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Stanford prison experiment
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==Preparation== ===Recruitment and selection=== [[File:SPE1971-newspaper-ad cropped.jpg|thumb|Newspaper clipping of recruitment advertisement|alt=Photo of newspaper clipping reading: Male college students needed for psychological study of prison life. $15 per day for 1–2 weeks beginning Aug 15. For further information & applications, come to Room 248, Jordan Hall, Stanford U.]] After Zimbardo received approval from the university to perform the experiment, study participants were recruited using an advertisement in the "help wanted" section of the ''Palo Alto Times'' and ''The Stanford Daily'' newspapers in August 1971: {{blockquote|text=Male college students needed for psychological study of prison life. $15 per day for 1–2 weeks beginning Aug. 14. For further information and applications, come to Room 248, Jordan Hall, Stanford U.}}[[File:SPE1971-screening_applicants.jpg|thumb|Screening applicants|alt=Photo of a seminar room with a large table. Eight white male people are sitting at the table filling out papers spread out on the table. Another white male is standing at the side observing them.|left]] 75 men applied, and, after screening assessments and interviews, 24 were selected to participate in a two-week prison simulation.<ref name="Haney Banks Zimbardo 1973" /> The applicants were predominantly white, middle-class, and appeared to be stable psychologically and healthy.<ref name="Haney Banks Zimbardo 1973" /> The group of subjects was selected intentionally to exclude those with criminal backgrounds, psychological impairments, or medical problems.<ref name="Haney Banks Zimbardo 1973" /> On a random basis, half of the subjects were assigned the role of guard (nine plus three potential substitutes), and half were assigned to the role of prisoner (also nine plus three potential substitutes).<ref name="Haney Banks Zimbardo 1973" /> They agreed to participate for a 7- to 14-day period for $15 per day (roughly equivalent to $116.18 {{as of|alt=in 2025|2025}}<!-- Is a citation really needed for this? I don't think this usually has warranted a citation on other articles. Edit: Removed C template. Be bold like ~~~~JayCubby -->).<ref name="Haney Banks Zimbardo 1973">{{cite journal |last1=Haney |first1=C. |last2=Banks |first2= C. |last3=Zimbardo |first3=P. |title=Interpersonal Dynamics in a simulated prison |journal=International Journal of Criminology and Penology |date=1973 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=69–77 |doi=10.21236/AD0751041 |pmid= |access-date= |language=en |s2cid=143041401 |s2cid-access=free |issn= |pmc= |oclc= |bibcode= |id=[[PsycNET]] [https://psycnet.apa.org/record/1974-32677-001 1974-32677-001] {{NCJ|64810}}}}</ref> {{Clear}} === Prison environment === [[File:SPE1971-prisoners_in_bed_in-cell.jpg|thumb|Prisoners in bed in cell|alt=Photo taken through iron bars. Behind the bars, three people are lying on beds side by side, wearing identical white smocks with numbers on the chest.]] The day before the experiment began, small mock prison cells were arranged to hold three prisoners each. There was a small corridor for the prison yard, a closet for solitary confinement, and a bigger room across from the prisoners for the guards and [[Prison warden|warden]].<ref name=":4" />{{rp|1–2}} The experiment was performed in a {{convert|35|ft|m|abbr=on}} section of the basement of Jordan Hall, Stanford's psychology building. The prison had two fabricated walls: one at the entrance and one at the cell wall to block observation. Each cell ({{convert|7|x|10|ft|m|abbr=on|disp=or}}) was unlit, was intended to house 3 prisoners and had a cot (with mattress, sheet, and pillow) for each prisoner.<ref name=":12">{{Cite web|title=Index of /downloads|url=http://www.zimbardo.com/downloads|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150120225935/http://www.zimbardo.com/downloads/|archive-date=January 20, 2015|access-date=November 11, 2015|website=zimbardo.com}}</ref> Prisoners were confined and were to stay in their cells and the yard all day and night until the study was finished.<ref name=":4" />{{rp|1–2}} In contrast, the guards were to stay in a different environment, separate from the prisoners. The guards were given access to special areas for rest and relaxation, were told to work in teams of three for eight-hour shifts, and were not required to stay on-site after their shift.<ref name=":4" />{{rp|1–2}} === Roles === Zimbardo assumed the role of Superintendent, and an undergraduate [[research assistant]], David Jaffe, assumed the role of Warden.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |title=A Simulation Study of the Psychology of Imprisonment |url=https://web.stanford.edu/dept/spec_coll/uarch/exhibits/spe/Narration.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150906035518/https://web.stanford.edu/dept/spec_coll/uarch/exhibits/spe/Narration.pdf |archive-date=September 6, 2015 |access-date=August 19, 2021 |website=Stanford University |language=en}}</ref> Digitized recordings available on the official SPE website were widely discussed in 2017, particularly one where warden David Jaffe tried to influence the behavior of one of the guards by encouraging him to participate more and be more "tough" for the benefit of the experiment.<ref name="Cosmos2018">{{Cite web|last=Masterson|first=Andrew|date=July 9, 2018|title=New evidence shows Stanford Prison Experiment conclusions "untenable"|url=https://cosmosmagazine.com/social-sciences/new-evidence-shows-stanford-prison-experiment-conclusions-untenable|access-date=July 13, 2018|work=Cosmos|quote=Archival recordings show one of the world's most famous psychology experiments was poorly designed – and its use to justify brutality baseless.}}</ref> ==== Orientation ==== The researchers had an orientation session for the guards the day before the experiment began, during which the guards were instructed not to harm the prisoners physically or withhold food or drink, but to maintain law and order. The researchers provided the guards with wooden [[Club (weapon)|batons]] to establish their status, deindividuating clothing similar to that of an actual prison guard (khaki shirt and pants from a local [[military surplus store]]), and [[mirrored sunglasses]] to prevent [[eye contact]] and create anonymity.<ref name=":4" />{{rp|1–2}} Based on recordings from the experiment, guards were instructed by the researchers to refer to prisoners by number rather than by name. This, according to Zimbardo, was intended to diminish the prisoners' individuality.<ref>Zimbardo (2007), ''[[The Lucifer Effect]] '', p.54.</ref> With no control, prisoners learned they had little effect on what happened to them, ultimately causing them to stop responding and give up.<ref name=":12"/> Zimbardo has explained that guard orientations in the prison system instructed the guards to exert power over the prisoners. Further, Zimbardo asserts that his fellow researcher explicitly instructed the guards not to inflict physical harm on the prisoners, but at the same time make the prisoners feel that they were in an actual prison.<ref>{{cite web|author=Zimbardo, P. G.|date=1971|title=Audio transcript—orientation of guards, 1971. ''Philip G Zimbardo Papers (SC0750)''|url=https://purl.stanford.edu/tn064kr9767|publisher=Department of Special Collections and University Archives, Stanford University Libraries}}</ref> {{blockquote|Asking a person role-playing a guard in a prison simulation to be "firm" and "in the action" is mild compared to the pressure exerted by actual wardens and superior officers in real-life prison and military settings, where guards failing to participate fully can face disciplinary hearings, demotion, or dismissal.<ref name="auto"/>}}
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