All language subtitles for [English (auto-generated)] Zimbardo Stanford Prison Experiment 1 1 [DownSub.com]

[Music]

okay this is it right down here yeah

it's right down the hallway here yeah

this is where it all happened in the

summer of 1971 write down this Carta and

the based on the psychology department

is where we converted these offices and

storage rooms to prison cells and we had

students like yourself college students

role of the country play the role to be

the prisoners or guards

this was the yard the prison yard here

in this closet was solitary confinement

the infamous hole where the guards put

prisoners for punishment

that part was screened off and they were

the hidden camera that we recorded

everything that happened exactly where

the video crew is now here's one of the

rooms that was a cell in fact I have a

box of old stuff from the effeminate

like you don't see here's the box with

her old memorabilia from our study the

sign this is one of the prisoners

uniform trista prison 8 1 9 you can see

it's really address here the chains that

the guards gave made the prisoners we're

to remind them of their status military

unit any uniforms the guards wore their

billy club symbols of power and

authority and you can see over in the

wall one of the prisoners itched days of

the week

to mark the passage of time starting on

Sunday Monday through the rest of the

week how long did you study last well

we're going to run it for two weeks we

had to end it after only six days what

was that Prisoner 8 1 9 in a bad day

prisoner 8 1 9 in a bed

day prisoner 819 did a bad thing

[Music]

our goal back in 1971

was to study the behavioral and

psychological consequences of becoming a

prisoner or prison guard to do this we

decided to simulate a prison environment

both physically and mentally and then

observe the effects of this institution

on all those within its walls we use the

basement of the psychology building to

stage our little drama scheduled to run

for two weeks a current of small offices

was converted into a functional prison

environment it was complete with three

cells there was a guards room the

warden's office my superintendent's

office and a closet used if necessary

for solitary confinement we recruited

the help of some prison experts to

assist us with our prison design and

construction foremost among them was

carlo prescott an ex-convict recently

released from serving 17 years behind

bars in San Quentin and Soledad prisons

we placed an ad in the city newspaper

asking for participants for an

experiment studying the psychological

effects of prison life they would be

paid $15 a day over 70 people applied

they were given diagnostic interviews

and psychological tests to weed out all

those with any signs of psychological

abnormality medical disabilities or

history of crime or drug use 24 were

selected they were all healthy normal

intelligent middle class males from

colleges throughout the United States

and with a flip of the coin each was

randomly assigned to play the role of

prisoner or guard it was only by chance

that someone was chosen as prisoner or

guard now it is important to remember

that at the start of this experiment

there were no psychological differences

between those students assigned the

prisoner role and those assigned to be

guards an undergraduate student david

jaffe took on the role of prison warden

I acted as the prison superintendent

while psychology graduate student Craig

Haney and Curt banks handled a variety

of prison staff responsibilities I

remember the students selected to be

guards on the day before the experiment

was to begin I had to explain to the

guards that they could not in any way

hit the

this but they could create in the

prisoners feelings of boredom a sense of

frustration frustration fear the summary

can create notion arbitrariness that

their life is totally controlled by us

by the system you need jamming and

they'll have no privacy at all as their

cells never seek receiving the rooms and

bars on them that the be constant

surveillance nothing that you will go on

sir they have no finger of action they

can do nothing or saying say something

that we don't fit but take away their

individuality various ways in general

what world is sleep stood is a sense of

powerlessness that is we have total

power in the situation and they have

done so what's going to happen tomorrow

is we don't with students to wait in

their houses or rooms rather living

squad cars not pulled up somebody to

police are going to come out at SDI

today is again that you can suspect of

the crime of the no go just leave the

babies in the car take them down to the

police station taking the security

underground entrance detain finger pinch

of Bochum blindfold them and curtain

friends and pick them up facility blind

ball they will notice a

moving out and bring them down here take

blindfold off and they'll be in prison

I'm going to take their clothes off it

allows them with the powder spray put on

the uniform we have something thinking

uniform something which is just going to

be like long smocks with numbers on and

they'll have rubber rubber shower shoes

Nestle don't impose anything and they're

going to wear a chain on one leg which

is just a symbolic thing of loss of

freedom so please have agreed to do this

I'm stepping down and double check

give them the remains and so forth this

being on my campus security

[Applause]

[Music]

[Music]

[Music]

police car pulls up in front and a cop

comes to the front door knocks and says

he's looking for me so they right there

that you know they took me off the door

they put my hands against the car

there's a real cop car was a real

policeman and there were real neighbors

in the street who didn't know that I was

that this was a experiment and there was

cameras all around and neighbors all

around it they put me in the car then

they drove me around Palo Alto they took

me to the to the police station the

basement of the police station

then they put me in a cell I was the

first one to be picked up so they put me

in a cell which is just like a room with

a door with bars on it you could tell it

wasn't a real jail

they locked me in there in this

degrading little outfit they were taking

this experiment too seriously well when

I first got here even though there is a

mic I had to strip and go through the

process and they would call me names and

made me look in the mirror and see how

ridiculous I wasn't if I still didn't

feel it all I hear from the president

was just looking at it as a job and I

was told not to talk say anything as

placed in the cell and there was another

prisoner in there but still I look at it

the job the whole first day here it is

time for town at 2:30 a.m. the prisoners

were rudely awakened from the asleep by

the night guard shift for the account

the guards were told to routinely

perform counts to familiarize the

prisoners with their numbers and

determined that they were all present

and accounted for but more important it

provided a regular occasion for the

guards to interact with and exercise

control over the prisoners there were

several counts every day a night as you

can see in this first count the prisons

will not get into their roles they

weren't taking it too seriously we're

still trying to assert their

independence

the guards were also having some trouble

with filling out their new roles trying

to assert some authority over their

prisoners

[Applause]

well the first first day I was on the

job I and there was going to be tough

because I from what we were supposed to

do they're supposed to try to make

prisoners lose a sense of identity and I

really do think I was funded for doing

so the first day I was I just sort of oh

gosh they was on my ship really because

the first day pass without incident we

were surprised and totally unprepared

for the rebellion which broke out on the

morning of the second day when waking

the prisons for the ten o'clock count

the morning guard shift found that the

prisoners in cell number one had removed

their stocking caps ripped off their

numbers and barricaded themselves inside

the cells by putting their beds against

the door

prisons began to taunt and curse the

guards to their face this of course

embarrassed and upset the guards the

morning shift immediately called in

reinforcements they asked the night

shift to stay on and they called up

three other standby guards to help put

down the rebellion in retell one of the

ringleaders of the rebellion prison

eight six one two protested loudly

[Music]

[Applause]

[Applause]

the guards threw him into the hole the

other leader of the rebellion prison of

five 704 had his feet chained together

by the guards rebellion was temporarily

crushed but a new problem faced the

guards they realized that nine guards

could of course control nine prisoners

but how could a regular shift of only

three of them maintain control over the

prisons without using physical force one

of the guards came up with the idea of

using psychological tactics instead of

physical words the guards set up a

privileged cell and prisoners who were

least involved with the rebellion were

put in there and given special

privileges they got the uniforms back

they were allowed to wash themselves and

brush their teeth the others were not

beds were returned to the privileged

cell prison is in the privileged cell

were offered a special meal while the

others were only allowed to watch yet

the privileged prisoners refused to eat

the special meal showing their

solidarity with the punished prisoners

Prison 1037 refused to come out of the

hole until all the beds had been

returned the prisoners seemed to be

winning

the guard took measures to increase

their control over the prisoners making

him do push-ups sit-ups and jumping

jacks to punish them

the guards began to implement more strip

searches every aspect of her prisons

behavior felling the total arbitrary

control of the guards or on any given

shift prisons had been rewarded we're

now punished by the guards for no reason

going to the toilet became a privilege

that a guard could grant or deny and

after the 10 p.m. raka the prisoners had

to urinate and defecate in a bucket

which was left in their cells and on

occasion the guard would refused to let

the prisons empty that bucket until

morning and the cells began to smell the

harassment by the guards and the

worsening of prison conditions got to

prison 861 to the rebellion leader he

decided he had enough he wanted out so

he started complaining of headaches and

stomach pains 8 6 1 2 was interviewed by

the staff the ward was unsympathetic our

ex-convict prison consultant Carla

Prescott ridiculed him as a white boy

unable to cope with minimal prison

hardships and I as the superintendent

offered him a deal no more guard

harassment of him in return for some

information from time to time in short I

asked him to be a snitch I told him

think it over and let me know your

decision

later that night confused 861 to return

to the yard during the evening count and

told the other prisoners that no one

could get out 8 1 2 against the wall

against the wall ISA cocktail somebody

help me we got the key to NGOs

five

get out I've got all cockney doctors

fire against the wall

[Music]

obviously this news coming from one of

their respected leaders had a dramatic

impact on the other prisoners he said

you can't get out and then you really

felt like you were a prisoner you may be

as important experiment and maybe you

would get paid for it but David you were

a prisoner

they usually a prisoner I was told that

I couldn't quit and at that point I felt

that well it was really a prison and at

that point I don't know I just there's

no way I can describe knowledge but what

just felt totally hopeless more hopeless

and I never felt before

there were no more signs of rebellion in

the prison but prison eight six one two

couldn't believe that he had lost all

control over his situation his confusion

amplified the frustration and feelings

of helplessness that he was experiencing

eighty six one two decided that the only

way to get out was to show everyone he

had gone crazy then they would have to

release him he began to play the role of

the crazy person but soon the role

became too real as he went into an

uncontrollable rage no I gotta go doctor

anything I mean Jesus Christ I'm burning

up inside don't you know I can't see now

I [ __ ] up I don't know how to stay

home [ __ ] up inside

less than 36 hours into the experiment

we had no choice but to release prisoner

8612 is a-- ting de we were worried that

once the parents saw the condition of

our jail they would want to take their

sons home we decided to manipulate both

the prisoners and the visitors to

preserve our institution first we clean

the prison and groom the prisoners the

guards took down the sign over the whole

bed the prison is a hot meal and warned

them not to complain or the visiting

hour would be cut short when the

visitors arrived they were first greeted

by an attractive receptionist Suzie

fillers music was piped in over the

intercom system the visitors were made

to register and then to wait half an

hour while their sons were finishing a

late dinner with some extra dessert we

wanted to undercut any complaints the

prisons would make by having the

situation be so obviously pleasant and

benign also we wanted the parents to

atribute some unexpected inconveniences

to the sons neglect in writing to them

about a number of visiting rules and

regulations visits were monitored by a

guard limited to only two visitors per

prisoner and to only ten minutes total

of course these adults complained about

such arbitrary rules but since they obey

despite their dissent the institution

had retained its authority in this

situation this is left in distressed

sons in our jail content that we were

doing a good job in running the

simulated Prison Experiment visiting our

went off without a hitch the hitch came

after the visit when the parents had

left the guards had picked up a rumor

that the prisons were planning an escape

according to the rumor

prison 861 to whom we had released the

day before was going to return with a

bunch of his friends and force the

release of the other prisoners next we

decided to dismantle the prison and move

all the prisons up to a remote storage

room on the top floor extra guards were

called in to help clean it out and

transport the inmates and bolster

security

the plan was for me to be waiting in the

basement in the empty Carta when 86 1/2

returned with his friends I would tell

him that we decided to end the

experiment early and that everyone had

gone home after they left we would

rebuild the prison we even discussed

learning eight six one two back and then

imprisoning him because he had been

paroled on the false pretenses

the confrontation never came off no one

ever showed the guards had wasted the

whole day tearing down and then

rebuilding their prison and even miss

lunch someone was going to pay for all

this

now

the guards again escalated very

noticeably their level of harassment of

the prisoners and increased the

humiliation that they made the prisoners

suffer push-ups increase the number and

severity the counts became grueling

ordeals lasting for several hours they

made the prisoners clean out toilet

bowls with their bare hands and polished

the guards shoes the results they had

for them and any respect that might have

been present I could I just shut out

then I began to even as clearly as

possible and partially as possible and

by by the third day I had done such a

good job convincing myself where I was I

was acting like I I treated the

prisoners like they were a distinct

inferior order myself prisoner 8 1 9 was

our next problem he refused to take part

of the 6 a.m. count and to do any

exercises then he messed up his cell and

barricaded himself in in retaliation the

guards made his cellmates do mindless

work of moving boxes back and forth

you're not getting a cigarette yeah

eight one nine was put in the hole just

then we were visited by a Catholic

priest who had been a real prison

chaplain he had agreed to come down to

assess the reality of our situation

compared to those he had known the

prisoners were invited to talk with him

and only eight one nine refused some

surprising things happened when

introducing themselves half of the

prisons used their number not their name

when asked why they were in jail most

answered what the charge told to them by

the Palo Alto Police the priest asked

them what action they were taking to get

out of jail while they were waiting

trial the prisoners really got confused

he chided them for not knowing their

civil liberties and for not getting a

lawyer to bail them out he followed

through with his role as prison chaplain

by calling some parents to get a public

defender for their imprisoned son's

prison

81:9 finally agreed to meet with the

priest as soon as he was taken out of

the hole and he started talking with the

priest eight one nine broke down crying

I tried to calm him down and took him to

a special rest and recreation room down

the hall after a good meal he could

leave if he wanted to the priest told me

that 8 1 9 and our other prisoners were

acting just like first-timers were

confused frightened and emotional before

they got hardened by the prison system

our Jail seemed very real to him

meanwhile the guards were assembling

their prisoners for the 11:30 count one

night did a bad day prisoner ate 192 bad

day prisoner 8 1 9

as soon as I realized that 81:9 could

hear this I rushed the room where I had

left him and what I found was a boy

crying hysterically while in the

background his fellow prisons were

chanting and yelling that he is a bad

prisoner and that they were being

punished because of him because r81 I

did myself that no longer was this

account disorganized and full of fun as

was on the first day of the experiment

now the count was Mark fights conformity

compliance and absolute unison It was as

if one voice called out that eight one

nine is bad I tried to console Prison 8

1 9 by offering to let him go but he

insisted on staying he told me that he

couldn't leave knowing that the other

prisoners thought he was a bad prisoner

I managed to get through to him by

reminding him who he really was

and what this place really was and who I

really was as that other reality broke

through he agreed to be released from

his imprisonment and quit the experiment

to replace Prison 8 1 9 we brought in a

new prisoner from the standby list

prisoner 4 1 6 like the others he was

stripped deloused and placed in the

prison environment we wondered what

effect would this newcomer have on her

old-timers I've been through so much now

would this all look to him the madness

of this place which had evolved

gradually for the other prisoners was

for him full-blown upon arrival if he

rebelled against the guards Authority

with the others follow this new leader

or not prisoner for 1/6 began his revolt

by refusing to eat he went on a hunger

strike amazingly the prisoners was so

divided among themselves that instead of

rallying around for 1/6 they refused to

join him to them he was just a

troublemaker the guards used this lack

of solidary displayed by the other

prisoners to try to break and control

prison of 4:1 six ironically they began

by making him sing amazing grace while

you

[Music]

[Music]

yeah everybody over down Oh stay down

there by this stage in the experiment

the prisons had displayed three ways to

cope with their feelings of frustration

absolute powerlessness and the growing

sense of helplessness and despair at

first most prisons fought and rebelled

against the guards by now four of them

had reacted passively by breaking down

emotionally forcing us to release them

and still others had reacted by becoming

modeled prisoners

one such president 209 3 was nicknamed

Sarge by the other prisoners because of

the way he followed the guards orders so

readily it was also apparent that there

were three types of guards the good

guards who felt sorry and did little

favors for the prisoners tough but fair

guards who followed the rules and the

sadistic guards who constantly degraded

and humiliated the prisoners as a group

the guards now had total control of the

prison except for prison of four one six

they had the obedience of every prisoner

they could literally dictate whatever

behavior they wanted from them

the guards tested their control over the

prisoners by making him write letter

home

No

[Music]

[Music]

you're afraid you are normally again

again let's your nearest early you're

truly you're a lobby son but the name is

your mother gave you at dinner

prison of four one six refused to eat

his sausages left over from lunch

what sixteen is um there's a prisoner

who was extremely dazed at first and

upset and found that to his surprise he

couldn't respect himself unless he found

means to resist and means that were

uniquely his own means the heat that

were best adapted to him and for sixteen

dispenses means and for sixteen it means

something to me now as a note the number

is a source of pride like a maze it's

this important to me that I'm 460 doing

that problem

he was thrown into the hole in order to

hold the sausages in his hands the

guards threatened to cancel Thursday's

visiting hours for all prisoners if four

one six did not eat his sausages four

one six refused again the guards then

channeled the frustration of the other

prisoners by having them express their

anger directly at four one six who was

in the hole thank you for one sec okay

Shawn I thank you for what sit

[Music]

oh yeah you do stay away - thank you for

one thing

okay the guards for one six represented

disobedience he was the solitary threat

to their total power he was taken out of

the hole for the next count the count

was run almost single-handedly by one

guard the prisoners named him John Wayne

because of his macho guard performance

and tough-guy attitude he used every

tactic he could think of public

humiliation homophobia whatever to

dominate the prisoners watch you play

Frankenstein - nine three Yahoo you ride

Frankenstein you're staying here you go

over there you should actor that you be

the Bride of Frankenstein then you'll be

trying Stan I want you to walk over to

you like Frankenstein and say that you

love - Man three great save one walk

like Frankenstein yeah that you can walk

like you

- yeah boss get up cause I love you

Audrey I love each other here's my day

13 battalion two temperature two three

four five even Sarge the obedient

prisoner was abused

I don't know

why would you try to do B so much

it's my nature to be obedient

you speaking

few days of

I hope you get down

[Music]

I'm angry

not one of the prisoners protested the

harshness and cruelty of the count

before lights-out four one six was again

put in the hole because he refused to

eat his sausages now filthy from being

thrown all over the floor John Wayne

made a final attempt to get four one six

to submit by setting the other prisoners

against him he gave the prisoners a

choice I think what you wanna do

now in four one six does not want to eat

your sausages then you can give me the

Vegas and sleep on the bed madness

or you can keep your blanket and for o16

will stay in another day now what would

it be what would it be over here

how about five or six where are you boys

got becomes some kind of decision here

let me go ahead with you I we got three

in favor Kiki look like we got three

against one

keep your backups for one six you're

gonna be in there for a while so just

get used to it I was watching all this

on the television monitor in my office

with one of my graduate students I was

amazed that the guard would keep that

boy in solitary all night as punishment

for not eating cold dirty sausages I was

amazed at the prisoners would keep their

blankets instead of letting for one six

out of the whole this was a true prison

they're frustrated guards acted

sadistically against prisoners like 401

six would not submit to their control

and would demoralize prisoners acted

selfishly and shamefully I told her that

I was really impressed with what we had

accomplished in less than a week she

looked at me and said I think what you

were doing to those boys is horrible and

she was right I had to end the

experiment because that's what it was an

experiment not a prison these were real

boys who were really suffering and that

fact had escaped me I and everyone else

around me except for that graduate

student had gotten so far into their

prison roles prisoner guards

superintendent whatever it was hard to

separate reality from the simulation it

just didn't occur to me until she spoke

out that I as a psychologist as a human

being had to do something about that

suffering

I had to end the experiment but it's

important that we look back at what

happened during the six days of our

prison study because there were many

people other than psychologists who

accepted our prison as a prison instead

of as a psychology experiment and their

actions or lack of actions added to the

reality of our simulation first they

were the parents who accepted our

arbitrary rules visiting day they too

became drawn into our prison society

they're working within our prison system

to try and better their son's condition

but even though some of the prisoners

told their parents that this was the

worst thing that ever happened to them

the parents accepted the perspective the

prison authorities had created and they

rejected that of their sons the power of

the situation was stronger than the

individual and what about the priest who

came to visit the prison he didn't

question the ethics of the experiment as

he should have he ended up giving the

boys legal counsel instead of spiritual

counsel so he made the line between

reality and illusion even more obscure

after the priest left he calls some

parents who in turn called a public

defender to come to the prison the

public defender watched as one by one

the boys were brought in handcuffed

wearing bags over their heads to discuss

their individual cases he was only

concerned with informing the prisons of

their rights as prisoners not

acknowledging that they were in fact

college students locked up for week in

the basement of the psychology building

on day five the prisons were brought in

front of the parole board consisting of

psychology graduate students secretaries

and others the head of the parole board

was called Prescott our prison

consultant what was really interesting

was that Carlo was finally sitting on

the other side of the parole proceedings

and like all the others who had

participated in our study he took on a

role or rather the role took over him he

became the same kind of parole officer

who had rejected his parole request year

after year when he was doing time what

I'm trying to say is that you went

outside of Georgia a little time to

think now you're back in here for any

kind of

different a different view but what real

social consciousness do you have what do

you really think you also say I'd like

to hear something really you well I've

got a valid job won't even that make you

a good citizen everyone case him job if

a good job I did worthwhile job that may

even make you most respect I don't think

I'd know if you're teaching in Miami it

was only afterwards that he realized

that he was using the same rationale

against them the students that his

parole officers had used against him to

eject his parole requests I've got a

member to go without me here and I don't

let my sentence is so the only hope I

have is to just wait it out and try and

look at as pleasantly as I can I'm

saying something if you're acting in a

way that you you've expressed yourself

in this particular or with me if we were

going to definitely make recommendations

you know I would see two unfortunate you

were here into the last day firstly so

we had to stop the experiment after only

six days the prisons and guards were

then debriefed and they all vented their

feelings and then we got together a few

months later to analyze the whole

experience they had some interesting

things to say about it I don't know I

just

at first I thought that maybe I could I

could manage prison for a while right

now I don't think I could manage it at

all I don't see how anybody really could

without coming out really hateful but

made the experience most depressing for

me was the fact that we were continually

called upon to act in a way that just is

contrary to what I really feel inside I

don't feel like I'm the type of person

that would be a guard

she's continually giving out [ __ ] and

forcing people to do things and pushing

and lying it just it just didn't seem

like me and it took a chili keep up put

on a face like that it's just really

were the most oppressive things you can

do I I had really thought that I was

incapable of this kind of behavior I I

was surprised you not as dismayed find

out that I could I could really be a but

I could act in a manner so so absolutely

unaccustomed to anything I would even

really dream of doing and I and while I

was doing it I I didn't feel any regret

I didn't feel any guilt it was only

after afterwards when I began to reflect

on what I had done that this began to

this behavior began to dawn on me and I

realized that this was this was a part

of me I hadn't really noticed before I

began to feel that I was losing my

identity that that the person that I

called clay the person who could put me

in this place the person who volunteered

to to go into this prison because it was

a prison to me it still is a prison to

me I I don't look on it as an experiment

or a simulation but just as a prison

that was run by psychologists instead of

run by the state I began to feel that

that that identity the person that I was

that that had decided to go to prison

was distant from me was was remote until

finally I wasn't that I was I was 416 I

was really my number and 416 was gonna

have to decide what to do once you put a

uniform on and are given a role I mean a

job saying your job is to keep these

people in line then you're not certainly

not the same person as if you're in

street clothes and in a different role

you really become that person what you

put on that

uniform you put on the glasses you put

on you take the nightstick and you know

you acts apart that's your that's your

costume and you have to act accordingly

when you put it on it harms me Boyd

harms I mean in the present tense it

harms me how did it harm you I don't

know what you can turn into I know what

you're willing to do if you say oh well

I'm not gonna hurt anybody

oh well it's a limited situation on it's

over in two weeks

well you in position what would you have

been I don't know I can't tell you what

I know what I do

would you boom I don't think I don't

believe I would have been as inventive

as you I don't believe I would have

applied as much imagination to I was

doing do you understand yes I understand

I think I would have been a guard I

don't think it would have been such a

masterpiece I didn't see where it was

really harmful it was degrading and that

was that was part of my particular

little experiment to see how I could

your particular little experiment yes

but only about that I was I was running

little experience of my own tell me

about your little experiment curious I

wanted to see just that kind of verbal

abuse that people can take before they

start objecting before they start

flashing back yeah under the

circumstances that it surprised me that

no one said anything to stop me no one

no one I started to get abused people

somewhat I started to get so profane

that and still people didn't say

anything

right now in this jail I'm the one of

the staff psychologists this I'm I've

been doing for 14 years practically uh

the length of time I've been away from

fills and Bartels experiment I can't say

no duh I don't know how to say home

[ __ ] up inside good damn it as an

experience that it was unique I've never

screamed so loud in my life never been

so upset in my life and it was an

experience of being out of control both

of the situation and of my feelings and

maybe I always had difficulty with the

notion of losing control I wanted to

understand myself so I went into

psychology so that the unconscious

wouldn't so control me as it did that

when I was that whole experiment that

whole situation I was confused I didn't

know what my role was and I figured well

you know I'm thinking now I'll go into

psychology I'll learn how what what

makes a person tick I won't be so afraid

of the unconscious the stanford

president was a very benign prison

situation and it still caused guards to

become sadistic prisoners to become

hysterical other prisoners that break

out in hives I mean here you had a

benign situation it didn't work it

promoted everything in normal prison

promotes the guard role promotes sadism

the prisoner role from promotes a

feeling of

shame anybody can be a guard it's harder

to be on guard against the impulse to be

sadistic because it's a quiet rage

malevolence that you can you can dam up

but there's nowhere for it to go it

comes out sideways sadistically or

whatever

whereas we I think you have do have more

control maybe because this is my

experience everybody needed to be a

prisoner I think if I went through the

experience now I wouldn't have been

nearly so confused I would have been

able to do a lot of things differently

and not have felt so unsure of what to

do I would have known I would have known

much more about my options and there are

real prisoners I have met in jail who

were people of exceptional dignity who

did not put down the guards who are very

respectful of the guards and do not

create in the guard a sadistic impulse

and they could rise above the the shame

of the role and they knew knew how

preserve their dignity within that

situation dr. Zimbardo I'm concerned

about those subjects what happened to

them afterwards

yeah we're there any long-term negative

effect hopefully no we did do extensive

follow-ups both bringing all the

subjects back individually or in groups

for over a period of the first year and

then for the next ten years we've

surveyed them by mail and phone and the

consensus is that they did suffer during

that that week but they learned a great

deal about themselves about human nature

that most of them say was quite valuable

in addition the effects were really

situation bound limited to that

situation for several reasons one we

picked boys who are normal and healthy

in every way and so they were able to

rebound back to that position of mental

physical health after they

we're out of that situation and then we

were able to explicitly make the point

that what we saw what they experienced

was the power of the situation so it

told us about the situation they were in

and not anything about themselves but

what they did was not diagnostic of any

personal pathology it was diagnostic of

the pathology of prison-like situations

why didn't you stop it sooner

it seems that ethical to let it go on

for so long it was unethical there's no

question about that people suffered in

this experiment as subjects in what it

went on too long because I got trapped

in the dual role of principal

investigator of the research project and

prison superintendent Stanford County

Jail which I never should have done the

other issue that the move is the central

issue about the ethics of this study

weighs the cost to the subjects which

were real and tangible is there

suffering against possible benefits to

them and benefits the science and

society and we were able to use this

study tool to promote prison reform

lastly the study makes a very profound

point about the power of situations that

situations affect us much more than we

think that more more human behavior is

much more under the control of subtle

situational forces in some case very

trivial ones like rules and roles and

symbols and uniforms and much less under

the control of things like character and

personality traits that we ordinarily

think as determining behavior I'm a

college undergraduate I can't possibly

imagine myself ever being a prisoner or

a guard what relevance would this have

for the everyday person and is there as

much relevance for females as well yeah

it's important not to think of this as

prison prisoner at guard in a real

prison the important issue is the met

for a prison guard what does it mean to

be a prisoner what does it mean to be a

guard in a guard is somebody who limits

the freedom of someone else uses the

power in their role to control and

dominate someone else and that's what

the study is about and so any situation

you're in where there's this power

relationship between husbands and wives

and parents and children and teachers

and students and doctors and patients

and in the military in so many

situations we think this study has

relevance for you in thinking about this

kind of research we began to think what

are the situation which people

voluntarily give up their freedom well

the one obvious kind of person who

internalizes both the prisoner and guard

mentality the part of you that says you

can't do it iris pea which puts coercive

limitations on you the part of you which

says okay I have the ability and

motivation if you say so I won't do it

and limits his or her own freedom is the

shy person and that we began to see

shyness as a self-imposed psychological

prison and right after we finished the

the Prison Experiment we began thinking

about shyness and studying and it turns

out nobody had ever studied it seriously

and so for the next 15 years we have

been doing research on shyness at

Stanford and then set up the first

Stanford shyness clinic at first shyness

clinic in American Stanford China's

clinic and so we went from imprisoning

people in our experiment to doing

research and in therapy which has

exactly the opposite goal to try to help

people free themselves in prisons that

they create so we think it has very

important implications for for all of us

in our everyday life

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