Stanford prison experiment: are we repeating it in society for real now?
Split citizens into 2 groups: the good and bad. Approve discrimination of the bad. In only a few days, the guards became sadistic and the prisoners became depressed and showed signs of extreme stress.
Remember the Standford Univerity prison experiment? Volunteer students in this psychology dept experiment were split at random into 2 groups: prisoners and guards. They were given appropriate uniforms and put in a mock prison in a basement of the university.
When prisoners arrived, they were subjected to a variety of procedures that are common when being institutionalized in any form, be it prison, a labor camp, or the military. They were stripped of their clothing, blindfolded, deloused, and given roster numbers instead of names.
Remember, both the "prisoners" and "guards" were all highly intelligent students at a top Ivy League university. Yet within days such bad and cruel behaviors emerged that the experiment had to be closed early. In only a few days, the guards became sadistic and the prisoners became depressed and showed signs of extreme stress.
The “good guards” with a sound moral compass were probably overwhelmed by the mob mentality of the bad guards who seemed to become drunk with their newfound power. The bad guards fed off of each other, and, remaining silent, the good guards were unable to do the same and find their voices. Humans naturally like to be on the winning side and protect themselves.
Move to today: Could this happen for real in our society? Could splitting people into 2 groups: the "good" and the "bad" and telling the good people to police the bad people end badly? What if the president or prime minister says the "bad" people are no longer "real citizens" and don't deserve "privileges" such as health care, access to shops or public spaces?
This theme is explored more in this article
https://boriquagato.substack.com/p/kitten-corner-stanford-prison-experiment-16f/comments
FYI The 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment is one of the most famous psychological studies ever conducted, by newly tenured psychology professor Richard Zimbardo.
A trailer for a doco about it shows more of how bad things can get when govts play peer pressure and institutionalize discrimination
My hope is that this will increase the level of awareness and compassion that the new targets of this repressive system have for the prior targets of it. That would benefit society greatly.