Violation of Basic Human Rights using the Stanford Prison Experiment Ethical issues in Psychology

Violation of Basic Human Rights using the Stanford Prison Experiment Ethical issues in Psychology

For this paper, I will explore the ethical issues in Psychology, more specifically the violation of basic human rights in the example of the Stanford Prison Experiment. The following questions will be addressed: Was the Stanford Prison Experiment worth the consequences it had on the participants? Was it morally right to put the participants in these conditions without their full consent? I will first begin by discussing the experiment and then explain how it was conducted. I will also briefly explain the American Psychological Association guidelines relevant to this example using three of their APA codes: beneficence, autonomy and justice.

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Then, I will discuss two contrasting theories, the first will be the theory of utilitarianism and if the consequences of the experiment justify the means; in this experiment it seems that the findings justify the actions that took place. The second theory will focus on the Kantian ethics, more specifically the Categorical Imperative 2 where the experiment will be categorized as morally justified or morally unjustified; it seems that using the Categorical Imperative 2 makes the experiment morally unjustified. Finally, I will present my point of view on the ethics of this experiment, which is derived from both theories such that I believe that the findings of the experiment can morally justify the actions that Zimbardo permitted the prison experiment.

First of all, what are human rights? As stated by Murthy (2010) human rights are: “another basis for making ethical judgments. The most basic human rights are to have claims or entitlements that enable; a person to survive, to make free choices, to realize one’s potential as a human being (a right means that a person or a group is entitled to do something or entitled to be treated in a certain way).” The Stanford Prison Experiment was a violation of human rights because the prisoners’ rights were revoked.

The Stanford Prison experiment took place in 1971 by Professor Philip
Zimbardo. This experiment was held at Stanford University. The aim of this study was “to investigate how readily people would conform to the roles of guard and prisoner in a role-playing exercise that simulated prison life (McLeod, 2008).” The men that were chosen to do this experiment went through a series of tests. Zimbardo chose twenty-four participants that were randomly assigned to the role of guard or prisoner. This experiment would last two weeks and each man would be paid 15$ a day. The guards were the first to have a meeting and were told to keep order in the prison. They were also given uniforms and mirror-reflective sunglasses.

The prisoners were, on the other hand, arrested without notice at their home were strip-searched without consent. They were to wear white robes and had a chain to their ankle. Within a very short period of time the participants started to settle into their roles. The guards quickly became more authoritative and also sadistic, they started to harass the prisoners and became very violent. They were enjoying their role of power. The prisoners became more submissive. After thirty-six hours, one prisoner had to leave the institution because he started to “have uncontrollable bursts of screaming, crying and anger; his thinking became disorganized an…………………………………