the stanford prison experiment
in 1971, an experiment was done at stanford university. approximately 70 students volunteered. after a battery of psychological testing, 24 were selected to participate, based on their relatively "normal" test results.
of the 12 who were arbitrarily selected (by a simple coin toss) to become the prisoners, 9 were arrested and processed in true to life scenarios. pulled from their homes by palo alto police officers, handcuffed, read miranda rights, taken to the palo alto police station for fingerprinting and documentation in police cruisers, sirens screaming. neighbors watching. after officially being booked, the "prisoners" were left blindfolded in holding cells until they were transported to the jail.
the jail was constructed inside of stanford university, in a hallway. laboratory doors were replaced with bars. the hallway itself became their exercise yard; the only place where they were allowed to walk freely.
upon entering the prison, they were greeted by the warden and the seriousness of their crimes and their situation were reiterated.
the other 12 of those selected became the guards, 9 actively participating and 3 on call. the duty fell on the 9 to strip and search the prisoners. they deloused the prisoners, and issued them their new attire: a stocking cap to be worn at all times, a simple surgical scrub-like smock, and a chain locked around their right ankle. they became a number.
the guards themselves were attired in identical khaki shirts and pants, wearing mirrored aviator glasses. the each carried a whistle and a billy club borrowed from the palo alto police. a uniform. the guards were told they would be able to use any means necessary to ensure compliance, and they soon devised their own rules for the prisoners. push ups were used for punishment, with the guards often stepping on their back or making other prisoners sit on their backs.
over the course of the experiment, the prisoners staged a rebellion, barricading themselves in their cells by pushing the cots against the doors. the rebellion was quelled by guards wielding fire extinguishers, using bursts of carbon dioxide to force compliance. the rebellious prisoners were punished; stripped naked and forced into solitary confinement (a 2 ft wide closet just big enough for a person to stand in). the general amount of intimidation and harassment by the guards increased noticeably.
a 'privilege' cell was set up. the prisoners who were in the 'privilege' cell were allowed to wear clothes, were allowed to wash themselves, and allowed to eat. those who were not in this cell were allowed none of this. privilege and non-privilege prisoners were selected and interchanged by the guards at random. this brought about a general distrust, breaking any form of solidarity the prisoners had formed.
the intimidation and control by the guards increased to the point that a prisoner was not allowed to go to the bathroom without expressed permission, seemingly given on a whim by the guards. a bucket was left in the cells for them to use.
prisoner # 8612 began suffering from acute emotional disturbance; disorganized thinking along with uncontrollable crying and rage. the guards thought he was attempting to dupe them. the other prisoners belittled him, telling him he couldn't quit. the guards tempted him with the possibility of better treatment by becoming an informant. he was later released from the experiment after his
visitations were held, and the prison scrubbed from top to bottom. family members were allowed to see the prisoners. only 2 family members at a time for 10 minutes. as outsiders to the experiment, they were astoundingly compliant when asked to register, made to wait 30 minutes and were allowed to visit under surveillance of a prison guard.
rumor of a mass escape plot. supposedly, the prisoner released from the experiment was gathering a crew to come and free the remaining prisoners.
the prisoners were chained together, blindfolded and moved to another section of the building. the jail was temporarily dismantled. the plan was to wait for whoever it was that was attempting to free the prisoners, and tell them the experiment was over. this never happened, and the jail was reassembled and the prisoners returned to their cell.
after this, the intensity of harassment by the guards rose even more. prisoners were forced to clean toilets with their bare hands. the count of push ups and jumping jacks were raised to several hours.
a second prisoner broke into uncontrollable crying and hysterics. he was told to rest in an adjacent room, sans stocking cap and ankle chain. the other prisoners were forced to chant "prisoner 819 is a bad prisoner. because of what prisoner #819 did, my cell is a mess, mr correctional officer."
upon hearing this, prisoner 819 became even more hysterical, wanting to return to his cell and prove he was not a bad prisoner. even though he was physically ill, he wanted to return and prove he was not a bad prisoner. he was told that he was not prisoner #819, he was [his name] and this was not a prison this was only an experiment. he registered this information as someone waking from a dream. he left.
the remaining 7 prisoners were chained together and taken to a parole hearing. all of them were denied parole and returned to their cells.
the cruelty of the guards further increased. by this time of the study, the prisoners had become completely under their control. some even reacted to the guards orders with military precision.
a stand-in prisoner was called in. he rebelled against his harsh treatment by the guards by going on a hunger strike. he was subsequently put into solitary confinement for 3 hours, even though the guards had decided that 1 hour was the limit. the other prisoners regarded him as a trouble maker. given a choice between surrendering their blankets to the guards and freeing the prisoner from solitary confinement, or leaving him there and keeping their blankets, the original prisoners kept their blankets and the newest prisoner spent the night in solitary confinement (although the conductors intervened and returned the prisoner to his cell only a few hours later).
the parents of one of the prisoners contacted a lawyer to get their son out of prison. the lawyer came and interviewed them the next day with a standard set of legal questions. it was at this point that the conducting psychologists realized it was time to end the experiment. the situation they created became too intense, too consuming. the prisoners were becoming pathological, withdrawing into themselves. some of the guards were behaving in alarmingly sadistic ways, to the point where the "good" guards felt helpless in intervening on behalf of the prisoners.
the experiment was called off, 8 days short of its' planned time.
the experiment lasted only 6 days.
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