plan. The plan was
  to dismantle our jail after the visitors left,
  call in more guards, chain the prisoners
  together, put bags over their heads, and
  transport them to a fifth floor storage room
  until after the anticipated break in. When the
  conspirators came, I would be sitting there
  alone. I would tell them that the experiment was
  over and we had sent all of their friends home,
  that there was nothing left to liberate. After
  they left, we'd bring our prisoners back and
  redouble the security of our prison. We even
  thought of luring 8612 back on some pretext and
  then imprisoning him again because he was
  released on false pretenses.
• -Philip Zimbardo

20
False Alarm

• The security of my men and the stability of my
  prison was at stake, and now, I had to deal with
  this bleeding-heart, liberal, academic, effete
  dingdong who was concerned about the independent
  variable!

21
Payback

• Angry over the energy spent on preventing the
  rumored escape, the guards make life unbearable
  for the prisoners

22
Whats Real?

• A visit from a Catholic priest blurs the line
  between role-play and reality

23
Prisoner 819

• "Listen, you are not 819. You are his name,
  and my name is Dr. Zimbardo. I am a psychologist,
  not a prison superintendent, and this is not a
  real prison. This is just an experiment, and
  those are students, not prisoners, just like you.
  Let's go." He stopped crying suddenly, looked up
  at me like a small child awakened from a
  nightmare, and replied, "Okay, let's go."

24
The Parole Board

• When asked to forfeit the theyd earn up to
  that point in exchange for parole, most said yes
• Why didnt they just simply quit the experiment?

25
How Did the Prisoners Cope?

• Fought or rebelled
• Broke down emotionally
• Obeyed guards

26
Prisoner 416

• Protested w/ hunger strike
• Prisoners given choice
• Give up your blanket and get him out of solitary
  confinement
• Keep him in solitary confinement

27
Ending the Experiment

• Abuse of prisoners was getting out of hand
• "It's terrible what you are doing to these boys!"
  
• 2-week planned prison simulation ended on the 6th
  day