... found out the 'guards' became too involved in their powerful role and was behaving aggressively towards the 'prisoners'. In his field experiment no attempt was made to protect the 'prisoners' from mental and physical harm. However, he did stop the experiment when he realised the participants' levels of distress were unacceptable. Zimbardo argued that he had considered the ethical implications and psychological consequences in advance, but could not have been able to predict how the study would process. Some argued that the benefits resulting from Zimbardo's experiment did not justify the distress, mistreatment and degradation suffered by the participants. Although the study has been influential in altering the way that American prisons are run, the American prison system has in fact become more impersonal rather than less in the days since the study. However, it seems to me that the end did justify the means, because when the experiment was ...

See this essay or coursework document in full right now