Reflection The Stanford Prison Experiment

The Stanford Prison Experiment
Name
Institution
Due Date
The Stanford Prison Experiment
Reaction to the Experiment
The Stanford Prison Experiment is an interesting yet dark experiment that makes a person think about the evil nature or side of humanity. The process of acquiring the experiment’s participants appears random and thus dismisses any claims one might have on the objectivity of the study.
However, the experiment does seem to elicit two endless discussions or debatable ideas. The first one is the possibility or likelihood of people exhibiting evil behavior because of their circumstance as well as the environmental setting. Having been given authority over the prisoners and having been made to feel more powerful than the prisoners, the prison guards appear to become more evil and harsh towards the prisoners. One conclusion would be that their environment or circumstance pushed them towards such behavior. The prisoners’ riot, as well as the reinforcement of the idea that they are more powerful than the prisoners, might have pushed them towards the said behavior. Additionally, being in a prison setting could also have contributed to their behavior. The above explanation applies to the prisoners as well who could have reacted the way they did because of where they were.
The second conclusion is the possibility of there being certain innate character traits and personal attributes that push people towards such extreme behaviors. In the experiment, the prisoners and the guards exhibited extreme behaviors of either conforming or being harsh. These behaviors are not random and could be fueled by innate attributes that influence a person’s decision-making process. The reactions of the prisoners and the prison guards help to ascertain the fact that every person has a...