Outline and Evaluate Research Into Conformity

In 1960s America there were m any(prenominal) concerns intimately the treatment of prison house house houseers by prison guards. Many complaints were made by prisoners of violent and brutal attacks by the guards that were meant to be protecting and fondness for them. Zimbardo asked to find out exactly what made prison guards behave in this way, and in particular was it the situation they give themselves in (referred to as situational factors) or the personalities of the guards (referred to as dispositional factors). In otherwise words, did the guards behave violently because the rigid power-based social structure deep down the prison made them behave that way (situational), or because they had hard-hitting and sadistic personalities that led them to choose to become prison guards (dispositional)?

Zimbardo aimed to examine the difference between situational and dispositional factors in social components by creating a mock prison in the basement of Stanford University. He recruited 12 participants to play the role of prison guards and 12 to play the role of prisoners from a pool of 75 male volunteers. All participants were screened for any psychological disorders, such as mental illness and dose taking, and only theses without any indications of instability or aggressive personalities were selected.





The prison had 16 rules which prisoners were expected to obey and the guards were expected to enforce, such as eating meals at specific times of day, needing to ask authority to write letters, or needing to ask permission to use the toilet. The guards were tending(p) a uniform that consisted of a shirt and mirrored sunglasses. At the start of the experiment, in order to make the prison turn out as realistic as possible, the prisoners were arrested at their homes and taken to the prison where they were stripped, searched, deloused and given prison uniforms to wear.

The intention was to observe and film prison life for a period of 14 days, however what went on in the prison was so brutal and shocking that the...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Ordercustompaper.com



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