RUNNING HEAD: The Stanford Prison Experiment

Kimberly Towe
Reaction Paper #2
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Charleston Southern University

RUNNING HEAD: The Stanford Prison Experiment

I am writing this after watching the 2015 movie The Stanford Prison Experiment. This
movie was about the famous 1973 Zimbardo study about a prison experiment done at Stanford
University. The study took 24 males chosen from a newspaper advertisement offering $15 per
day pay to take part in the experiment. Zimbardo took one hall in a university building and
converted it into a simulated prison block. The group of 24 males were selected to become either
prisoners or guards via the random flip of a coin. The prisoners were then picked up on the street,
arrested by the local police department, and taken to the mock prison. Upon entry into the prison,
the prisoners were deloused and placed into a prison gown which they were informed was their
dress. The study called for a two week study into the interactions of the prisoners and guards.
Very rapidly, upon arrival, the guards became increasingly aggressive to the prisoners. The more
aggressive the guards became, the more submissive the prisoners became. The guards taunted the
prisoners. The guards were given a large amount of freedom in their roles. The guards basically
created their own rules and regulations for behavior. The longer the experiment went the more
sadistic the guards became to the prisoners. What initially was to be a two week experiment was
terminated after only six days. In focusing on the two groups of people depicted in the movie, I
have concluded that it is human nature to readily conform to the roles society has depicted for
them. The study group was forced to act as either guards or prisoners. In reality, the group was
all equal. They were all students trying to earn some extra money over summer break. However,
when opportunity dictated they be either prisoner or guard, human nature kicked in and people
quickly became what society expected them to be at their position. In this paper, I will illustrate
examples of the guards and the prisoners becoming the societal norm for their role, and illustrate
how people when given a role to fill quickly fulfill social expectations for their role.

RUNNING HEAD: The Stanford Prison Experiment

The first thing I would like to focus on is the setting of this experiment, and how
it dictated the behavior to both the guards and the prisoners. The setting for the jail was a
boarded up hallway in the Stanford Psychology Department building. The cells were created by
taking the doors off of rooms and replacing it with steel bars. There was a small closet in the
hallway which was labelled the hole. There were no windows, so the prisoners had no access to
outside light. The absence of daylight, disoriented the prisoners, and I believe aided to the quick
breakdown the prisoners achieved. The prisoners were stripped of their self-esteem and identity
upon arrival at the prison. This occurred by the guards placing the men in gowns, making them
wear stockings on their heads, and taking away their name and replacing it with a number. My
premise is the quick dehumanization of the prisoners and the destabilization of them by taking
their sense of time away, caused the prisoners to breakdown and become submissive at an
extremely quick rate.
The second thing I would like to focus on is the guards, and how they quickly conformed
to social roles of abusive and controlling. The 1970s was a time of great unrest in the prison
system. There were numerous prison riots which were a result of the tensions between the guards
and prisoners. The guards were given sunglasses to wear, along with a night stick and uniform.
The glasses made it impossible to see the eyes of the guards. This inability to see their eyes made
it impossible to humanize them or give them emotion and feelings. After strip searching and
delousing the first prisoner, the guards sense of power and control quickly escalated. The guards
demeaned the prisoners. Quickly, the guards took total control over every aspect of the prisoners
lives. They woke the prisoners up every four hours for bed check. This constant break in sleep
cycle weakened the prisoners resilience and gave the guard even more control over the prisoners.
Society views men in uniform as men with power who should be obeyed. Given the told to play

RUNNING HEAD: The Stanford Prison Experiment

the guards quickly asserted themselves and fulfilled their societal role of control and power. The
guards tormented the prisoners. They would quickly lock and rebellious prisoner up and place
them in the hole. At one point after an attempted prison break the guards literally hogtied a
prisoner and drug him through the hallway. Another point of the movie the guards removed all
the prisoners beds from their rooms and made them sit on the bare floor all day in their gowns.
At the end of the experiment the guards actually had stooped so low as to have the prisoners
simulate sodomizing each other. At this point, Zimbardo quickly stepped in and immediately
terminated the experiment. The symbolic attributes given to the guards in their sunglasses,
nightstick, and uniform quickly caused them to embody the social role of being controlling and
abusive. This quick embodiment of their social role reinforces my premise that when placed in
situations with social expectations people will fill the social role expected of them.
The final thing to look at is the prisoners and how they stepped into their expected social
role in this experiment. After their quick dehumanizing intake process, the prisoners stepped into
the social expectations of prisoners being compliant and submissive. The one thing that
astonished me the most was the fact that the prisoners actually started thinking the experiment
was real, and forgot they were just normal college students. Their minds totally gave in to the
idea that they were prisoners. They started identifying with their prisoner number instead of their
actual name. At first they stood up to the guards; however, once met with brunt force back, the
prisoners quickly became submissive to the guards ridicule and taunting. Several of the prisoners
actually sided with the guards when disputes arose. One prisoner mentally lost his identity so
much he was forced to leave the experiment. The thing in the movie that really left an impact on
me is once again the simulated sex scene. The prisoners in fulfilling their expected roles went so
far as to simulate sex on each other because the guards ordered them to. The prisoners had lost

RUNNING HEAD: The Stanford Prison Experiment

total connection with whom they really were, and they were willing to simulate gay sex to
appease the guards commands. Guys who once were middle class proud college students had
allowed themselves to lose all pride and self-worth in becoming who they deemed society
thought they should be as prisoners. The prisoners lost their ability to stand up for themselves
and their rights. They forgot whom they were, and they became instead whom they thought
society deemed they should be.
In conclusion, The Stanford Prison Experiment is a movie that clearly illustrates how
people conform to societal roles when placed into positions that come with societal expectations.
This movie concisely and quickly illustrated how people become whom they think they are
expected to be. The one thing about this movie that needs to be clearly remembered, is the only
thing that differentiated the guards and the prisoners was a random coin flip. Everyone in this
study was from the same race and social standing. The group appeared to be all white, middle
class men. These men clearly became what their societal roles deemed they should be. The
Stanford Prison Experiment was a great movie based on a real life psychological study, and I
learned a great deal from watching the movie. I definitely would recommend someone watch it
that wanted a journey into the human mind and how it works in different environments.