This study shows how an institution, such as a prison, can encourage unsuitable behavior among inmates and guards. The United States Navy and Marine Corps had plans to use this and other research to increase their training to eliminate conditions that perpetuate this behavior in their own prisons. Basically, the hypothesis of this study was to understand how prisoners responded to antagonistic behavior by becoming passive, chiefly, just another faceless inmate which only increased the aggressiveness of the guards toward them (Stanford Prison Experiment, 1973).
Would you believe that seventy-five people actually volunteered for this experiment? Out of this group, twenty-four subjects were selected; basically, they …show more content…
Each shift a guard would be in charge of the count, notably to verify the presence of all inmates and secondly to question them on their knowledge of the guidelines (Stanford Prison Experiment, 1973).
Methods
Methods used to measure this experiment were transactions among the participants, under those circumstances, all interaction was recorded by cameras and microphones set up in the “prison” area, furthermore, qualitative methods such as questionnaires given to all subjects and the guard’s daily shift reports were also used to collect data (Stanford Prison Experiment, 1973).
Major Conclusions
Without a doubt the results from the study show guards that developed the desire for power along with becoming verbally abusive to the inmates (as physical abuse was not allowed) triggering the inmates to become submissive and crave approval. Overall the inmates were suffering from depression and anxiety due to the isolation and verbal abuse they were subjected to. Not surprisingly this is apparent with the participants that left the experiment before the completion, significantly all inmates (Stanford Prison Experiment, …show more content…
I also think that by becoming a part of a larger group you lose your personal identity along with the ability to process emotions clearly which can result in becoming desensitized to a behavior you normally find apprehensible. A study of this nature would not be approved today, because of the disparity among participants, along with the mental health risks