The Stanford Prison Experiment

Last month marked 42 years since of one of the darkest and most controversial experiments in the history of American research—the Stanford Prison Experiment. This article provides an excellent short summary and this article gives a more detailed analysis. The heart of the experiment was a simple idea: for $15 a day male college students and a team of researchers acted as either prison guards or inmates. The experiment quickly descended into chaos as "guards" and "inmates" went well beyond mere role-playing. Decent young men suddenly turned into abusive guards who humiliated and assaulted the inmates. The prisoners started to break down under the stress and degradation. The lead researcher, who played the warden, also lost himself in the experiment. A colleague had to intervene and finally stop the experiment which had gotten completely out of control. It's a sober lesson right out of Jeremiah 17:9—"The heart is desperately wicked."