Prisoner Behavior Analysis

McLeaod (2008) determined how individuals conform to the roles of prisoner and guard using a role-playing experiment. Past studies have shown that prison guard’s cruelty is due to dispositional and environmental factors. Guard and prisoners have personalities that lead to conflicts. Prisoners lack respect for order and law while the guards are considered violent and domineering. On the other hand, guards and prisoners behave in an hostile way because of the inflexible power structure found in the prison environment. McLeaod (2008) recruited 70 participants to participate in the study who were interviewed and completed personality tests to determine whether they met the inclusion criteria. Only those who had no psychological issues, medical
Individuals conform to the roles defined by the society particularly if the roles are considered stereotyped like the roles of guards in prisons. The prison environment creates the brutal behavioral demonstrated by guards as the subjects did not demonstrate aggressive tendencies before conducting the research (McLeaod, 2008). The researcher attributed the behaviors to deindividuation as the guards were immersed in the group norms and lost their sense of identity and responsibility. The guards behaved brutality as they believed it was the norm of the group and not personal responsibility. The uniform could have contributed to the loss of identity. The learned defenselessness led to submission by inmates. They believed what they did had no significant effect on what happened to them. Therefore, the findings are necessary to changing the prison culture including group norms to make sure guards are personally responsible for their actions and do not lose their identity. Also, the establishment of a new culture will prevent helplessness among the inmates and avoid mistreatment (McLeaod,
Therefore, there is no social responsibility to continue with the study as it is detrimental to individuals and society. The study focused on understanding why inmates and guards behave the way they do including being aggressive, and submissive (McLeaod, 2008). The findings are useful in developing a new culture in prisons to avoid harassment and mistreatment of inmates. Nevertheless, the study is unethical as it causes harm to the prisoners. The subjects were arrested at their households without being warned and taken to the police stations where they were blindfolded and taken to the psychology department. The deindividuation process started after the inmates were taken to the prison. The inmates were stripped naked and given prison clothes and beddings and also they had a locked chain on the ankle which was considered dehumanizing. The inmates were insulted and dehumanized and punished using push-ups (McLeaod, 2008). Further, the researcher ignored the principles of informed consent and voluntary participation and this could have affected the participants’ decision to participate in the research. It was not clear whether the subjects voluntarily took part in the research and understood the benefits and risks such as the risk of developing depression, dehumanization and mistreatment. Therefore,