The Stanford Prison Experiment was political activism, not actual research.

[RandomPoster]

It was conducted by an advocate of prison reform and rigged to show what the political activist posing as a researcher wanted to show. The public latched onto it immediately as it fit into a very popular belief that prisoners are unfairly treated. It also tied into a narrative that view people as largely victims of circumstance, rather that responsible for their own actions.

Will the Stanford Prison Experiment Ever Die?

The Lifespan of a Lie

The second article tells how the person running the experiment denies that prisoners were not allowed to leave and then changes his story when an audio tape is played of him stating that he denied one of them a chance to leave. He then claims that there was a specific phrase in the contract of "I quit the experiment." and the participants only stated they wanted to leave and did not word it exactly right. The contact has been obtained and there is no mention of any specific phrase.

 

[shockedcanadian]

It was conducted by an advocate of prison reform and rigged to show what the political activist posing as a researcher wanted to show. The public latched onto it immediately as it fit into a very popular belief that prisoners are unfairly treated. It also tied into a narrative that view people as largely victims of circumstance, rather that responsible for their own actions.

Will the Stanford Prison Experiment Ever Die?

The Lifespan of a Lie

The second article tells how the person running the experiment denies that prisoners were not allowed to leave and then changes his story when an audio tape is played of him stating that he denied one of them a chance to leave. He then claims that there was a specific phrase in the contract of "I quit the experiment." and the participants only stated they wanted to leave and did not word it exactly right. The contact has been obtained and there is no mention of any specific phrase.

This was the Zimbardo experiment I believe? Saw it in my first couple of classes in university and it stuck with me.

Yes, it did have some underlying political viewpoints, though he did a reasonable job of trying to eliminate them. The key, is that people adapt to what they THINK they should be. Their general personality is compromised. If it was't for the one prisoner going insane, the study would have continued.


I won't even forget the confrontation during the debrief between the toughest guard and the one prisoner who was fairly meek. When he asked him, "how would you have ensured order", and he replied (paraphrase), I wouldn't have been an creative as you". Taking a shot at his seeming enjoyment of the power he wielded with little concern for the impact on the prisoner.

 

[RandomPoster]

It was conducted by an advocate of prison reform and rigged to show what the political activist posing as a researcher wanted to show. The public latched onto it immediately as it fit into a very popular belief that prisoners are unfairly treated. It also tied into a narrative that view people as largely victims of circumstance, rather that responsible for their own actions.

Will the Stanford Prison Experiment Ever Die?

The Lifespan of a Lie

The second article tells how the person running the experiment denies that prisoners were not allowed to leave and then changes his story when an audio tape is played of him stating that he denied one of them a chance to leave. He then claims that there was a specific phrase in the contract of "I quit the experiment." and the participants only stated they wanted to leave and did not word it exactly right. The contact has been obtained and there is no mention of any specific phrase.

This was the Zimbardo experiment I believe? Saw it in my first couple of classes in university and it stuck with me.

Yes, it did have some underlying political viewpoints, though he did a reasonable job of trying to eliminate them. The key, is that people adapt to what they THINK they should be. Their general personality is compromised. If it was't for the one prisoner going insane, the study would have continued.


I won't even forget the confrontation during the debrief between the toughest guard and the one prisoner who was fairly meek. When he asked him, "how would you have ensured order", and he replied (paraphrase), I wouldn't have been an creative as you". Taking a shot at his seeming enjoyment of the power he wielded with little concern for the impact on the prisoner.

New Stanford Prison Experiment revelations question findings

"It was one of the most visceral moments from the experiment, and it was caught on audiotape, with Korpi screaming, “I'm so fucked-up inside. I feel really fucked-up inside. You don't know -- I gotta go, to a doctor. Anything! I mean, Jesus Christ, I’m burning up inside, don’t you know? I can't stay in there. I'm fucked-up! I don't know how to explain it. I'm all fucked-up inside! And I want out! And I want out now!”

Korpi now says his episode was less a psychotic break than a manipulation so he could go home and study.

“Anybody who is a clinician would know that I was faking,” he told author Ben Blum in a rare interview last year, part of a lengthy feature in the online publication Medium. Now a forensic psychologist in Oakland, Korpi characterized his outburst as “more hysterical than psychotic.”

Actually, he screamed not because of abusive guards but because he was worried about not getting access to textbooks during his “prison” stay so he could cram for the Graduate Record Examination.

Korpi said he took the $15-per-day job as a prisoner because he thought he’d have time “to sit around by myself and study for my GREs.” The prison study, scheduled to last two weeks, lasted only six days after Zimbardo’s girlfriend, Christina Maslach (now his wife of many years), persuaded him to shut it down.

But when Korpi, who was scheduled to take the GRE just after the study concluded, asked for his books, guards refused. After unsuccessfully faking a stomachache, he faked the breakdown.

The admission is similar to one he gave the Los Angeles Times in 2004, when he said, "Zimbardo thought I was losing it."

 

[shockedcanadian]

It was conducted by an advocate of prison reform and rigged to show what the political activist posing as a researcher wanted to show. The public latched onto it immediately as it fit into a very popular belief that prisoners are unfairly treated. It also tied into a narrative that view people as largely victims of circumstance, rather that responsible for their own actions.

Will the Stanford Prison Experiment Ever Die?

The Lifespan of a Lie

The second article tells how the person running the experiment denies that prisoners were not allowed to leave and then changes his story when an audio tape is played of him stating that he denied one of them a chance to leave. He then claims that there was a specific phrase in the contract of "I quit the experiment." and the participants only stated they wanted to leave and did not word it exactly right. The contact has been obtained and there is no mention of any specific phrase.

This was the Zimbardo experiment I believe? Saw it in my first couple of classes in university and it stuck with me.

Yes, it did have some underlying political viewpoints, though he did a reasonable job of trying to eliminate them. The key, is that people adapt to what they THINK they should be. Their general personality is compromised. If it was't for the one prisoner going insane, the study would have continued.


I won't even forget the confrontation during the debrief between the toughest guard and the one prisoner who was fairly meek. When he asked him, "how would you have ensured order", and he replied (paraphrase), I wouldn't have been an creative as you". Taking a shot at his seeming enjoyment of the power he wielded with little concern for the impact on the prisoner.

New Stanford Prison Experiment revelations question findings

"It was one of the most visceral moments from the experiment, and it was caught on audiotape, with Korpi screaming, “I'm so fucked-up inside. I feel really fucked-up inside. You don't know -- I gotta go, to a doctor. Anything! I mean, Jesus Christ, I’m burning up inside, don’t you know? I can't stay in there. I'm fucked-up! I don't know how to explain it. I'm all fucked-up inside! And I want out! And I want out now!”

Korpi now says his episode was less a psychotic break than a manipulation so he could go home and study.

“Anybody who is a clinician would know that I was faking,” he told author Ben Blum in a rare interview last year, part of a lengthy feature in the online publication Medium. Now a forensic psychologist in Oakland, Korpi characterized his outburst as “more hysterical than psychotic.”

Actually, he screamed not because of abusive guards but because he was worried about not getting access to textbooks during his “prison” stay so he could cram for the Graduate Record Examination.

Korpi said he took the $15-per-day job as a prisoner because he thought he’d have time “to sit around by myself and study for my GREs.” The prison study, scheduled to last two weeks, lasted only six days after Zimbardo’s girlfriend, Christina Maslach (now his wife of many years), persuaded him to shut it down.

But when Korpi, who was scheduled to take the GRE just after the study concluded, asked for his books, guards refused. After unsuccessfully faking a stomachache, he faked the breakdown.

The admission is similar to one he gave the Los Angeles Times in 2004, when he said, "Zimbardo thought I was losing it."

This revelation doesn't surprise me at all. He gave the impression of going insane, knowing they would have to halt the study. His performance probably made Zimbardo rich though. If all had gone easy, people would have shrugged their shoulders at this study. This was their big "dramatic moment". I do think, there was genuine unhappiness at the time though.

The broader application to me is power. Humans innate desire and abuse of power. I think every citizen should understand the premises of this study, and see it in action in the former East Germany.

I've experienced it in Canada It frightens me the lengths many will go for their own benefits. WHo they will subvert, how easily the accept facts without context and the full story. How creepy and sneaky people are for benefit.

What to me, was most surprising, was these were probably all upper middle class to well off students from such backgrounds. Imagine such people in a society such as East Germany, North Korea, China, the former Soviet Union and what they would do for power and benefit? Generally I would assume the weak, poor, those with low self esteem and cowardice would accept offers. You find all types of weakling do. A simple, quite imperfect experiment, but it does get to the heart of the issue.

As I've said, I would always consider doing my part against the power who abuse. So a foreign actor etc. If cops came to me and wanted my assistance to persecution someone to protect their own asses? I'd tell them "take them to court, this isn't my business". It's startling, how from Stasi guards to Canadian covert police, how few have the integrity to do the same.

 

[2aguy]

It was conducted by an advocate of prison reform and rigged to show what the political activist posing as a researcher wanted to show. The public latched onto it immediately as it fit into a very popular belief that prisoners are unfairly treated. It also tied into a narrative that view people as largely victims of circumstance, rather that responsible for their own actions.

Will the Stanford Prison Experiment Ever Die?

The Lifespan of a Lie

The second article tells how the person running the experiment denies that prisoners were not allowed to leave and then changes his story when an audio tape is played of him stating that he denied one of them a chance to leave. He then claims that there was a specific phrase in the contract of "I quit the experiment." and the participants only stated they wanted to leave and did not word it exactly right. The contact has been obtained and there is no mention of any specific phrase.

This thing was exposed as a joke a while back..... they interviewed the people involved and they stated they acted the parts, there was no violence....they were mostly college kids getting a pay check...

https://nypost.com/2018/06/14/famed-stanford-prison-experiment-was-a-fraud-scientist-says/

Blum’s expose — based on previously unpublished recordings of Zimbardo, a Stanford psychology professor, and interviews with the participants — offers evidence that the “guards” were coached to be cruel.

One of the men who acted as an inmate told Blum he enjoyed the experiment because he knew the guards couldn’t actually hurt him.

“There were no repercussions. We knew [the guards] couldn’t hurt us, they couldn’t hit us. They were white college kids just like us, so it was a very safe situation,” said Douglas Korpi, who was 22-years-old when he acted as an inmate in the study.

In a recorded clip of the experiment, Korpi was seen locked in a dark closet, naked under a thin white smock, screaming “I’m burning up inside!” and kicking furiously at the door.

But the Berkeley grad now admits the whole thing was fake.

“Anybody who is a clinician would know that I was faking,” he said. “If you listen to the tape, it’s not subtle. I’m not that good at acting. I mean, I think I do a fairly good job, but I’m more hysterical than psychotic.”
-----

One guards told Blum he pretended to be a sadist for kicks.

“I took it as a kind of improv exercise,” Dave Eshelman said. “I believed that I was doing what the researchers wanted me to do… I’d never been to the South but I used a southern accent.”

Zimbardo has admitted that he was an active participant in the study, meaning he had influence over the results. At one point, he handed the “guards” batons, which could have implied to them that using physical force was okay. Yet, he maintained that their behaviors arose organically.