Essay About Dr. Philip Zimbardo And Stanford Prison Experiment

Ethical Considerations
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The Stanford Prison Experiment conducted in 1971 by Dr. Philip Zimbardo
would not be able to be conducted these days. When conducting an
experiment with humans there are many ethical guidelines that are to be followed. The
rights and well being of the participants must be weighed against the studys value to
science. The people always come first, and research second. This was not the case in
Dr. Philip Zimbardos experiment.
I found that there were many ethical considerations that were violated in Dr.
Philip Zimbardos research. One being that the investigator must debrief the participants
telling them the true nature of the study and expectations of the results. This is really
important in studies that involve deception. Dr. Philip Zimbardos experiment was full of
deception. The participants did answer to an ad in the local newspaper that stated
they were looking for volunteers to participate in a study of the psychological effects of
prison life. I dont think they were told in full context what to expect of the
experiment. I dont think Dr. Philip Zimbardo even knew what he was getting himself
into by Conducting this experiment.
Dr. Philip Zimbardo randomly assigned the participants into two groups by the
flip of a coin. Half of them were guards and the others were the prisoners. The guards
werent given any specific training. They were pretty much free to do whatever necessary
to keep order in the prison, and to command the respect of the prisoners. The prisoners
had to wear dresses as their uniform and wore a chain around their foot. The aim of the
clothes were to humiliate the prisoners and to deprive them of their individuality. The
shackle on the foot was to remind them of where they were even in their sleep. Some
punishments that the prisoners endured were solitary confinement, the withdraw of
favorite foods, and rationing of cigarettes. Not to mention the physical abuse from the
guards. These were enough to create responses in the volunteers. The participants were
not protected from risks or told explicitly of risks. This was another ethical consideration
that was violated.
During the short period of the experiment, Dr. Zimbardo tried to arouse in his
Prisoners, powerlessness, hopelessness, and dependence. The same feelings that real
prisoners experience, after a long period of time. It wasnt until much later that Dr. Philip
Zimbardo realized how far into the prison role he was. He was thinking like a prison
Superintendent