Beyond Zimbardo: The Stanford Prison Experiment

The Stanford Prison Experiment, arguably one of the most controversial experiments of the 20^th century, has polarised opinions for over 50 years:

To its supporters, the transformation of perfectly decent college students into brutal guards or compliant prisoners demonstrated the power of situations to determine behaviour.

To its detractors, the study is a perfect storm of unethical behaviours and outrageous researcher interventions that created what Le Texier concluded was “an incredibly flawed study”.

Now one of the UK’s most celebrated psychologists, Professor Stephen Reicher, has taken a new look at this classic study and in this film he argues we need to go Beyond Zimbardo to understand the true significance of the SPE.