"The idea was simple: to see how ordinary men, chosen to be the most healthy and 'normal' would respond to a radical change to their normal roles in life. Half were to become prison guards, the other half their prisoners. In this experiment there were no half-measures, for it to be effective it had to closely approximate the real experience of prisoners and guards. These participants were in for the ride of their lives."
Paraphrase- This was going to be a standard experiment. There was a group of volunteers. Some were going to be guards, and others were going to be the prisoners. They made the basement of the University seem almost exactly like a real prison to get the desired effect. Little did they know that they would never be the same again.
Summary- Perhaps one of the most famous social experiments of all time, the Stanford Prison Experiment demonstrated the evils of humanity. The 'prisoners' from the experiment, after only two days, rebelled against the 'guards' because of how horrible they were treated. After the rebellion, the guards would constantly harass them. They would embarrass them, beat them, and even strip them naked . After the experiment, some of the guards even admitted to liking it. The combined effects of how unethical the experiment was and how much a role can change an average person is enough to help prove my point.
Citation: psyblog, . "Our Dark Hearts: The Stanford Prison Experiment." www.Spring.org.uk. N.p., 6/9/2007. Web. 17 Nov 2010. <http://www.spring.org.uk/2007/09/our-dark-hearts-stanford-prison.php>.
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