Ranana Gordon
ENG 306 – Hammerton
Case Study Analysis
03/28/18
Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment Ethical Dilemma
Introduction:
In 1971, over a six-day period, one of the most famous psychological studies was
conducted in the basement of Stanford University’s psychology department. Dr. Philip
Zimbardo, a psychology professor at Stanford, administered the experiment known as the
Stanford Prison Experiment in which he wanted to understand how people would conform to a
given role and to what extent they would use their assumed power or weakness. The experiment
was created to take place over a two-week period, but due to high levels of abuse executed
during the experiment, it was terminated after only six days. Zimbardo was highly criticized for
his role in the experiment because of how he allowed the abuse to continue. However, some
argue that his experiment answered questions regarding social behavior which led to
advancements in psychological science. In this case study, we will discuss how the experiment
was created and executed, and discuss the ethical controversy of Dr. Zimbardo’s actions.
Background/Context:
Dr. Phil Zimbardo was born in New York City in 1933, and graduated from Brooklyn
College in 1954 with a degree in sociology, anthropology and psychology. He obtained his PhD
in psychology from Yale University in 1959. After several years of teaching at Yale and New
York University, he eventually made his way to Stanford University where he became a
psychology professor in 1968.
Zimbardo largely studied and researched cult behavior and mind control, which
eventually led to his contribution to psychology in creating the Stanford Prison Experiment. He
spent most of his career analyzing human behavior and why people change in certain situations,
such as when a “good person” commits a crime, or a “smart person” does something that is
considered irrational. Based on his years of behavior research, Zimbardo wanted to understand
how groups of people would act based on roles they were given, how quickly they would take on
these roles in a simulated environment, and what the result would be when one group had
authority over the other. Another goal of the experiment was to understand if the abuse reported
in American prisons was due to the personalities of the guards themselves, or if it was because of
the prison environment they were placed into. Thus, Zimbardo created the Stanford Prison
Experiment where a fake prison was constructed, and fake guards and prisoners would interact
with each other within their roles. As the experiment took place in the 1970s, the psychological
effects that prison guards could have on prisoners was unknown at this time, and so it was
Zimbardo’s duty to determine the effects of assumed authority.
Case Narrative:
Setting the Scene:
To begin the experiment, Zimbardo created a mock prison in the basement of Stanford
University’s psychology building. To create a look and feel of a real prison environment, metal
bars were placed on the doors, beds were placed in the rooms, and a sign that said “Stanford
County Prison” was placed on the wall.
An ad was placed in the newspaper asking for male college students to participate in a 1-
2 week long psychological study, and the males would be paid $15 a day for their participation.
Over 70 males applied, and 24 were selected from the applicants after being screened to
eliminate those who had mental and psychological problems, medical disabilities, and/or a
previous history with drug abuse or crime. The applicants were then randomly divided into two
groups – guards and prisoners. Eventually, only 21 students continued through to the beginning
of the experiment after three had dropped out. To assume their roles, the prison guards were
given uniforms and sunglasses to wear, and the prisoners were given sackcloths with an
identification number stitched onto the garment. They were also instructed to wear a nylon cap
on their heads and a chain around one of their ankles.
The first day of the experiment began on August 14th, 1971, and to make the experiment
