Chamar Richardson
Composition II
1 July 2014

Stanford Prison Experiment The Stanford Prison Experiment was not fun at all. The volunteers had to be living or staying in the Stanford area, totally healthy, psychologically, mentally, emotionally and physically – as well as willing to participate in the study for around 1-2 weeks. For their participation, volunteers would receive a $15 per day compensation. The Stanford Prison research team counted on outside consultants to help them construct a believable prison in the basement of Stanford's Psychology Department. Their prison contained prison cells, a bathroom, an eating and exercise yard, a solitary confinement room and an intercom system to make announcements to the prisoners. Researchers could observe the guards and also the prisoners using a secretly placed system of video cameras and microphones. Researchers divided the 24 volunteers into two random groups. One group was assigned to be the prison guards while the other group became the prisoners. The volunteers assigned as prisoners learned of their involvement and role through being arrested by real police officers in their homes on campus. Prisoners experienced extreme degradation, punishment, despair, oppression and depression as they began to wholly believe they were prisoners. The guards took their role quite seriously as they strictly enforced the law and asserted their given power and authority. Honestly, I think the guards took that to far because the prisoners were humiliated because they had to be searched and stripped naked. They didn’t deserve to be forced naked and actually feel like they committed a crime.
Me personally I couldn’t live in that type of condition because I know I didn’t do anything and I would’ve spoke up. One other thing I wouldn’t be able to survive very long without any view of the outside world and without knowing the time. I mean no one can’t live without fresh air. Then the prisoners were issued a uniform. It was a dress which was worn with no underclothes. Its was worn at all times and on the front and back his prison ID number on it. On all the prisoners there was a heavy chain attached to their ankle. I think just that right there is torcher because they had no reason to put a real metal chain on their ankles. Worn with the heavy chain was a rubber sandal. That’s even more torcher because when you walk on rubber to long you can burn your feet. They also had to wear a stocking cap to cover their hair which was a woman’s nylon stocking. I feel sorry for them because I can actually hear what they are thinking at that time. It must’ve been horrible and embarrassing. While reading an online article about this and it said that the guards were given no specific training on how to be guards. Instead they were free, within limits, to do whatever they thought was necessary to maintain law and order in the prison and to command the respect of the prisoners. This means that the guards basically set their own set of rules for the prisoners. This wasn’t the end of the hell. The prisoners were rudely awakened by loud whistles at 2:30 a.m. to get the count of familiarizing the prisoners with their prison ID numbers. The prisoners had to do push-ups has a physical punishment which was later found out to be a punishment in Nazi concentration camps.

Finally all of the torcher was coming to a end. The prisoners removed their stocking caps, ripped off their numbers, and barricaded themselves inside the cells by putting their beds against the door. This shows that the prisoners no longer wanted to be part of the abuse and struggling. The guards were very much angered and frustrated because the prisoners also began to taunt and curse them. When the morning shift of guards