THE POWER OF THE SITUATION In his 1972 Stanford Prison study, Philip Zimbardo created a toxic situation (left). Those assigned to the guard role soon began to abuse those playing the role of prisoners. In real life in 2004, some U.S. military guards abused Iraqi prisoners at the U.S.-run Abu Ghraib prison (right). To Zimbardo (2004, 2007), a bad barrel, not a few bad apples, led to the abuse: “When ordinary people are put in a novel, evil place, such as most prisons, Situations Win, People Lose.”
Philip G. Zimbardo, Inc.
AP Photo
AP Photo