Summative Assessment: Stanford Prison Experiment

The Stanford Prison Experiment Name Institution Course and Code Professor Date The Stanford Prison Experiment Stanford Prison Experiment’s Background Information From 15th to 21st August 1971, Philip Zimbardo, a renowned psychologist professor, conducted a prison experiment in Jordan Hall’s basement, Stanford University. In particular, the psychologist wanted to examine how individuals’ behaviors can change when they are in the position of authority and others are powerless. Zimbardo recruited 24 undergraduate students who took up the roles of guards and prisoners in a simulated prison environment (Bartels, 2019). The Stanford Prison Experiment used the primary method of role-playing to determine the behavioral changes of people when they are in the position of power or not. Although the experiment was scheduled to take approximately two weeks, it was terminated on the 6th day due to the escalated cruelty, distress, and dehumanizing acts witnessed by Zimbardo. For instance, some individuals who role-played as prisoners had to be released after they portrayed signs of psychological problems since the guards harassed them in an attempt of punishing or making them adhere to specific set prison rules. Stanford Prison Experiment’s Ethical Issues Two ethical dilemmas implicating the research include the issue of consent acquired with no full knowledge and the deception present. There was no complete disclosure to volunteers about any adverse psychological effects volunteers might get, and there was no full transparency to them about the study's primary purpose (Mcdermott, 2019). This absence of transparency failed to give them a more detailed insight into something they had no idea about, and being unprepared might have put them in a complicated situation enrolling subjects in deception-based experiments, such as fake arrests or designing a place that simulates an actual prison environment, do not uphold such ethical standards which require truthfulness on the part of researchers (Mcdermott, 2019). The researcher discontinued the Stanford Prison Experiment after 6 days when he realized that it did not adhere to the ethical guidelines. The study involved the mistreatment of the prisoners by the guards who were supposed to exercise the authority given to them, facilitating anxiety and depression among the participants. When ethical violations occur, they jeopardize the participants’ rights and adversely influence the gathered data. The Violation of American Psychological Association (APA) Ethical Principles and Code of Conduct Notably, Zimbardo’s prison experiment violated some primary ethical principles as highlighted in the APA ethical guidelines. The Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct is clear on what researchers should do or not when it comes to conducting such experiments in simulated environments. The first ethical principle that was violated is the l...