3 MIND CONTROL IN THE 21st CENTURY THE STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT
Signs of the Times
for Sat, 04 Feb 2006
Mind Control
3 MIND CONTROL IN THE 21st CENTURY THE STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT
Compiled by Ralph W. Omholt AIRLINE CAPTAIN skydrifter@comcast.net
Stanford psychology Professor Philip Zimbardo, said to be a high school classmate of Milgram, took the issue of simple "authority" to the level of "power over others," in his 1971 "Experimental Prison" study.
The essence of that experiment demonstrated the propensity for ‘normal’ people to succumb to primal deviant behavior. Of particular note is that the director of that experiment, Professor Philip Zimbardo, fell prey, as well. It took his soon-to-be wife, to shock him back to a civilized mindset.
While the ‘experiment’ was intended to be a simple role-playing observation platform; the players - and the researchers - ‘psycho-morphed’ into a deviant mindset, as though passing through a time-warp; into another solar system. Again, the primary mechanism was "Perception Control."
In the "Stanford Prison Experiment," the distinction must be made between ‘externally incited’ perception, versus spontaneous self-perception. As with the Milgram experiments, environment played a dominant role.
Zimbardo's stated reason for conducting the experiment was to examine the ‘power’ of such variables as roles, regulations, group identities, symbols and "…situational validation of behavior," which would probably repulse and disgust the ordinary individual.
In the background of the "prison" experiment, Zimbardo previously conducted research on what he described as "…de-individuation, vandalism and dehumanization;" in an attempt to illustrate how easily that ordinary people could be incited to engage in anti-social acts. The associated environment of the earlier experiments embraced situations where the participating individual felt anonymous, or wherein they could perceive others to be less than ‘human,’ as ‘enemies’ or even ‘objects.’
In the subsequent/consequent "prison" experiment, 70 young men were "arrested." Most were college students, paid $15 a day for two weeks.
The brief duration of the experiment is highly significant, relative to the noted transformation of character.
The participants volunteered as subjects for an experiment on prison life; advertised by a local paper. They were put through the expected interviews and a battery of psychological tests. Twenty-four of those ‘arrested,’ deemed to be the most normal, average and healthy, were selected. They were assigned randomly, as either ‘guards’ or ‘prisoners.‘ The "prisoners" were booked at a real jail, blindfolded and driven to the college campus makeshift prison.
Bear in mind, that the players (test subjects) ALL were consciously aware that the mission was role-playing; not reality. Yet, in the fashion of "Lord of the Flies," they devised their own social value system.
The ‘guards’ were issued uniforms; instructed not to use violence. They were told that their job was to maintain control over the prison.
On the second day of the experiment, the ‘prisoners’ staged a revolt. Once the ‘guards’ had crushed the rebellion, the ‘guards’ spontaneously increased coercive aggression tactics, against the ‘prisoners.’ Their tactics included the humiliation and dehumanization of the ‘prisoners.’ In consequence, the college staff had to frequently admonish the ‘guards’ against such tactics.
In particular, the worst noted instances of abuse took place in the middle of the night, when the guards believed that the college staff was not watching over the experiment. The treatment of the prisoners went to such tactics as forcing the ‘prisoners’ to clean out toilet bowls with their bare hands; acting out degrading scenarios. The ‘guards’ also urged the ‘prisoners’ to become snitches. The loss of control caused the college staff to note the extreme stress reactions, forcing the release of five prisoners, one per day, prematurely.
PERSONALITY DIVERGENCE
During the experiment, Zimbardo’s fiancé, Dr. Christina Maslach, began her observation of the experiment, starting the evening of the fifth day. Her role was to conduct subject interviews. In her words, she initially found it "dull and boring."
During her assignment, she encountered what was described as a pleasant conversation with a "charming, funny, smart" young man awaiting the start his guard work shift. Independently, other researchers had previously advised her that they were watching a particularly sadistic ‘guard,’ nicknamed by both prisoners and the other guards as "John Wayne." Dr. Maslach later discovered that "John Wayne" was the same young man that she had previously talked with.
The "compartmentalization" was extreme. In his "John Wayne" role, the person radically transformed; even speaking with a Southern accent. Even his body motions were different, as was his interaction with the ‘prisoners.’ She said, "It was like [seeing] Jekyll and Hyde. . . . It really took my breath away."
It was clear that this ‘guard’ had gone to the adaptive extreme of inventing his own mythology, even in a known ‘make-believe’ world. His dissociative adaptation served as a firewall, between his actions and his conscience; even in a known time-limited environment. That, in turn, empowered his actions. Again, he was consciously aware that he was in a role-playing experiment – only.
Christina described that several prisoners engaged "John Wayne" in a debate; accusing him of enjoying his job. He claimed that he wasn't really like that; that he was just playing his assigned role. One ‘prisoner’ challenged "John Wayne" on the matter, citing the history that he had tripped him earlier, as he was taking the prisoner down the hall to the bathroom. The ‘prisoner’ addressed the fact that no researchers were around to witness the treatment, indicating that the act came out of "John Wayne’s" true character and disposition. "John Wayne" defended himself, insisting (rationalizing) that that if he let up, his role wouldn't remain powerful.
Maslach described that she became sick to her stomach, while observing the ‘guards’ marching ‘prisoners,’ with paper bags over their heads, to the bathroom. She reported that her fellow researchers teased her about her reaction. Given the nature of the experiment and the credentials of the researchers, the divergence in ‘professional’ attitude is no small indicator.
After a later emotional encounter with her fiancé, Zimbardo was forced back to reality, becoming aware of the transformation of the researchers, ‘guards’ and ‘prisoners,’ alike. Thus, the experiment was terminated, given Maslach’s illumination of the matter of "professional accountability."
Maslach married Zimbardo in 1972.
Automatically, one’s mind goes to the Iraq Abu Grhaib scandal; questioning how such events could happen, against such well-known studies as Milgram and Zimbardo; let alone the known Nazi horrors of W.W. II. There is a reasonable presumption that such would be far beneath the dignity of American troops.
However, it should not be lost that the deeds were not only admitted by the Pentagon and White House (with extreme reluctance), but were defended, with an insistence that the U.S. forces had a unique "right" to conduct torture, certainly levels of coercion, which clearly violated the Geneva Conventions. The world ignored the Geneva Conventions’ prohibition on the military use of penitentiaries; the prison use continued.
It should be noted, also, that Abu Grhaib was not the first, nor the exclusive location of such atrocities. Among other matters, the U.S. forces had bombed an Afghan POW facility, during the Johnny Spann / John Walker Lindh debacle, at Mazir I Sharif. Such was a grievous violation of the Geneva Conventions.
Yet, what does the global public believe? EXTREME CONDITIONING Next, go to the study of W.W. I "shell shock" and the near-zombies which that effect produced – as studied by the Tavistock Institute. Next, visit the LSD and amphetamine studies of the CIA’s "MKULTRA" project. Move onward, to the sciences of Propaganda, Psychological Operations and "Coercive Persuasion" (Jonestown tactics). One quickly arrives at the ease of manufacturing a "Manchurian Candidate!" Oswald, Ruby, Sirhan, James Earl Ray, McVeigh; there are plenty of examples in the USA, alone. However, these will be more astutely observed as "Manchurian Patsies." The suggestion is that a reliable transformation process is available, which begins with the "shock" of hallucinogens; followed by a regimen of amphetamines, hypnosis and reinforcement methods; possibly to the extreme of drug addiction to amphetamines, in particular.
for Sat, 04 Feb 2006
Mind Control
3 MIND CONTROL IN THE 21st CENTURY THE STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT
Compiled by Ralph W. Omholt AIRLINE CAPTAIN skydrifter@comcast.net
Stanford psychology Professor Philip Zimbardo, said to be a high school classmate of Milgram, took the issue of simple "authority" to the level of "power over others," in his 1971 "Experimental Prison" study.
The essence of that experiment demonstrated the propensity for ‘normal’ people to succumb to primal deviant behavior. Of particular note is that the director of that experiment, Professor Philip Zimbardo, fell prey, as well. It took his soon-to-be wife, to shock him back to a civilized mindset.
While the ‘experiment’ was intended to be a simple role-playing observation platform; the players - and the researchers - ‘psycho-morphed’ into a deviant mindset, as though passing through a time-warp; into another solar system. Again, the primary mechanism was "Perception Control."
In the "Stanford Prison Experiment," the distinction must be made between ‘externally incited’ perception, versus spontaneous self-perception. As with the Milgram experiments, environment played a dominant role.
Zimbardo's stated reason for conducting the experiment was to examine the ‘power’ of such variables as roles, regulations, group identities, symbols and "…situational validation of behavior," which would probably repulse and disgust the ordinary individual.
In the background of the "prison" experiment, Zimbardo previously conducted research on what he described as "…de-individuation, vandalism and dehumanization;" in an attempt to illustrate how easily that ordinary people could be incited to engage in anti-social acts. The associated environment of the earlier experiments embraced situations where the participating individual felt anonymous, or wherein they could perceive others to be less than ‘human,’ as ‘enemies’ or even ‘objects.’
In the subsequent/consequent "prison" experiment, 70 young men were "arrested." Most were college students, paid $15 a day for two weeks.
The brief duration of the experiment is highly significant, relative to the noted transformation of character.
The participants volunteered as subjects for an experiment on prison life; advertised by a local paper. They were put through the expected interviews and a battery of psychological tests. Twenty-four of those ‘arrested,’ deemed to be the most normal, average and healthy, were selected. They were assigned randomly, as either ‘guards’ or ‘prisoners.‘ The "prisoners" were booked at a real jail, blindfolded and driven to the college campus makeshift prison.
Bear in mind, that the players (test subjects) ALL were consciously aware that the mission was role-playing; not reality. Yet, in the fashion of "Lord of the Flies," they devised their own social value system.
The ‘guards’ were issued uniforms; instructed not to use violence. They were told that their job was to maintain control over the prison.
On the second day of the experiment, the ‘prisoners’ staged a revolt. Once the ‘guards’ had crushed the rebellion, the ‘guards’ spontaneously increased coercive aggression tactics, against the ‘prisoners.’ Their tactics included the humiliation and dehumanization of the ‘prisoners.’ In consequence, the college staff had to frequently admonish the ‘guards’ against such tactics.
In particular, the worst noted instances of abuse took place in the middle of the night, when the guards believed that the college staff was not watching over the experiment. The treatment of the prisoners went to such tactics as forcing the ‘prisoners’ to clean out toilet bowls with their bare hands; acting out degrading scenarios. The ‘guards’ also urged the ‘prisoners’ to become snitches. The loss of control caused the college staff to note the extreme stress reactions, forcing the release of five prisoners, one per day, prematurely.
PERSONALITY DIVERGENCE
During the experiment, Zimbardo’s fiancé, Dr. Christina Maslach, began her observation of the experiment, starting the evening of the fifth day. Her role was to conduct subject interviews. In her words, she initially found it "dull and boring."
During her assignment, she encountered what was described as a pleasant conversation with a "charming, funny, smart" young man awaiting the start his guard work shift. Independently, other researchers had previously advised her that they were watching a particularly sadistic ‘guard,’ nicknamed by both prisoners and the other guards as "John Wayne." Dr. Maslach later discovered that "John Wayne" was the same young man that she had previously talked with.
The "compartmentalization" was extreme. In his "John Wayne" role, the person radically transformed; even speaking with a Southern accent. Even his body motions were different, as was his interaction with the ‘prisoners.’ She said, "It was like [seeing] Jekyll and Hyde. . . . It really took my breath away."
It was clear that this ‘guard’ had gone to the adaptive extreme of inventing his own mythology, even in a known ‘make-believe’ world. His dissociative adaptation served as a firewall, between his actions and his conscience; even in a known time-limited environment. That, in turn, empowered his actions. Again, he was consciously aware that he was in a role-playing experiment – only.
Christina described that several prisoners engaged "John Wayne" in a debate; accusing him of enjoying his job. He claimed that he wasn't really like that; that he was just playing his assigned role. One ‘prisoner’ challenged "John Wayne" on the matter, citing the history that he had tripped him earlier, as he was taking the prisoner down the hall to the bathroom. The ‘prisoner’ addressed the fact that no researchers were around to witness the treatment, indicating that the act came out of "John Wayne’s" true character and disposition. "John Wayne" defended himself, insisting (rationalizing) that that if he let up, his role wouldn't remain powerful.
Maslach described that she became sick to her stomach, while observing the ‘guards’ marching ‘prisoners,’ with paper bags over their heads, to the bathroom. She reported that her fellow researchers teased her about her reaction. Given the nature of the experiment and the credentials of the researchers, the divergence in ‘professional’ attitude is no small indicator.
After a later emotional encounter with her fiancé, Zimbardo was forced back to reality, becoming aware of the transformation of the researchers, ‘guards’ and ‘prisoners,’ alike. Thus, the experiment was terminated, given Maslach’s illumination of the matter of "professional accountability."
Maslach married Zimbardo in 1972.
Automatically, one’s mind goes to the Iraq Abu Grhaib scandal; questioning how such events could happen, against such well-known studies as Milgram and Zimbardo; let alone the known Nazi horrors of W.W. II. There is a reasonable presumption that such would be far beneath the dignity of American troops.
However, it should not be lost that the deeds were not only admitted by the Pentagon and White House (with extreme reluctance), but were defended, with an insistence that the U.S. forces had a unique "right" to conduct torture, certainly levels of coercion, which clearly violated the Geneva Conventions. The world ignored the Geneva Conventions’ prohibition on the military use of penitentiaries; the prison use continued.
It should be noted, also, that Abu Grhaib was not the first, nor the exclusive location of such atrocities. Among other matters, the U.S. forces had bombed an Afghan POW facility, during the Johnny Spann / John Walker Lindh debacle, at Mazir I Sharif. Such was a grievous violation of the Geneva Conventions.
Yet, what does the global public believe? EXTREME CONDITIONING Next, go to the study of W.W. I "shell shock" and the near-zombies which that effect produced – as studied by the Tavistock Institute. Next, visit the LSD and amphetamine studies of the CIA’s "MKULTRA" project. Move onward, to the sciences of Propaganda, Psychological Operations and "Coercive Persuasion" (Jonestown tactics). One quickly arrives at the ease of manufacturing a "Manchurian Candidate!" Oswald, Ruby, Sirhan, James Earl Ray, McVeigh; there are plenty of examples in the USA, alone. However, these will be more astutely observed as "Manchurian Patsies." The suggestion is that a reliable transformation process is available, which begins with the "shock" of hallucinogens; followed by a regimen of amphetamines, hypnosis and reinforcement methods; possibly to the extreme of drug addiction to amphetamines, in particular.
posted by Hold On at 9:39 AM
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