discussion reply

I don’t understand this English question and need help to study.

Here is one Discussion that needs a response.

1. The police procedures used during the arrests include surprising their suspects as if they were actually under arrest instead of acting like it was all part of the experiment. Once arriving at the prison, they were blindfolded, stripped and deloused. The prisoners were immediately thrown into their role in this experiment, they were all given uniforms with an inmate number on them and had sandals as well. Making them strip and putting them all in the same uniform helped to dehumanize and confuse the prisoners.

2. Identity is how we define ourselves and how other people see us. I believe there is a core part of our self-identity that is independent of how others define us. I believe this because we are more like ourselves when we are by our lonesome and we don’t always share our full selves with other people. It’s a sort of defense mechanism. Depending on the person would decide how difficult it can be to completely remake a person. Every person is different and has their own breaking point. Some are strong and some are weak.

3. I can’t really say for sure if this experiment was ethical or not. In some ways it was and in other ways, it wasn’t. I guess it really just depends on how you look at the situation. I personally feel that it wasn’t right to trade the suffering of the participants for the knowledge gained by the experiment. However, Professor Zimbardo didn’t know that the students who represented the guards were going to take it as far as they did and I’m sure when they started out they didn’t think it was going to happen the way it did either. Things went too far and that’s why the experiment ended early.