Running head: STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT 1
Stanford Prison Experiment
Name
Affiliation
Date
, STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT 2
Introduction
The Stanford prison experiment (SPE) attempted to investigate the psychological impact of
perceived power and focused on the struggle between guards and prisoners (Haslam & Reicehr,
2012). The experiment was conducted in the psychology building basement at the Stanford
University between the 14th and 20th of August 1971. The research was led by Professor
Zimbardo and a team of researchers, and involved college students. The US Office of Naval
Research funded the study even as it investigated the cause and difficulties between prisoners
and guards in the US. Marine Corps and US Navy (Haslam et al., 2012). This paper will dissect
the study to establish its robustness, relevance, and the role it played in forming the basis of
future studies. A recommended hypothetical study will truncate the analysis.
Psychological Concept and Goals
Zimbardo and his team wanted to test the hypothesis that abusive behaviour is as a result
of inherent traits in prison guards. The researcher wanted to find out whether prison brutality
against prisoners was because of guards' sadistic personalities or was more attuned to the prison
environment, in other words, whether it is as a dispositional or situational nature(Haslam et al.,
2012). For example, guards and prisoners may possess personalities which predispose them to
being in conflict. In such a scenario, prisoners disregard the law while guards become aggressive
and domineering. Alternatively, guards may be hostile because of the prison social environments
that wield a rigid power. If the guards and prisoners behaved in a manner that is non-aggressive
it would support the dispositional hypothesis. Behaving in a way similar to how people do in
real prisons would support the situational hypothesis(Haslam et al., 2012).
Stanford Prison Experiment
Name
Affiliation
Date
, STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT 2
Introduction
The Stanford prison experiment (SPE) attempted to investigate the psychological impact of
perceived power and focused on the struggle between guards and prisoners (Haslam & Reicehr,
2012). The experiment was conducted in the psychology building basement at the Stanford
University between the 14th and 20th of August 1971. The research was led by Professor
Zimbardo and a team of researchers, and involved college students. The US Office of Naval
Research funded the study even as it investigated the cause and difficulties between prisoners
and guards in the US. Marine Corps and US Navy (Haslam et al., 2012). This paper will dissect
the study to establish its robustness, relevance, and the role it played in forming the basis of
future studies. A recommended hypothetical study will truncate the analysis.
Psychological Concept and Goals
Zimbardo and his team wanted to test the hypothesis that abusive behaviour is as a result
of inherent traits in prison guards. The researcher wanted to find out whether prison brutality
against prisoners was because of guards' sadistic personalities or was more attuned to the prison
environment, in other words, whether it is as a dispositional or situational nature(Haslam et al.,
2012). For example, guards and prisoners may possess personalities which predispose them to
being in conflict. In such a scenario, prisoners disregard the law while guards become aggressive
and domineering. Alternatively, guards may be hostile because of the prison social environments
that wield a rigid power. If the guards and prisoners behaved in a manner that is non-aggressive
it would support the dispositional hypothesis. Behaving in a way similar to how people do in
real prisons would support the situational hypothesis(Haslam et al., 2012).
