Passage Summary:
The Stanford Prison Experiment was conducted by Phillip Zimbardo in 1971. By organizing an exercise that simulated prison life, Zimbardo intended to discover how quickly people conformed to the roles of guard and prisoner. While many people thought that brutality reported among American prison guards had to do with personalities, some thought it had to do with the prison environment.
When and How to Pair:
Have students read this study after they finish Chapter 11, when Ralph and Jack struggle for leadership, in order to examine social roles in the text and the concepts of “leaders” and “followers.” How is Jack’s treatment of the other boys, when he becomes the leader, similar to how the guards treat and view prisoners in the experiment? How does the boys’ response to Jack assuming a leadership role support the findings of the experiment, that people will fill the social roles expected of them? What social roles are the boys of Jack’s tribe expected to fill? How do the social roles that the boys take on contribute to their cruel treatment of each other?