Lucifer Effect Pt.2 (Stanford Prison Study)

The Standford Prison Experiment was conducted by Phillip Zimbardo and designed to test the Lucifer Effect which states that every person has to make a decision at some point between good and evil. In order to go through with this experiment, Zimbardo turned the basement of the Standford psychology department into a prison. Students volunteered to do the experiment and he informed them that if they quit at any time, the experiment would be ruined. All students, eager to participate, signed up and met for instruction.

Zimbardo randomly decided who would serve time as a prisioner and who would be "employed" as the guards. One split up, the guards were given a list of directions that they had to follow or the experiment would be terminated. These were the directions given to them:

1. Maintain law & order
2. Avoid physical violence
3. Prevent prisoner escapes

This was all they were given. How were they to maintain law and order and avoid physical violence at the same time when the prisoners get out of hand? How would YOU keep order? I suppose at first I would try talking to them. When that fails, I would probably threaten them, keeping it secret that I would not be allowed to use physical violence. After that, I suppose I would act as all the rest of the guards did - falling victim to the Lucifer Effect. Just like th majority of guards, once put in that place, I would end up believing that's who I am though it's not true.

The outcome of the Standford Prison Study? Well, as most psychology studies do, the experiment created more questions than it provided answers to. However, the study did show the "degeneration and breakdown of established rules and morals dictating exactly how people should behave towards others." It showed that, with the right conditions, people with abandon their values and morals, deindividualize others, and act out in pure cruelty.

This study is now becoming more popular due to the Abu Ghraib scandal and techniques used at Guantanamo Bay.

As a wise teacher of mine once said, "Psychology is interesting. Unfortunately, we only study the worst in human behavior."