The Evil Psychology Behind A Cops Uniform And Badge. The Stanford Prison Experiment Revisited

In 1971, a bizarre experiment funded by the US Navy, and carried out in the basement of Stanford U, showed exactly how quickly normal, everyday people can quickly turn into psychotic creeps, just because they are given authority over others. But one of the major findings of the experiment was the effect of the uniform, and in the experiment, a baton and handcuffs.

The researchers set up a mock prison in the basement of Standford University’spsychology building, and then selected 24 undergraduate students to play the roles of both prisoners and guards. The participants were selected from a larger group of 70 volunteers because they had no criminal background, lacked psychological issues and had no major medical conditions. The volunteers agreed to participate for a one- to two-week period in exchange for $15 a day.

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While the Stanford Prison Experiment was originally slated to last 14 days, it had to be stopped after just six days due to what was happening to the student participants. The guards became abusive and the prisoners began to show signs of extreme stress and anxiety.

While the prisoners and guards were allowed to interact in any way they wanted, the interactions were generally hostile or even dehumanizing. The guards began to behave in ways that were aggressive and abusive toward the prisoners, while the prisoners became passive and depressed. Five of the prisoners began to experience such severe negative emotions, including crying and acute anxiety, that they had to be released from the study early.

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