For this discussion, you will be watching the video on the Stanford Prison Exper

Question

For this discussion, you will be watching the video on the Stanford Prison Experiment included in the module and below.

First, watch the video. And ACTUALLY WATCH THE VIDEO. You will be asked questions about the experiment on the test, so make sure that you watch the video.

Then, answer the following questions:

1) What were the ways in which individuals were deindividuated in this experiment? Focus on any ways in which individual identity was taken from individuals, any ways in which people were made anonymous, or any ways in which people were made to be just like other people.

2) What were the impacts of deindividuation on behavior in this experiment?

3) What were some ways in which people got lost in their roles in this experiment? BE CREATIVE here. There are MULTIPLE ways in which people got lost in their roles.

4) Was there anyone who did NOT get lost in their role?

Explanation / Answer

1. In the study, the researchers manipulated the setting and the assigned roles to the two groups of participants in a way so as to simulate the real life conditions of a prison. The clothing or uniforms of the ‘guards’ and the ‘prison inmates’, the assigning of numbers to each of the prisoner, etc. reinforced a setting wherein the individuality or the uniqueness of each participant became gradually less significant and identification with the group identity or label of the prisoner, or guard became more predominant in making decisions about one’s own behaviour in accordance with the role that was assigned. However, the participants who assumed the role of the guards went even further so as to carry forward punishment as a method of conduct in the prison, something which was not explicitly directed to them by the experimenters.

It was then that the guards extended greater process of de-individuation by forcing the prisoner participants to punishment such stripping down their clothes - a measure which was indicative of the denial of individual dignity to the prisoners and ignoring the person behind the identity of a prisoner. These are some of the ways which show the workings of deindividuation in the study wherein the guards became so immersed in the norms of the group that they lost their sense of identity and personal responsibility.

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