PSYC 101 APUS Ethics of Zimbardo Experiment Discussion

Write Peer Response:

Good day class,

I think that Dr. Zimbardo’s prison experiment was ethical.  At the start of his experiment, he had a clear question of what he was trying to answer, which was to find out how social roles affect behavior, abuse, and obedience.  He and his team went through great lengths to ensure that the participants were all healthy, the simulation was as real as they could make it and established basic safety rules.  I believe where some might argue the unethical side is based on the results.  The guards began to abuse the prisoners without any coercion from the psychologists and the prisoners began to rebel and eventually gave up and obeyed the guards.  The unethical argument I believe comes into play with the lengths the guards went in order to humiliate, degrade, and punish the prisons.  I do not believe this can render the whole experiment as unethical.  Those behaviors are the results or data of the experiment.  You can’t rule something as unethical just because you don’t agree with or didn’t expect the results.

This experiment took a deep dive into the relationship between one’s social role and the behavior they exhibit.  The guards quickly displayed abusive power and a sense of total control.  The prisoners first formed a rebellion against the new harsh treatment and environment, but quickly lost hope and fell into an obedient position when harshly punished. Coping was present within the prisoners ranging from breaking down and sobbing to the most extreme by one prisoner of refusal to eat.  All the supporting staff began to embody their designated roles beyond what was expected. When rumor of a prison escape came to the staff’s attention, the logical response of sit back and observer how the guards and prisoners would react, everyone began to brainstorm on how to secure the prison more. If this study were to be done differently in the sense of making it more “ethical” from the start with more safeguards in place, I believe it would result in the same fashion. The only difference would be the results or behaviors would be milder, thus making it easier to accept.  However, if more restriction were in place, we would also miss the opportunity to see the full spectrum of what these roles can affect. The participants volunteered for this experiment and even if it may be hard to accept this was a valuable experiment.