Do you think the Stanford Prison Experiment
was ethical? Why or why not?
This experiment is
fascinating because it shows how humans are creatures of social influence. The
layout of the experiment seemed relatively harmless, just like children dressing
up and acting the expected roles of parents, children, and pets while playing
house. However, the circumstances that developed were unethical because of the
prevalence of abuse. It was morally correct to stop the study, and it’s
interesting that the experiment stopped after six days when it was supposed to
run for two weeks. Judging by the videos, it seems the experiment should have ended
even sooner. It was disturbing to hear the prisoners repeatedly yelling, “Prisoner
819 did a bad thing.” A chant like that would be a brainwashing destruction to a
person’s self-worth. Additionally, it was disturbing to view how the prisoners
had to wear numbered outfits and chains. At first, it seemed like a harmless
costume, but it contributed to the destructive effect of the experiment and being
labeled by a number rather than a name is dehumanizing. Since the prison guard’s
eyes were not visible through their sunglasses, I found that this also
contributed to the lack of moral conscience and responsibility on their part.
I
was bothered by how quickly the people who were given the power to be the
prison guards quickly morphed into their authoritarian roles and took advantage
of their position by yelling, belittling, and demeaning. A man who was a guard
said he’d never yelled or felt so upset in his life and that it was an
experience of being out of control. It’s morally challenging to fathom why he chose
to become intoxicated with rage and power, but I imagine he was fulfilling what
he deemed his social obligations were as the role of a prison guard. We have
all had enough exposure to the media to know what prison is supposed to be like,
and these people manifested their expectations.
It
is interesting that Dr. Phillip Zimbardo wanted to study if people’s morals and
values could rise above a negative environment. I would have hoped that they
would, but when social pressures and power take over in an uncontained environment,
it is difficult or impossible to rise above the forceful oppression. It is
intriguing how Dr. Zimbardo describes the interplay of a person’s disposition,
the circumstances of a situation, and the cultural, political, economic, etc.
dynamics. It is also intriguing that Dr. Zimbardo has coined a term, The
Lucifer effect, for this phenomena and how he seeks to explain that anyone can
be “kind or cruel, caring or indifferent, creative or destructive, and a villain
or hero.”Sadly, his research is also supported through the occurrences at Abu Ghraib.
