Whether or not this depiction of Philip Zimbardo’s famous 1970s experiment is accurate, it makes for great drama and raises many ethical problems about the researcher’s methods.  A number of Stanford undergraduate males are randomly divided into two groups, prisoners and prison guards.  The guards wear uniforms , including sunglasses and batons. The prisoners wear stocking caps and roughly made dresses. The guards are not meant ever to use physical violence or force on the prisoners, but sometimes they do. Zimbardo explains that the aim is to take away their individuality. Prisoners are referred to only by their assigned numbers. Guards are referred to only by the name “Mister Correctional Officer.”  Very soon there are power struggles between the two groups and the guards look for ways to take away the dignity of the prisoners. The prisoners lose their own sense of identity.  Some rebel and get into fights. There is even an escape attempt. 

Zimbardo and his helpers watch it all through video as they record the events. While they have some moral concerns, they justify the experiment referring to how it will discover important facts and will help people. But they seem to relish the cruelty of the guards and have no empathy for the suffering they cause in the prisoners. Things get pretty bad before Zimbardo accepts he has to end the experiment.

The acting is excellent, and the movie does well in bringing to mind the culture of the early seventies, with its fashions and distinctive verbal expressions. The movie would work very well in many classes, in ethics, psychology and criminology. The depressing implications about human nature and the suspicion it should give us about the decency of the penal system will help to enrich class discussion.

© 2016 Christian Perring

Christian Perring, Professor of Philosophy, Dowling College, New York