the social context
students acting like guards and prisoners
the Stanford prison experiment
The students acting as prisoners were showing signs of extreme distress.
the stanford prison experiment.
The Stanford prison experiment had been conducted from August 14 to August 20 and was a study of the psychological effects of becoming a prisoner or prison guard. 24 male students were selected with roles of prisoners and guards in a mock prison.
The Stanford Prison Experiment is one of the most famous experiments in psychology's history, conducted in 1971 by a team of researchers led by Stanford University psychology professor Philip Zimbardo. The experiment was a study of the psychological effects of becoming either a prisoner or prison guard. Randomly assigned roles of prisoners and guards were assigned to student volunteers in a mock prison situation. The participants adapted to their roles well beyond Zimbardo's expectations, as the guards enforced authoritarian measures and ultimately subjected some of the prisoners to psychological torture, while many of the prisoners passively accepted the abuse and, at the request of the guards, even harassed other prisoners. The experiment affected Zimbardo himself, who, in his role as the superintendent, permitted the abuse to continue. Two of the prisoners quit the experiment early and the entire experiment was abruptly stopped after only six days. The results of the experiment have been presented to illustrate the impressionability and obedience of people when placed within a situation of presumed institutional authority and socially legitimized stereotypes.
The guards in the book "Night" ordered the prisoners to strip naked, shave their heads, and undergo harsh living conditions in the concentration camps. They were subjected to forced labor, starvation, and brutal treatment by the guards.
dressed up as guards
In-group bias is when individuals favor people within their own group over those outside of it. Out-group homogeneity is the tendency to see members of out-groups as more similar or alike each other than members of in-groups. Out-group derogation involves holding negative views or attitudes towards members of an out-group. The Stanford prison experiment may have shown in-group bias through the guards displaying favoritism towards their fellow guards, while mistreating the prisoners. Out-group homogeneity may be demonstrated by the guards perceiving the prisoners as a monolithic group of disobedient or troublemaking individuals. Out-group derogation could be observed in the guards using dehumanizing tactics and derogatory language towards the prisoners based on their group membership.
The Stanford prison experiment demonstrated in-group bias by showing how participants assigned the role of guards quickly identified with their group and exhibited prejudice and discrimination towards the "prisoner" group. This bias led to dehumanization and mistreatment of the prisoners, showcasing the power of group dynamics in influencing behavior.
umm.. no one prisoners are being beaten because they did soemthing bad.l0l
Sentry boxes, or pigeon roosts, as the prisoners called them, stood at 30 yard intervals along the top of the stockade. From there the Sentries (guards) watched the prisoners.