About a month ago, we watched a video about human behavior experiments. In the video, there was a segment about the Stanford Prison Experiment, in which a group of people was split into two groups, guards, and prisoners. The prisoners were put in cells, and the guards were put in charge, however, they were not given any specific instruction. The guards were unsure of their role at first, but once one person began abusing the “prisoners”, the other guards joined in. The abuse was mental, physical, and even turned sexual. After a couple days, some prisoners started having mental breakdowns and demanded that they left the experiment. After about a week, the experiment was shut down due to its cruel results. While the results were negative, they were still very interesting. The experiment shows the effects that the power of authority and diffusion of responsibility have on people. The combination of the guards’ “power” and the fact that it was only an experiment led to inhumane actions that people would not normally participate in. While I personally believe I would not do these things because I have high moral and ethical standards, I know that I can not guarantee that. It is clear from the many examples in the video that if put in certain situations, it’s very possible for people to do things that they would normally not even consider. What are your thoughts on the Stanford Prison Experiment and how do you think you would have responded if put in this experiment?
I think this could compare to the foot in the door phenomenon. They told us that the first day, nobody was really taking their role seriously. But the guards did feel a sense of entitlement to power and when they weren't receiving it they grew frustrated. I think that is a very relatable predicament. They didn't start off with cruel punishments but they ramped them up. And eventually they reached a point where they couldn't turn back
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