A Quiet Sunday Morning...

To help us closely simulate a prison environment, we called upon the

services of experienced consultants. Foremost among them was a former
On a quiet Sunday morning in August, a Palo Alto, California, police car prisoner who had served nearly seventeen years behind bars. This consultant
swept through the town picking up college students as part of a mass arrest made us aware of what it was like to be a prisoner. He also introduced us to a
for violation of Penal Codes 211, Armed Robbery, and Burglary, a 459 PC. number of other ex-convicts and correctional personnel during an earlier
The suspect was picked up at his home, charged, warned of his legal rights, Stanford summer school class we co-taught on "The Psychology of
spread-eagled against the police car, searched, and handcuffed -- often as Imprisonment."
surprised and curious neighbors looked on.
Our prison was constructed by boarding up each end of a corridor in the
The car arrived at the station, the suspect was brought inside, formally basement of Stanford's Psychology Department building. That corridor was
booked, again warned of his Miranda rights, finger printed, and a complete "The Yard" and was the only outside place where prisoners were allowed to
identification was made. The suspect was then taken to a holding cell where walk, eat, or exercise, except to go to the toilet down the hallway (which
he was left blindfolded to ponder his fate and wonder what he had done to prisoners did blindfolded so as not to know the way out of the prison).
get himself into this mess.
To create prison cells, we took the doors off some laboratory rooms and
Volunteers replaced them with specially made doors with steel bars and cell numbers.

What suspects had done was to answer a local newspaper ad calling for At one end of the hall was a small opening through which we could
volunteers in a study of the psychological effects of prison life. We wanted to videotape and record the events that occurred. On the side of the corridor
see what the psychological effects were of becoming a prisoner or prison opposite the cells was a small closet which became "The Hole," or solitary
guard. To do this, we decided to set up a simulated prison and then carefully confinement. It was dark and very confining, about two feet wide and two
note the effects of this institution on the behavior of all those within its walls. feet deep, but tall enough that a "bad prisoner" could stand up.

More than 70 applicants answered our ad and were given diagnostic An intercom system allowed us to secretly bug the cells to monitor what the
interviews and personality tests to eliminate candidates with psychological prisoners discussed, and also to make public announcements to the prisoners.
problems, medical disabilities, or a history of crime or drug abuse. There were no windows or clocks to judge the passage of time, which later
Ultimately, we were left with a sample of 24 college students from the U.S. resulted in some time-distorting experiences.
and Canada who happened to be in the Stanford area and wanted to earn
$15/day by participating in a study. On all dimensions that we were able to With these features in place, our jail was ready to receive its first prisoners,
test or observe, they reacted normally. who were waiting in the detention cells of the Palo Alto Police Department

Our study of prison life began, then, with an average group of healthy, A State of Mild Shock...
intelligent, middle-class males. These boys were arbitrarily divided into two
groups by a flip of the coin. Half were randomly assigned to be guards, the Blindfolded and in a state of mild shock over their surprise arrest by the city
other to be prisoners. It is important to remember that at the beginning of our police, our prisoners were put into a car and driven to the "Stanford County
experiment there were no differences between boys assigned to be a prisoner Jail" for further processing. The prisoners were then brought into our jail one
and boys assigned to be a guard. at a time and greeted by the warden, who conveyed the seriousness of their
offense and their new status as prisoners.
Constructing the Experiment
Humiliation
Each prisoner was systematically searched and stripped naked. He was then The guards were given no specific training on how to be
deloused with a spray, to convey our belief that he may have germs or lice -- guards. Instead they were free, within limits, to do
as can be seen in this series of photos. whatever they thought was necessary to maintain law and
order in the prison and to command the respect of the
A degradation procedure was designed in part to humiliate prisoners and in prisoners. The guards made up their own set of rules,
part to be sure they weren't bringing in any germs to contaminate our jail. which they then carried into effect under the supervision of
The prisoner was then issued a uniform. The main part of this uniform was a Warden David Jaffe, an undergraduate from Stanford
dress, or smock, which each prisoner wore at all times with no underclothes. University. They were warned, however, of the potential
On the smock, in front and in back, was his prison ID number. On each seriousness of their mission and of the possible dangers in
prisoner's right ankle was a heavy chain, bolted on and worn at all times. the situation they were about to enter, as, of course, are real
Rubber sandals were the footwear, and each prisoner covered his hair with a guards who voluntarily take such a dangerous job.
stocking cap made from a woman's nylon stocking.
As with real prisoners, our prisoners expected some
It should be clear that we were trying to create a functional simulation of a harassment, to have their privacy and some of their other
prison -- not a literal prison. Real male prisoners don't wear dresses, but real civil rights violated while they were in prison, and to get a
male prisoners do feel humiliated and do feel emasculated. Our goal was to minimally adequate diet -- all part of their informed
produce similar effects quickly by putting men in a dress without any consent agreement when they volunteered.
underclothes. Indeed, as soon as some of our prisoners were put in these
uniforms they began to walk and to sit differently, and to hold themselves This is what one of our guards looked like. All guards were
differently -- more like a woman than like a man. dressed in identical uniforms of khaki, and they carried a
whistle around their neck and a billy club borrowed from
The chain on their foot, which also is uncommon in most prisons, was used the police. Guards also wore special sun-glasses, an idea I borrowed from the
in order to remind prisoners of the oppressiveness of their environment. Even movie Cool Hand Luke. Mirror sunglasses prevented anyone from seeing
when prisoners were asleep, they could not escape the atmosphere of their eyes or reading their emotions, and thus helped to further promote their
oppression. When a prisoner turned over, the chain would hit his other foot, anonymity. We were, of course, studying not only the prisoners but also the
waking him up and reminding him that he was still in prison, unable to guards, who found themselves in a new power-laden role.
escape even in his dreams.
We began with nine guards and nine prisoners in our jail. Three guards
The use of ID numbers was a way to make prisoners feel anonymous. Each worked each of three eight-hour shifts, while three prisoners occupied each
prisoner had to be called only by his ID number and could only refer to of the three barren cells around the clock. The remaining guards and
himself and the other prisoners by number. prisoners from our sample of 24 were on call in
case they were needed. The cells were so small
The stocking cap on his head was a substitute for having the prisoner's hair that there was room for only three cots on which
shaved off. The process of having one's head shaved, which takes place in the prisoners slept or sat, with room for little else.
most prisons as well as in the military, is designed in part to minimize each
person's individuality, since some people express their individuality through Asserting Authority
hair style or length. It is also a way of getting people to begin complying
with the arbitrary, coercive rules of the institution. At 2:30 A.M. the prisoners were rudely awakened
from sleep by blasting whistles for the first of
Enforcing Law many "counts." The counts served the purpose of
familiarizing the prisoners with their numbers
(counts took place several times each shift and
often at night). But more importantly, these events provided a regular Stanford Human Subjects Research Panel, which was concerned about
occasion for the guards to exercise control over the prisoners. At first, the potential fire threats.)
prisoners were not completely into their roles and did not take the counts too
seriously. They were still trying to assert their independence. The guards, The guards broke into each cell, stripped the prisoners naked, took the beds
too, were feeling out their new roles and were not yet sure how to assert out, forced the ringleaders of the prisoner rebellion into solitary confinement,
authority over their prisoners. This was the beginning of a series of direct and generally began to harass and intimidate the prisoners.
confrontations between the guards and prisoners.
Special Privileges
Push-ups were a common form of physical punishment imposed by the
guards to punish infractions of the rules or displays of improper attitudes The rebellion had been temporarily crushed, but now a new problem faced
toward the guards or institution. When we saw the guards demand push-ups the guards. Sure, nine guards with clubs could put down a rebellion by nine
from the prisoners, we initially thought this was an inappropriate kind of prisoners, but you couldn't have nine guards on duty at all times. It's obvious
punishment for a prison -- a rather juvenile and minimal form of punishment. that our prison budget could not support such a ratio of staff to inmates. So
However, we later learned that push-ups were often used as a form of what were they going to do? One of the guards came up a solution. "Let's use
punishment in Nazi concentration camps, as can be seen in this drawing by a psychological tactics instead of physical ones." Psychological tactics
former concentration camp inmate, Alfred Kantor. It's noteworthy that one of amounted to setting up a privilege cell.
our guards also stepped on the prisoners' backs while they did push-ups, or
made other prisoners sit or step on the backs of fellow prisoners doing their One of the three cells was designated as a "privilege cell." The three
push-ups. prisoners least involved in the rebellion were given special privileges. They
got their uniforms back, got their beds back, and were allowed to wash and
Asserting Independence brush their teeth. The others were not. Privileged prisoners also got to eat
special food in the presence of the other prisoners who had temporarily lost
Because the first day passed without incident, we were surprised and totally the privilege of eating. The effect was to break the solidarity among
unprepared for the rebellion which broke out on the morning of the second prisoners.
day. The prisoners removed their stocking caps, ripped off their numbers,
and barricaded themselves inside the cells by putting their beds against the After half a day of this treatment, the guards then took some of these "good"
door. And now the problem was, what were we going to do about this prisoners and put them into the "bad" cells, and took some of the "bad"
rebellion? The guards were very much angered and frustrated because the prisoners and put them into the "good" cell, thoroughly confusing all the
prisoners also began to taunt and curse them. When the morning shift of prisoners. Some of the prisoners who were the ringleaders now thought that
guards came on, they became upset at the night shift who, they felt, must the prisoners from the privileged cell must be informers, and suddenly, the
have been too lenient. The guards had to handle the rebellion themselves, and prisoners became distrustful of each other. Our ex-convict consultants later
what they did was fascinating for the staff to behold. informed us that a similar tactic is used by real guards in real prisons to break
prisoner alliances. For example, racism is used to pit Blacks, Chicanos, and
At first they insisted that reinforcements be called in. The three guards who Anglos against each other. In fact, in a real prison the greatest threat to any
were waiting on stand-by call at home came in and the night shift of guards prisoner's life comes from fellow prisoners. By dividing and conquering in
voluntarily remained on duty to bolster the morning shift. The guards met this way, guards promote aggression among inmates, thereby deflecting it
and decided to treat force with force. from themselves.

They got a fire extinguisher which shot a stream of skin-chilling carbon The prisoners' rebellion also played an important role in producing greater
dioxide, and they forced the prisoners away from the doors. (The fire solidarity among the guards. Now, suddenly, it was no longer just an
extinguishers were present in compliance with the requirement by the experiment, no longer a simple simulation. Instead, the guards saw the
prisoners as troublemakers who were out to get them, who might really cause
them some harm. In response to this threat, the guards began stepping up Parents and Friends
their control, surveillance, and aggression.
The next day, we held a visiting hour for parents and friends. We were
Every aspect of the prisoners' behavior fell under the total and arbitrary worried that when the parents saw the state of our jail, they might insist on
control of the guards. Even going to the toilet became a privilege which a taking their sons home. To counter this, we manipulated both the situation
guard could grant or deny at his whim. Indeed, after the nightly 10:00 P.M. and the visitors by making the prison environment seem pleasant and benign.
lights out "lock-up," prisoners were often forced to urinate or defecate in a We washed, shaved, and groomed the prisoners, had them clean and polish
bucket that was left in their cell. On occasion the guards would not allow their cells, fed them a big dinner, played music on the intercom, and even had
prisoners to empty these buckets, and soon the prison began to smell of urine an attractive former Stanford cheerleader, Susie Phillips, greet the visitors at
and feces -- further adding to the degrading quality of the environment. our registration desk.

The guards were especially tough on the ringleader of the rebellion, Prisoner When the dozen or so visitors came, full of good humor at what seemed to be
#5401. He was a heavy smoker, and they controlled him by regulating his a novel, fun experience, we systematically brought their behavior under
opportunity to smoke. We later learned, while censoring the prisoners' mail, situational control. They had to register, were made to wait half an hour,
that he was a self-styled radical activist. He had volunteered in order to were told that only two visitors could see any one prisoner, were limited to
"expose" our study, which he mistakenly thought was an establishment tool only ten minutes of visiting time, and had to be under the surveillance of a
to find ways to control student radicals. In fact, he had planned to sell the guard during the visit. Before any parents could enter the visiting area, they
story to an underground newspaper when the experiment was over! However, also had to discuss their son's case with the Warden. Of course, parents
even he fell so completely into the role of prisoner that he was proud to be complained about these arbitrary rules, but remarkably, they complied with
elected leader of the Stanford County Jail Grievance Committee, as revealed them. And so they, too, became bit players in our prison drama, being good
in a letter to his girlfriend. middle-class adults.

The First Prisoner Released Some of the parents got upset when they saw how fatigued and distressed
their son was. But their reaction was to work within the system to appeal
Less than 36 hours into the experiment, Prisoner #8612 began suffering from privately to the Superintendent to make conditions better for their boy. When
acute emotional disturbance, disorganized thinking, uncontrollable crying, one mother told me she had never seen her son looking so bad, I responded
and rage. In spite of all of this, we had already come to think so much like by shifting the blame from the situation to her son. "What's the matter with
prison authorities that we thought he was trying to "con" us -- to fool us into your boy? Doesn't he sleep well?" Then I asked the father, "Don't you think
releasing him. your boy can handle this?"

When our primary prison consultant interviewed Prisoner #8612, the He bristled, "Of course he can -- he's a real tough kid, a leader." Turning to
consultant chided him for being so weak, and told him what kind of abuse he the mother, he said, "Come on Honey, we've wasted enough time already."
could expect from the guards and the prisoners if he were in San Quentin And to me, "See you again at the next visiting time."
Prison. #8612 was then given the offer of becoming an informant in
exchange for no further guard harassment. He was told to think it over. A Mass Escape Plot

During the next count, Prisoner #8612 told other prisoners, "You can't The next major event we had to contend with was a rumored mass escape
leave. You can't quit." That sent a chilling message and heightened their plot. One of the guards overheard the prisoners talking about an escape that
sense of really being imprisoned. #8612 then began to act "crazy," to would take place immediately after visiting hours. The rumor went as
scream, to curse, to go into a rage that seemed out of control. It took follows: Prisoner #8612, whom we had released the night before, was going
quite a while before we became convinced that he was really suffering to round up a bunch of his friends and break in to free the prisoners.
and that we had to release him.
How do you think we reacted to this rumor? Do you think we recorded the The rumor of the prison break turned out to be just a rumor. It never
pattern of rumor transmission and prepared to observe the impending escape? materialized. Imagine our reaction! We had spent an entire day planning to
That was what we should have done, of course, if we were acting like foil the escape, we begged the police department for help, moved our
experimental social psychologists. Instead, we reacted with concern over the prisoners, dismantled most of the prison -- we didn't even collect any data
security of our prison. What we did was to hold a strategy session with the that day. How did we react to this mess? With considerable frustration and
Warden, the Superintendent, and one of the chief lieutenants, Craig Haney, to feelings of dissonance over the effort we had put in to no avail. Someone was
plan how to foil the escape. going to pay for this.

After our meeting, we decided to put an informant (an experimental The guards again escalated very noticeably their level of harassment,
confederate) in the cell that #8612 had occupied. The job of our informant increasing the humiliation they made the prisoners suffer, forcing them to do
would be to give us information about the escape plot. Then I went back to menial, repetitive work such as cleaning out toilet bowls with their bare
the Palo Alto Police Department and asked the sergeant if we could have our hands. The guards had prisoners do push-ups, jumping jacks, whatever the
prisoners transferred to their old jail. My request was turned down because guards could think up, and they increased the length of the counts to several
the Police Department would not be covered by insurance if we moved our hours each.
prisoners into their jail. I left angry and disgusted at this lack of cooperation
between our correctional facilities (I was now totally into my role). At this point in the study, I invited a Catholic priest who had been a prison
chaplain to evaluate how realistic our prison situation was, and the result was
Then we formulated a second plan. The plan was to dismantle our jail after truly Kafkaesque. The chaplain interviewed each prisoner individually, and I
the visitors left, call in more guards, chain the prisoners together, put bags watched in amazement as half the prisoners introduced themselves by
over their heads, and transport them to a fifth floor storage room until after number rather than name. After some small talk, he popped the key question:
the anticipated break in. When the conspirators came, I would be sitting there "Son, what are you doing to get out of here?" When the prisoners responded
alone. I would tell them that the experiment was over and we had sent all of with puzzlement, he explained that the only way to get out of prison was with
their friends home, that there was nothing left to liberate. After they left, we'd the help of a lawyer. He then volunteered to contact their parents to get legal
bring our prisoners back and redouble the security of our prison. We even aid if they wanted him to, and some of the prisoners accepted his offer.
thought of luring #8612 back on some pretext and then imprisoning him
again because he was released on false pretenses. The priest's visit further blurred the line between role-playing and reality. In
daily life this man was a real priest, but he had learned to play a stereotyped,
I was sitting there all alone, waiting anxiously for the intruders to break in, programmed role so well -- talking in a certain way, folding his hands in a
when who should happen along but a colleague and former Yale graduate prescribed manner -- that he seemed more like a movie version of a priest
student roommate, Gordon Bower. Gordon had heard we were doing an than a real priest, thereby adding to the uncertainty we were all feeling about
experiment, and he came to see what was going on. I briefly described what where our roles ended and our personal identities began. The only prisoner
we were up to, and Gordon asked me a very simple question: "Say, what's the who did not want to speak to the priest was Prisoner #819, who was feeling
independent variable in this study?" sick, had refused to eat, and wanted to see a doctor rather than a priest.
Eventually he was persuaded to come out of his cell and talk to the priest and
To my surprise, I got really angry at him. Here I had a prison break on my superintendent so we could see what kind of a doctor he needed. While
hands. The security of my men and the stability of my prison was at stake, talking to us, he broke down and began to cry hysterically, just as had the
and now, I had to deal with this bleeding-heart, liberal, academic, effete other two boys we released earlier. I took the chain off his foot, the cap off
dingdong who was concerned about the independent variable! It wasn't until his head, and told him to go and rest in a room that was adjacent to the prison
much later that I realized how far into my prison role I was at that point -- yard. I said that I would get him some food and then take him to see a doctor.
that I was thinking like a prison superintendent rather than a research
psychologist. While I was doing this, one of the guards lined up the other prisoners and had
them chant aloud: "Prisoner #819 is a bad prisoner. Because of what Prisoner
#819 did, my cell is a mess, Mr. Correctional Officer." They shouted this situation. One prisoner developed a psychosomatic rash over his entire body
statement in unison a dozen times. As soon as I realized that #819 could hear when he learned that his parole request had been turned down. Others tried to
the chanting, I raced back to the room where I had left him, and what I found cope by being good prisoners, doing everything the guards wanted them to
was a boy sobbing uncontrollably while in the background his fellow do. One of them was even nicknamed "Sarge," because he was so military-
prisoners were yelling that he was a bad prisoner. No longer was the chanting like in executing all commands.
disorganized and full of fun, as it had been on the first day. Now it was
marked by utter confomity and compliance, as if a single voice was saying, By the end of the study, the prisoners were disintegrated, both as a group and
"#819 is bad." I suggested we leave, but he refused. Through his tears, he as individuals. There was no longer any group unity; just a bunch of isolated
said he could not leave because the others had labeled him a bad prisoner. individuals hanging on, much like prisoners of war or hospitalized mental
Even though he was feeling sick, he wanted to go back and prove he was not patients. The guards had won total control of the prison, and they
a bad prisoner. commanded the blind obedience of each prisoner.

At that point I said, "Listen, you are not #819. You are [his name], and my One Final Act of Rebellion
name is Dr. Zimbardo. I am a psychologist, not a prison superintendent, and
this is not a real prison. This is just an experiment, and those are students, not We did see one final act of rebellion. Prisoner #416 was newly admitted as
prisoners, just like you. Let's go." one of our stand-by prisoners. Unlike the other prisoners, who had
experienced a gradual escalation of harassment, this prisoner's horror was
He stopped crying suddenly, looked up at me like a small child awakened full-blown when he arrived. The "old timer" prisoners told him that quitting
from a nightmare, and replied, "Okay, let's go." was impossible, that it was a real prison.

Types of Guards Prisoner #416 coped by going on a hunger strike to force his release. After
several unsuccessful attempts to get #416 to eat, the guards threw him into
By the fifth day, a new relationship had emerged between prisoners and solitary confinement for three hours, even though their own rules stated that
guards. The guards now fell into their job more easily -- a job which at times one hour was the limit. Still, #416 refused.
was boring and at times was interesting.
At this point #416 should have been a hero to the other prisoners. But
There were three types of guards. First, there were tough but fair guards who instead, the others saw him as a troublemaker. The head guard then exploited
followed prison rules. Second, there were "good guys" who did little favors this feeling by giving prisoners a choice. They could have #416 come out of
for the prisoners and never punished them. And finally, about a third of the solitary if they were willing to give up their blanket, or they could leave #416
guards were hostile, arbitrary, and inventive in their forms of prisoner in solitary all night. What do you think they chose? Most elected to keep
humiliation. These guards appeared to thoroughly enjoy the power they their blanket and let their fellow prisoner suffer in solitary all night. (We
wielded, yet none of our preliminary personality tests were able to predict intervened later and returned #416 to his cell.)
this behavior. The only link between personality and prison behavior was a
finding that prisoners with a high degree of authoritarianism endured our An End to the Experiment
authoritarian prison environment longer than did other prisoners.
On the fifth night, some visiting parents asked me to contact a lawyer in
Prisoners' Coping Styles order to get their son out of prison. They said a Catholic priest had called to
tell them they should get a lawyer or public defender if they wanted to bail
Prisoners coped with their feelings of frustration and powerlessness in a their son out! I called the lawyer as requested, and he came the next day to
variety of ways. At first, some prisoners rebelled or fought with the guards. interview the prisoners with a standard set of legal questions, even though he,
Four prisoners reacted by breaking down emotionally as a way to escape the too, knew it was just an experiment.
At this point it became clear that we had to end the study. We had created an
overwhelmingly powerful situation -- a situation in which prisoners were
withdrawing and behaving in pathological ways, and in which some of the
guards were behaving sadistically. Even the "good" guards felt helpless to
intervene, and none of the guards quit while the study was in progress.
Indeed, it should be noted that no guard ever came late for his shift, called in
sick, left early, or demanded extra pay for overtime work.

I ended the study prematurely for two reasons. First, we had learned through
videotapes that the guards were escalating their abuse of prisoners in the
middle of the night when they thought no researchers were watching and the
experiment was "off." Their boredom had driven them to ever more
pornographic and degrading abuse of the prisoners.

Second, Christina Maslach, a recent Stanford Ph.D. brought in to conduct

interviews with the guards and prisoners, strongly objected when she saw our
prisoners being marched on a toilet run, bags over their heads, legs chained
together, hands on each other's shoulders. Filled with outrage, she said, "It's
terrible what you are doing to these boys!" Out of 50 or more outsiders who
had seen our prison, she was the only one who ever questioned its morality.
Once she countered the power of the situation, however, it became clear that
the study should be ended.

And so, after only six days, our planned two-week prison simulation was
called off.