These photos may not be safe for work…. or kids

Philip Zimbardo, who did the famous 1971 prison experiment at Stanford University, was asked to testify as an expert witness in the court-martial of some of the American soldiers involved in the Abu Ghraib Prison scandal. He had access to the photographs, and published them in a video he showed at this years TED Conference. Then Wired Magazine made Zimbardo’s story available on their website, along with his presentation. The experiment in 1971 was about how prisoners and guards in a simulated prison behave. After only five days, Zimbardo was forced to stop the experiment, because the ‘guards’ in the scenario began torturing and abusing their prisoners, and forced them to strip naked and commit simulated sex acts.

The article explores ways that Abu Ghraib Prison parallels the Stanford University prison experiments of 1971. Interesting and freaky.

Liked it? Take a second to support Andrew on Patreon!