Maverick academic Philip Zimbardo says

we are all capable of evil. Is he right?

First he devises an experiment that turns peace-loving students into brutal thugs. Then he
defends a soldier accused of abuse at Abu Ghraib. Philip Zimbardo explains why his life
is dedicated to darness
!y "li#abeth $eathcote
Sunday, 2 March 2008
Winni Wintermeyer
Zimbardo says he is now %ashamed% of his &'(& experiment) but he admits that at the time
there was %no guilt and no remorse%
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3n 45 April 4667) Philip Zimbardo was in -ashington for a conference. The T8 was on
in his hotel room and photographs of the abuses carried out in Abu Ghraib prison in ,ra9
by :+ servicemen and women flashed across the screen. The images are ingrained in our
psyche now) but then they were new. ;aed men staced in a pyramid with soldiers
grinning alongside. A female soldier leading a prisoner around on a dog lead. Prisoners
forced to simulate sexual acts on each other. A prisoner in a hood balancing precariously
on a box in the belief he would be electrocuted if he moved. <ie millions of others)
Zimbardo was deeply shoced by what he saw) but for the professor emeritus of
psychology at +tanford :niversity) 0alifornia) there was a disturbing element of
familiarity.
=, had taen similar images myself >6 years earlier)= he says. =And by similar) , mean
prisoners with bags over their heads) prisoners stripped naed) prisoners made to do
sexually degrading activities. ,t was very disturbing. ?The scenes at Abu Ghraib@
recreated emotionally the horrible things , not only saw but that , allowed to continue to
happen.= % The images he is referring to came from one of the most infamous episodes in
American academic history) the +tanford Prison "xperiment A a study Zimbardo led in
&'(& into the psychological and behavioural effects of imprisonment that swiftly
descended into scenes of cruelty and degradation.
Zimbardo hoped he would never see Americans behave so abominably again. The shoc
of the Abu Ghraib scandal three years ago dashed that hope A and prompted the then-(&-
year-old to come to the defence of one of those accused of the terrible crimes committed
in the ,ra9i prison.
-hat too place on a peaceful 0alifornian university campus nearly four decades ago
still has the power to disturb. "ager to explore the way that =situation= can impact on
behaviour) the young psychologist enrolled students to spend two wees in a simulated
Bail environment) where they would randomly be assigned roles as either prisoners or
guards.
Zimbardo%s volunteers were bright) liberal young men of good character) brimming with
opposition to the 8ietnam war and authority in general. All expressed a preference to be
prisoners) a role they could relate to better. Cet within days the strong) rebellious
=prisoners= had become depressed and hopeless. Two broe down emotionally) crushed
by the behaviour of the =guards=) who had embraced their authoritarian roles in full) some
becoming ever-more sadistic) others passively accepting the abuses taing place in front
of them.
Watch e"cerpts of #$%iet &age#' a doc%mentary abo%t the !tanford Prison
("periment
Transcripts of the experiment) published in Zimbardo%s boo The <ucifer "ffect1
:nderstanding $ow Good People Turn "vil) record in terrifying detail the way reality
slipped away from the participants. 3n the first day A +unday A it is all self-conscious
play-acting between college buddies. 3n *onday the prisoners start a rebellion) and the
guards clamp down) using solitary confinement) sleep deprivation and intimidation. 3ne
refers to =these dangerous prisoners=. They have to be prevented from using physical
force.
0ontrol techni9ues become more creative and sadistic. The prisoners are forced to repeat
their numbers over and over at roll call) and to sing them. They are woen repeatedly in
the night. Their blanets are rolled in dirt and they are ordered painstaingly to pic them
clean of burrs. They are harangued and pitted against one another) forced to humiliate
each other) pulled in and out of solitary confinement.
3n day four) a priest visits. Prisoner 5&' is in tears) his hands shaing. Dather than
9uestion the experiment) the priest tells him) =Cou%re going to have to get less emotional.=
<ater) a guard leads the inmates in chanting =Prisoner 5&' did a bad thingE= and blaming
him for their poor conditions.
Zimbardo finds 5&' covering his ears) =a 9uivering mess) hysterical=) and says it is time
to go home. !ut 5&' refuses to leave until he has proved to his fellow prisoners that he
isn%t =bad=. =<isten carefully to me) you%re not 5&')= says Zimbardo. =Cou are +tewart and
my name is .r Zimbardo. , am a psychologist not a prison superintendent) and this is not
a real prison.=5&' stops sobbing =and loos lie a small child awaening from a
nightmare=) according to Zimbardo. !ut it doesn%t seem to occur to him that things are
going too far.
Guard $ellmann) leader of the night shift) plumbs new depths. $e waes up the prisoners
to shout abuse in their faces. $e forces them to play leapfrog dressed only in smocs)
their genitals exposed. A new prisoner) 7&F) replaces 5&') and brings fresh perspective. =,
was terrified by each new shift of guards)= he says. =, new by the first evening that , had
done something foolish to volunteer for this study.=
Part two of #$%iet &age) *he !tanford Prison ("periment#
The study is scheduled to run for two wees. 3n the evening of Thursday) the fifth day)
Zimbardo%s girlfriend) 0hristina *aslach) also a psychologist) comes to meet him for
dinner. +he is confronted by a line of prisoners en route to the lavatory) bags over their
heads) chained together by the anles. =-hat you%re doing to these boys is a terrible
thing)= she tells Zimbardo. =.on%t you understand this is a crucible of human behaviour/=
he ass. =-e are seeing things no one has witnessed before in such a situation.= +he tells
him this has made her 9uestion their relationship) and the person he is.
.ownstairs) Guard $ellmann is yelling at the prisoners. =+ee that hole in the ground/
;ow do 4G push-ups) fucing that hole. Cou hear me/= Three prisoners are forced to be
=female camels=) bent over) their naed bottoms exposed. 3thers are told to =hump= them
and they simulate sodomy. Zimbardo ends the experiment the following morning.
To read the transcripts or watch the footage is to follow a rapid and dramatic collapse of
human decency) resilience and perspective. And so it should be) says Zimbardo. ="vil is a
slippery slope)= he says. ="ach day is a platform for the abuses of the next day. "ach day
is only slightly worse than the previous day. 3nce you don%t obBect to those first steps it is
easy to say) %-ell) it%s only a little worse then yesterday.% And you become morally
acclimatised to this ind of evil.=
The parallels to atrocities of this and the last century A atrocities we believe we are
distanced from A are glaring. The behaviour of ordinary Germans under the ;a#is. The
slaughter of Tutsis by their neighbours) the $utus) in Dwanda. $ow vulnerable are we to
emulating such murderous behaviour in similarly extreme circumstances/ 8ery) says
Zimbardo. =-e are unaware of how much our behaviour is influenced by situations) as
the situations we are in are usually benign. The +tanford experiment loos at what
happens when you put people in a totally new situation) where they don%t have habitual
coping mechanisms. +o they loo around. -hat are other people doing/ -hat is the
appropriate way to behave in this new place/ ,f you are a guard) the appropriate way to
behave is to demonstrate that the prisoners are powerless and you are powerful.=
Part three of #$%iet &age) *he !tanford Prison ("periment#
The seeds of Zimbardo%s research were planted in his childhood. !orn in &'>> in the
!ronx) he lived there until he was 4>. =,t was and is one of the worst ghettoes in
America)= he says. =, new good ids who went bad) who ran drugs and got in trouble)
went to Bail and got illed. And there were other ids who didn%t. +o , wondered) what
maes good people go bad/=
The +tanford experiment caused a media storm and Zimbardo became a star) of sorts. $e
wrote about it and lectured on it) and life moved on. $e married 0hristina *aslach and
the couple had two daughters. $is professional ga#e turned to other themes) inspired by
+tanford. $e researched shyness A =a psychological prison= A and set up a clinic to treat
it. $e wored on time perspective H=a day in the experiment began to feel lie several
days=I. And in 4664 he was elected president of the American Psychological Association.
+tanford had long been =laid to rest=. !ut when he saw the Abu Ghraib pictures) the past
was stirred up again.
=-hen the American military and !ush administration immediately distanced themselves
by saying Abu Ghraib was the wor of a few bad apples) , was suspicious)= he says. =,
new that in the +tanford experiment) , began with good apples and that it was the place
that corrupted them) so my hypothesis was that maybe these soldiers were good apples
and it was the barrel at Abu Ghraib that corrupted them.=
$is response was twofold. First) he went bac to the &4 hours of videotape he had from
the +tanford Prison "xperiment) reviewed it with his students) and made full transcripts.
=, decided , really had to present it in great detail because the evil was in the words. ,t
was in how the guards created a psychological system that crushed the prisoners.=
+econd) he agreed to appear as an expert witness for one of the defendants in the Abu
Ghraib trial) +taff +ergeant % ,van =0hip= Frederic ,,. Frederic was the military
policeman in charge of the night shift on tiers &A and &!) the site of the abuses) and
features in some of the pictures.
Zimbardo threw himself into the case) counselling Frederic and his wife. $e sought out
and examined Frederic%s records Hunstinting dedication in the service of his country and
familyI. $e had Frederic undergo psychological tests Hgood man vulnerable to isolation)
strong desire for approvalI. $e investigated Abu Ghraib) and the conditions there. $e
made presentations to Frederic%s military trial A but to little or no effect1 Frederic was
convicted of five charges of abusing ,ra9i detainees and received an eight-year sentence.
=There was a real inBustice)= says Zimbardo. =0olonel <arry James) a psychologist sent to
Abu Ghraib to fix it) said that G6 times he was within &66 yards of being blown up or
shot. ,t was &>6 degrees. There was faeces everywhereK rats running aroundK &)666
prisoners) many naedK people screaming. ,t was hell.= Frederic) he explains) wored
&4-hour shifts in these conditions without a night off in 76 days. -hen he finished his
shift he would sleep in a cell) =so he was always in prison=. ;ot once in three months did
a senior officer come down to his area) says Zimbardo.
,n <evel &A) the interrogation centre run by the 0,A) military intelligence and civilian
contractors were looing for information on the insurgency and getting nowhere. They
put pressure on Frederic%s team to =tae the gloves off and soften the prisoners up=) says
Zimbardo. There is some evidence) he adds) =that the early pictures were staged= so they
could show them to other detainees before their interrogation. =3nce they got permission
to brea those prisoners and tae those pictures) you have unleashed the dogs.=
The sexual abuse was the next stage. =-hen you have a unit of men and women soldiers)
and hundreds of prisoners running around naed) there is a sexual dynamic. +ome of
those soldiers are having sex with each other) and some of the people arrested were
prostitutes. ,t was a lawless hell.
=-hen you as 0hip why he did these terrible things) he says %, don%t now what came
over me.% $e had lost his reason) perspective and Budgment. ,f you had any sense of
reason) you would never put yourself in the picture. Cou are maing yourself accused.
-hat were they thining to do that/ The answer is that they weren%t thining.=
-ith Abu Ghraib) Zimbardo extended his theories beyond the =situation= to the =system=
that created it. =, would point the finger as high as ?President@ !ush. -ith his excessive
focus on fear of terrorism) with the lawyers who legalise the definition of torture) he
creates the system.=
,n both situations A and in others where abuse escalates A Zimbardo isolates common
factors. The first is =deindividuation=1 the perpetrators become anonymous and stop
acting as individuals. The guards in Abu Ghraib were in the habit of removing identifying
details on their uniformsK the +tanford experiment guards wore mirrored sunglasses that
hid their eyes. The second factor is dehumanisation1 the prisoners in both situations were
seen as hostile and =other=. Their physical condition was poor) they smelt) and they were
often naed A lie animals. Third) such abuse re9uires bystander apathy A the failure of
the maBority who may not be actively involved to do anything to stop it.
The pressure to go along with the escalation of abuse is huge) says Zimbardo) and would
claim most of us. =-e all have this egocentric bias to say) %, would be the hero) , would
blow the whistle)%= he says. =!ut other things being e9ual) you would do what they did.
Though there are always a few who resist. And that is the hope of humanind.=
:sually the whistleblower is an outsider) who views the situation with fresh eyes. ,n his
experiment it was 0hristina. At Abu Ghraib it was 47-year-old reservist Joe .arby) who
was shown images of the abuses by a fellow soldier. At first he thought they were =pretty
funny=) but found he =could not stop thining about it=. $e said that what was happening
=violated everything , believed personally=. After three agonising days of feeling torn
between loyalty to his friends and to his moral conscience) .arby blew the whistle.
Zimbardo is now researching heroes such as .arby) =ordinary people who do
extraordinary things when other people are doing bad or doing nothing=. $is findings so
far indicate that there is nothing in bacground) belief or personality that would predict
who these people will be. The only certain thing) he says) is that =heroes are always
deviants=1 they always 9uestion authority. =-e Bust did a study in ,taly) where we put
people in a situation when authority maes you do something bad) to see who defied.
;othing we measured before would have predicted the outcome. All the people who
defied could say is that they were more concerned about this other person than about the
experiment or the authority. They showed an ability to empathise.=
*ost of us live in happy denialK we are never tested. , wonder how it must feel to have
been tested as Zimbardo was) and to have been found wanting. $e got caught up in the
+tanford experimentK enmeshed in the values of the false system he had created)
manipulative in protecting it) seemingly impervious to the suffering in front of him.
As a teenager Zimbardo read J* !arrie%s Admiral 0richton A the tale of the silent)
honorable butler transformed into a leader when the family he wors for are marooned on
a desert island) had a big effect. =,t was one of the early awarenesses , had of the power
of the situation.= !ut this awareness did little to affect his own behaviour. =.id ?+tanford@
change my sense of myself/ Absolutely. , grew up with the police as the enemy) they%re
never for you. And , become that thing that all my life , am against.
=At the time) you are not shoced) you are embedded in the situation. There%s no guilt) no
remorse) because there%s no perspective. Afterwards) of course) , was ashamed. , had
changed within five days. That is the more powerful lesson of the experiment than how
the guards got into it1 they were ids) , was a grown-up.=
The +tanford Prison "xperiment is one of very few academic studies to have made it into
the public consciousness. , as .r Peter !anister) head of psychology at *anchester
*etropolitan :niversity and an expert in prisons) how it is regarded within the discipline.
$e says it is seen as important) but not necessarily for its findings. =,n hindsight it is
viewed as being ethically dubiousK it is regularly used now in exercises concerning
ethical problems in psychology.=
=At the time there was no criticism)= says Zimbardo. =,t was a different era. ,f , had done
the study right now) there is no 9uestion that , would be sued by every guard and every
prisoner. These studies are in ethical time capsules. They cannot be done in a legitimate
way now. ,n fact) the pendulum has gone so far in the other direction) you can%t even as
9uestions that might be stressful. +o my feelings are mixed. .o , want to be part of an
infamous study/ ;o.=
Zimbardo and his wife live in a four-storey house overlooing +an Francisco !ay) on the
famous <ombard +treet. Tourists floc outside) and it is all brightness and light) a long
way from evil. The lighthouse beam from Alcatra# Prison) out in the bay) shines into his
living-room. =?+tanford@ was a little wee-long study)= he says) =but it has affected my
whole life.=