What Happened On August 14th?
On August 14, 1971, in the basement of Stanford University’s psychology building, 24 college students entered an experiment that altered our understanding of human behavior. Dr. Philip Zimbardo, a psychologist at Stanford, designed and led the Stanford Prison Experiment to explore the psychological effects of perceived power in a simulated prison environment. The study quickly escalated into a disturbing demonstration of the human capacity for cruelty.
The experiment began with a simulated “arrest.” Local police, in coordination with the experimenters, picked up the nine students selected to play the role of prisoners from their homes. They handcuffed them, drove them to the police station, booked them, and blindfolded them before transporting them to the makeshift prison in Stanford’s Jordan Hall. This unexpected arrest added a layer of realism, immediately blurring the lines between reality and simulation.
The researchers transformed the basement of Jordan Hall into a mock prison, complete with barred cells, a solitary confinement room known as “the Hole,” and corridors that served as the “yard.” Dr. Zimbardo took on the role of prison superintendent, directly overseeing the operation. The remaining students, assigned to be guards, donned uniforms, carried batons, and wore mirrored sunglasses to obscure their identities and amplify their authority.
Within hours, the guards and prisoners fell into disturbing roles. The guards, lacking specific instructions on how to maintain order beyond avoiding physical violence, asserted their authority in increasingly aggressive ways. They forced the prisoners to perform arbitrary and dehumanizing tasks, such as cleaning toilets with their bare hands or doing push-ups while guards placed their feet on their backs. The prisoners, initially confused and disoriented, quickly became compliant, accepting their mistreatment without protest.
The guards’ behavior escalated without any explicit encouragement from Dr. Zimbardo or the research team. The guards independently established a strict regimen of psychological control, devising creative and cruel punishments to maintain their dominance. Some guards embraced a sadistic role, relishing the power they wielded over their peers, while others followed along, reluctant but unwilling to challenge the emerging hierarchy.
Interestingly, the guards who embraced their roles most fully were not necessarily those who exhibited aggressive tendencies in their everyday lives. Dr. Zimbardo later noted that the most abusive guards were often those who, outside of the experiment, had displayed no such behavior. This transformation provided a chilling insight into how situational factors could influence individuals to act in ways that were completely out of character.
As the days passed, the psychological toll on the prisoners grew more severe. They exhibited signs of depression, anxiety, and even rage. On the second day, the prisoners staged a rebellion, barricading themselves in their cells and refusing to obey the guards’ orders. The guards responded with harsher measures, using fire extinguishers to force the prisoners out of their cells and then stripping them naked as a form of humiliation. They employed a “divide and conquer” tactic, rewarding compliant prisoners with privileges while punishing the rest, thus sowing distrust among the inmates.
The experiment involved the psychological breakdowns of the prisoners. Dr. Zimbardo had initially screened the participants to ensure they were all psychologically stable, yet the intense environment of the prison simulation quickly led to severe emotional distress. Prisoner 8612, the first to be released, reported afterward that he had felt as though he was “burning up inside” and believed that the guards would never let him go. His condition worsened to the point where he began exhibiting uncontrollable rage and uncontrollable crying.
Another intriguing detail is the use of informants among the prisoners, which further complicated the dynamics within the group. After his release, 8612 convinced the remaining prisoners that he had been coerced into becoming an informant for the guards, which sowed further distrust and paranoia among the prisoners. This tactic, initially suggested by Zimbardo himself, highlighted the ethical dilemmas that arose throughout the experiment.
Both the guards and prisoners internalized their roles with alarming speed. Dr. Zimbardo absorbed himself in his role as superintendent, prioritizing the “prison’s” needs over the well-being of the participants. When Prisoner 8612 showed extreme distress and demanded to leave the study, Zimbardo suggested he could serve as an informant instead of releasing him. This suggestion further blurred the lines between experiment and reality, leading to 8612’s worsening condition and eventual mental breakdown.
Within just 36 hours, the psychological effects on the prisoners intensified to the point where 8612 became the first to be released due to extreme emotional distress. His departure only emboldened the guards, who escalated their psychological tactics. They deprived the prisoners of sleep, forced them into prolonged periods of solitary confinement, and made them perform degrading acts designed to break their spirits.
As the experiment continued, the behavior of the guards grew increasingly sadistic. Some guards began to exhibit signs of enjoyment in their dominance, creating elaborate and humiliating rituals for the prisoners. For instance, they forced prisoners to simulate sexual acts as a form of punishment, further stripping them of their dignity. These acts were not scripted or suggested by the experimenters but emerged spontaneously from the guards’ increasing need to assert control.
By the fifth day, two more prisoners had left due to severe emotional trauma. The remaining prisoners showed a range of reactions, from passivity and despair to complete mental collapse. The guards used the “Hole,” initially intended as a solitary confinement space, to isolate and punish those who resisted. They placed Prisoner 819 in the Hole after he refused to follow orders. When he broke down in tears, the guards forced the other prisoners to chant that 819 was “a bad prisoner,” pushing him further into psychological distress.
Interestingly, Zimbardo himself became so engrossed in his role that he failed to recognize the extent of the psychological damage being inflicted. He later admitted that he viewed the events as part of the simulation rather than as real suffering. It was only when an outsider, Dr. Christina Maslach, visited the prison and expressed shock at the guards’ cruelty that Zimbardo realized the need to end the experiment.
The experiment reached the turning point when Dr. Christina Maslach, a graduate student and Zimbardo’s girlfriend at the time, visited the mock prison. She became the first outsider to witness the situation and felt horrified by the guards’ cruelty, the prisoners’ suffering, and Zimbardo’s detachment from the ethical implications of the study. Maslach confronted Zimbardo, challenging the morality of continuing the experiment. Her intervention prompted Zimbardo to end the experiment after just six days, even though he had planned for it to last two weeks.
Another detail that is often overlooked is the impact of the experiment on the participants after it ended. Many of the former guards reported feeling conflicted and disturbed by their behavior during the experiment, with some expressing guilt over the way they had treated their peers. Similarly, the prisoners struggled to reconcile their feelings of helplessness and degradation with their lives outside the experiment. These psychological effects lingered long after the study had concluded.
