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ZIMBARDO: Okay, this is it, right down here.
ZIMBARDO: This is where it all happened in the summer of 1971.
ZIMBARDO: You can see over on the wall, one of the prisoners etched
the days of the week
to mark the passage of time, starting on Sunday, Monday, through the rest of the week.
WOMAN: How long did the study last?
ZIMBARDO: Well, we were gonna run it for two weeks, but we had to end it after only six days.
MAN: Why was that?
ZIMBARDO: Hi, I'm Philip Zimbardo.
In this study that we're about to do in the Stanford Prison...uh...University.
We're gonna turn it into...uh-uh-uh-uh-a prison.
When we take normal students.....
who are people that I think
are students here at...
uh, Stanford...
and turn them into, uh, into criminals.
Okay, half of the students are gonna be guards and the other half are gonna be, uh...
prisoners!
This is what I call the power of the situation...just...just...
take over!
And...
this--this is a very
im---im...
important phenomenon because...
...as me...I--I--I know that.
In a situation such as this, we have to take
people who have already passed the psychological test...
...really well.
Guard! He's gonna be a guard....
who I think is gonna be participating in this.
And each time I think about it even more...I'm just...
I'm just amazed at what's going on in this study thing.
What exactly are we gonna learn from this study?
How the power of the situation takes over!
And just changes people for the...for the best or the worst.
Ordinary people can suddenly just change into things
that are very different from what they'd normally be....
in a different situation.
This is--this is somewhat similar to the actual...
prison study that I did when I got arrested.
You know...as Philip Zimbardo..I---I just...
That's--that's me! And that's who I feel
I've always been.
We're gonna see what happens to these students
And just see what happens to them, when this happens too.
because a lot of things can happen and we're not sure all of the time what really can happen...
but we're just gonna have to find out.
I haven't been able to hope for these types of things for a while.
You see...when--when---when doing something like this, uh...
you have to take into account the, uh, the necessary precautions that all psychologists have to take.
...A really, really dangerous study...
My plan here is, uh...
...is , uh...I'm gonna, uh....
we're just gonna place the students in the prison and see what happens.
But the good thing about this is....is that...uh... it just
draws all the attention away.
I just can't hold it in, you know? My...my...my feelings about this...
this---this project.
I get just so excited that I think I'm a prison warden....
...not that I haven't been to prison before.
It's just all about having fun and---and---and being with family and...uh...
The thing that I like the most about this is that everyone gets a chance, you know,
everyone gets a chance (stuttering) to---to just---just--just...have fun and be with family.
There is some element of risk involved
so we have to keep his mind that...that...uh...
people's safety comes first.
The power of the situation can be very compelling and it can really change us around.
We have to take (stuttering) the---the---the right precautions
just to make sure that everything goes well.
I---I---I feel like I'm accomplishing something here with this Stanford Prison Study...and that's
the good thing about it all: you feel like you're doing something good for the community.
But it may not get us anywhere.
This is, uh, this is dangerous stuff we're dealing with.
You, know...
placing people in prisons and everything...I...
(stuttering) b--b--but..uh...the good thing is that, uh, everybody gets t-to
have the surprise and...
SURPRISE!
And---and---and that's---that's what it's all about.
What I like is that everyone gets to have a chance to-to-to just participate and be a part of the-the-the study--no one...no one's
left out. No one...no one's left out of my study.
Tha-that-that's the good thing: no-no one's left out...
'Cause I'm so excited!
Th-th-th-th-the thing that I like most
about this study is that...is that it's all about havin' fun..we're all just
we're just a big family and....we-we-we...
Anyway, the thing that II'm trying to say here is
that...when-when-when...in psychology we have to, uh...
we're forced to do certain things sometimes.
And then this is one of them.
WILLIAM MARSHALL: Dinosaur Valley.
ZIMBARDO: "...You're supposed to be...and then we had a big argument...you're supposed to be a psychologist.
"This is interesting, dynamic behavior in such a few days...the power of the situation."
He says, "No-no, it's that young boys are suffering and you are responsible for letting it happen."