Stanford Prison Experiment

     Before writing about this experiment, I want to point out something really odd. The day after you, Mrs. Perl enlightened us about this experiment, Mrs. Kutliroff showed us the experiment in our "Facing History and Ourselves" class. Kind of strange...Anyways, I think you and Mrs. Kutliroff did do an excellent job relating this story to society and the Holocaust, respectively, and I want to elaborate on it.

     In the experiment, Stanford University students were asked to partake in an experiment, where either a participant would be a guard or a prisoner. The prisoners were asked to take the role seriously, while the guards were also asked to take on a real-life like guard role. The results of the experiment were mind-blowing. Though the experiment was supposed to last for 2 weeks, it had to be called off after 6 days because things got out of hand. Several of the prisoners were thought to have almost reached psychological breakdown related issues, and many panicked. 

     What did the experiment prove? It showed that when role-playing, we tend to get so caught up in a role that we lose our identity. When watching the videos, some of the guards after the experiment mentioned that they weren't acting like themselves, but just taking on a guard role. Here is my question though, and the question that was brought up in our "Facing History and Ourselves Class:" To what extent were these individuals role playing? Yes they were caught up in their role, but does that mean those guards were actually sadistic and cruel people?

    Today when looking at the Holocaust, we always think to ourselves various thoughts of morality: "How can all of those guards be so evil? If I lived in Germany, I definitely wouldn't have done any harm to the Jews." During the Holocaust, many SS guards were simply following roles, and this experiment proves that it is easier than we think to cause harm to others when under others' influences. Can we blame those who persecuted the Jews during the Holocaust? Of course. But were they being brainwashed and being forced into roles that they shouldn't have performed. The answer to that question is yes too. 

    My intention on writing this blog is obviously not to justify any negative actions we partake in when playing roles and under the influence of others. Nevertheless, it is important to understand the psychological roots in some of the actions that take place during certain times of persecution.