Abstract
"In the summer of 1971, Philip Zimbardo, Craig Haney, and Curtis Banks carried out a psychological experiment to test a simple question: What happens when you put good people in an evil place - does humanity win over evil, or does evil triumph? to explore this question college student volunteers were pretested and randomly assigned to play the role of prisoner or guard in a simulated prison at Stanford University. Although the students were mentally healthy and knew they were taking part in an experiment, some guards soon became sadistic and the prisoners showed signs of acute stress and depression. After only six days, the planned two-week study spun out of control and had to be ended to prevent further abuse of the prisoners. This dramatic demonstration of the power of social situations is relevant to many institutional settings, such as the Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq." [description from the DVD case] "This DVD contains a 50-minute documentary film as well as a bonus 70-image slide show of archival photographs from the study. The film, Quiet Rage, has been shown in thousands of classrooms around the world and is sure to stimulate critical thinking and discussion. Narrated by Philip Zimbardo, the documentary uses original footage, flashbacks, post-experiment interviews with the prisoners and guards, and comparisons with real-life prisons." [description from the DVD case] "Guaranteed to stimulate critical thinking and discussion, the film features archival footage, flashbacks, post-experiment interviews with the prisoners and guards, and comparisons with real prisons. It documents the surprise arrests by city police and vividly shows the pathology that developed among participants forcing the two- week study to be terminated after only 6 days. Viewer-tested previews reveal its value across many high school and college courses and among a variety of community audiences, including correctional, judicial, military, and civic." [description from the Stanford Prison Experiment website]
