Parent Guide > The Stanford Prison Experiment
Welcome to the parent guide for this text! Read below to find out about what your child is reading in class and how you can support him/her at home.
This week in class, we’re reading "The Stanford Prison Experiment" by Saul McLeod.
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.
As we read, we will be discussing the themes of Morality and Power & Greed as they relate to the text. We are trying to answer these big questions :
"Why do people do bad things?" and "How does power corrupt?"
Ways to support your child:
-
Ask your child about this informational text at home:
- What was "The Stanford Prison Experiment" about?
- What did you learn about Morality?
- What did you learn about Power & Greed?
- Watch the following clips with your child at home: