Das Experiment
While browsing my favorite movie review site, I came across a synopsis for a German film that I distinctly remember almost buying on DVD last Summer, but eventually passing up. I had no idea the movie was based on true events, but the synopsis makes reference to a surprising event that I’d never heard of, the Stanford Prison Experiment. Wikipedia has some info on it, though it seems to be largely taken from the official site. Interestingly enough, there are some surprising similarities between the experiment and the Abu Ghraib prison scandal. Fortunately, such experiments are a thing of the past. Right?
Comment by Jim
I have a whole section of my last semester’s psych book devoted to the prison experiment. It was a pretty interesting topic, and I agree about the similarities. I remember seeing an interview during class with two of the participants, one guard and one inmate. They both said that it was a very surreal personal transformation … they had no desire to behave the way they did…. and they wouldn’t believe they were capable of such behavior were it not for the video of the experiment ….. Perhaps I’ll check out the film as well.
Posted on September 16, 2004 at 10:59 am