[Man] I was the first one to be 
picked up, so they put me in a cell

they locked me in there

in this degrading little outfit.

[Guard] Hey! I don't want anybody laughing!

My way is the rule!

[unintelligible yelling]

[Man] I've gotta go to a doctor, anything.

[Man] Jesus Christ, I'm burning up inside dontcha know!

I want out!

I want out now!

[Man] I've never screamed 
so loud in my life,

never been so upset in my life.

It was an experience of 
being out of control.

[Man] I just fucking can't take it.

[Narrator] Stanford University, 
Northern California.

One of America's most 
prestigious academic institutions

and in 1971, the scene of one 
of the most notorious experiments

in the history of psychology.

[Zimbardo] I was interested in what happens 
if you put good people in an evil place.

Does the situation outside of you, the 
institution, come to control your behavior

or does the things inside of you,

your attitudes, your values, your morality

allow you to rise above 
a negative environment?

[Narrator] The negative environment 
Zimbardo chose to test his ideas,

was a prison.

He would convert the basement of 
the university psychology department

into a subterranean jail.

[Zimbardo] We put prison doors 
on each of three office cells.

In the cells, it was 
nothing but three beds

and there was actually very little room for 
anything else because they're very small.

And here we had solitary confinement,
which we call "the hole."

And in the hole was where the prisoners 
would be put for punishment.

It was a very very small area.

When you close the door, 
it was totally dark.

All the guards wore 
military uniforms

and we had them wear these 
silver reflecting sunglasses.

And what it does is, 
you can't see someone's eyes

and that loses some the 
humanness, the humanity.

In general, we wanted to 
create a sense of power.

That the guards as a category, are 
people who have power over others.

And in this case, 
power over the prisoners.

[Narrator] A decade earlier,

psychologist Stanley Milgrim had also 
looked at how we respond to authority.

In order to understand how people were 
induced to obey unjust regimes

and participate in atrocities such as 
the holocaust, he set up an experiment.

Volunteers were told they were taking part 
in scientific research to improve memory.

[Experimenter] Would you open those and 
tell me which of you is which please?

[First man] Teacher.
[Second man] Learner.

[Narrator] Separated by a screen,

the teacher would ask the
learner questions in a word game

and administer an electric shock 
when the answer was incorrect.

He was told to increase the 
voltage with each wrong answer.

[Teacher] Cloud, horse, 
rock, or house? Answer?

[buzz]
[Teacher] Wrong.

150 volts. 
Answer: horse.

[Learner] Ow! That's all! Get me out 
of here! Get me out of here, please!

[Experimenter] Continue please.
[teacher gesturing, unsure]

[Learner] I refuse to go on! Let me out!

[Experimenter] The experiment requires 
you continue, teacher. Please continue.

[Narrator] Participants didn't know 
that the learner was really an actor

and the so-called shocks, were harmless.

[Teacher] Now you'll 
get a shock. 180 volts.

[Learner] Ow! I can't stand 
the pain, let me out of here!

[Teacher] He can't stand the pain, 
I'm not going to kill that man.

Who's going to take the responsibility if 
anything happens to that gentleman?

[Experimenter] I'm responsible for 
anything that happens here. Continue please.

[Teacher] Alright, next one. 
Slow, walk, dance, truck, music.

[Narrator] 2/3 of volunteers were prepared to 
administer potentially fatal electric shock

when encouraged to do so by what they 
perceived to be a legitimate authority figure.

In this case, a man in a white coat.

[Teacher] 375 volts. I think something's 
happened to that fellow in there.

I got no answer, he was 
hollering at all this voltage.

Can you check him to see 
if he's alright please?

[Narrator] Milgrim's 
findings horrified America.

They showed that decent American citizens 
were as capable of committing acts

against their conscious

as the Germans had been under the Nazis.

Like Milgrim, Zimbardo was interested

in the power of social situations 
to overwhelm individuals.

His experiment would test people's 
responses to an oppressive regime.

Would they accept it? 
Or act against it?

Zimbardo's experiment was conducted 
against a backdrop of Civil Rights activism

and protests against the Vietnam war.

[Zimbardo] It was a sense of 
student power, student dominance

and student rebellion 
against authority in general.

[Narrator] It was from the student body 
Zimbardo selected his participants.

After passing tests, to screen out 
anyone with a psychological abnormality,

they were paid $15 a day.

Each was randomly assigned 
the role of guard or prisoner.

[Man] It was a prison to me, 
it still is a prison to me.

I don't look at it as an 
experiment or a simulation.

It was just a prison that was run by 
psychologists instead of run by the state.

[Ramsay] I was 20, and that 
September I was going to college.

And it would be nice to have a summer job, 
but there sure wasn't a lot of time left.

And I looked in the want ads and I found 
this thing which was just going to fit.

It was just two weeks.

[Man] You put a uniform on, 
and are given a job

to keep these people in line.

You really become that person once 
you put on that khaki uniform,

you put on the glasses, 
you take the nightstick.

[Eshleman] I was on summer 
break from my first year of college

and I was looking for a job.

Had to chose between 
that or making pizzas.

And that sounded like a lot more fun.

[Narrator] As well as running the experiment,

Zimbardo took on the role 
of prison superintendent.

He began by briefing the guards.

[Zimbardo] I said, "We have to 
maintain law and order.

"If prisoners escape, the study is over.
And you can't use physical violence."

[Zimbardo] You can 
create a sense of fear in them.

You can create a notion that their 
life is totally in control by us.

There will be constant surveillance,

we have total power of the 
situation and they have none.

[Narrator] Prisoners were 
brought to the basement prison,

blindfolded to confuse them 
about their whereabouts.

They were stripped and deloused.

[Zimbardo] of course the guards 
started making fun of their genitals

and humiliating them and really it starts 
what's known as a degradation process.

Which not only prisons, but lots of 
military type outfits use that process.

[Prisoner ] When I first got there, 
even though I had to strip,

and they would call me names, I still 
didn't feel at all like it was a prison.

I just looked at it like a job.

[Eshleman] I recall sort of walking 
up and down the very short hallway,

which was the prison hall 
and looking in on the prisoners.

And they're basically lounging 
around on their beds.

I felt it was like 
a day in summer camp.

[Zimbardo] The first day I said,

"This might be a very long 
and very boring experiment,"

because it's conceivable 
nothing will ever happen.

[Eshleman] I arrived independently 
at the conclusion

that this experiment must 
have been put together

to prove a point about prisons 
being a cruel and inhumane place.

And therefore, I would do my part, 
to help those results come about.

I was a confrontational and 
arrogant 18 year old at the time

and I said "somebody outta 
stir things up a bit here."

[Prisoner] Fuck this experiment 
and fuck that Zimbardo!

[Narrator] On the second morning, 
prisoners decided to stir things up as well.

The guards found some of them had used 
their beds to barricade their cell.

Prisoner 8612 was one of the 
ring leaders of the rebellion.

[yelling] ...Fucking simulation! It's a fucking simulated experiment!

[Indistinct yelling]

[Zimbardo] Initially I was stunned.

I didn't expect a rebellion 
because not much happened.

And it wasn't clear what 
they were rebelling against,

but they were rebelling against the status,

rebelling against being anonymous,

against having to follow orders 
from these other students.

[Narrator] As punishment for the rebellion,

prisoner 8612 was put in the hole and 
the guards turned on the other prisoners.

[Zimbardo] The guards felt that they 
now had to up the ante of being tough.

The prisoners made the mistake of 
beginning to use profanity against the guards

in a very personalized way.

So not against the guards, but now
"you little punk" "you big shit" and stuff.

And the guards got furious.

[Guard] Everybody up! Everybody get up!

Well gentlemen, here 
it is time for count.

[Narrator] Prisoners were repeatedly 
woken in the middle of the night.

The guards made them 
do menial physical tasks

and clean out toilets 
with their bare hands.

[Eshleman] We made it a point not 
to give them any sense of comfort

or what to expect.

Anything could happen to them at any time,

including being rousted from 
their sleep at any hour.

And forced to stand up in a line 
and have me hurl insults at them

and make them do exercises.

When you interrupt people's sleep, 
they tend to become a little disoriented.

And since there was no daylight in the prison, 
they had no idea whether it was night or day.

I think that I was the instigator of this

whole schedule of harrassment.

[Narrator] The harassment of the guards 
took it's toll on rebellion leader 8612.

He told Zimbardo he wanted 
to leave the experiment.

Zimbardo responded not as a psychologist 
but as a prison superintendent.

[Zimbardo] I said, "Well, I can see to it 
the guards don't hassle you personally

and in return all I would like 
is some information from time to time

about what the prisoners are doing."

So essentially I'm saying "I'd 
like you to be a snitch, an informant."

And I said "think it over and 
if you still want to leave, fine."

[Narrator] Confused, prisoner 
8612 returned to his cell

and told the other prisoners 
that no one could leave.

[Zimbardo] He believed we wouldn't
let him go, although we never said that.

But the fact that he was the 
ring leader of the rebellion

and he told the other prisoners 
"they won't let you leave,"

that really transformed the 
experiment into a prison.

[Prisoner] I was told I couldn't quit. And 
at that point, I just felt totally hopeless.

More hopeless than I 
had ever felt before.

[Narrator] Soon after returning to his cell,

prisoner 8612 started showing 
signs of severe distress.

[Prisoner 8612] Goddammit. Fucked up! 
You don't know, you don't know.

I mean, God, I mean Jesus Christ, 
I'm burning up inside, don't you know?

[Zimbardo] He came up with a 
plan that if he acted crazy,

we would have to release him.

[Prisoner 8612] I feel fucked up inside, 
I feel really fucked up inside. You don't know.

I gotta go to a doctor, anything. 
I can't stay here, I'm fucked up.

I don't know how to explain it, 
I'm fucked up inside! And I want out!

[Zimbardo] It starts with make-believe and 
then he's doing it and cursing and screaming.

You know, whatever that little 
boundary is, he moved across,

not that he became really crazy, 
but he became excessively disturbed.

So much so, we immediately said,
"We have to release him."

[Korpi--prisoner 8612] As an 
experience, it was unique.

I've never screamed 
so loud in my life.

Never been so upset in my life,

and it was an experience 
of being out of control.

[Narrator] The boundary between 
reality and make-believe

was to become blurred 
even for Zimbardo.

A rumor circulated that released 
prisoner 8612 would return with friends

to liberate the remaining prisoners.

[Zimbardo] I quickly convinced myself that

my most important function was not to 
allow this prison liberation to occur.

And what could I do to keep my prison going?

Not the experiment going.

[Narrator] The prison was dismantled

and the prisoners were moved 
another part of the building.

Zimbardo waited in the empty 
corridor preparing to tell 8612

and his friends that the study was over.

When a colleague appeared

and began asking questions 
about the scientific basis of the research.

[Zimbardo] I'm trying to get 
rid of him and then he says,

"What's the independent variable?"

I got furious, because he doesn't understand 
that there's a riot about to take place,

that this prison is about to erupt.

I had totally lost this whole other identity 
of scientist, researcher, psychologist.

[Narrator] The rumored jailbreak 
never materialized.

The guards had dismantled 
the prison for nothing

and had to rebuild it.

They took their frustration 
out on the prisoners.

[Zimbardo] They escalated 
again the level of control.

the level of dominance,
the level of humiliating behavior.

[Narrator] 819 was the next prisoner to 
rebel against the harassment of the guards.

He barricaded himself in his cell 
and refused to take part in the count.

[Guard] You're not only 
not getting cigarettes,

but for as long as this cell's blockaded

you're going to be in 
solitary when you get out.

[Narrator] For 819's disobedience, the guards 
made his cellmates do mindless work.

This undermined any vestige of 
solidarity amongst the prisoners

who now chose to accept 
the tyranny of the guards

rather than risk further harassment.

[Eshleman] That was one of 
the surprising things to me was that

there was so little that the 
prisoners did to support one another

after we started our 
campaign of divide and conquer.

[Narrator] Isolated and 
distraught, prisoner 819

told Zimbardo he wanted to leave.

[Zimbardo] While I'm interviewing 
819, and saying,

"Okay, it's all over, thank you 
for your participation.

I'll give you money for the whole two weeks, 
even though you're leaving early."

He hears the prisoners 
shouting: "819 did a bad thing."

[Prisoners] Prisoner 819 did a bad thing.
Prisoner 819 did a bad thing.

And he said, "I can't leave." 
And he's crying.

And he said, "I can't leave."

And I said, "What do 
you mean you can't leave?"

And he said, "No, I have to go back because 
I don't want them to think I'm a bad prisoner."

And that's when I really flipped 
out that in such a short time

a college student's thinking 
could become so distorted.

I said, "You're not a bad prisoner.

"You're not a prisoner. 
And this is not a prison."

And it was just this thing where

he opened up his eyes, really 
like a cloud being lifted.

[Narrator] Seeing things clearly, prisoner 819 
reverted to his original request and was released.

To replace him, the experimenters called 
in one of their reserves from the standby list.

[Ramsay] I got a phone call saying, 
"Are you still available as an alternate?"

Kind of a cheery, female secretary voice.

And I said, "Yes, sure."

And so she said, 
"Could you start this afternoon?"

And I said, "Yes, sure."

And my role in the 
experiment really began.

I was blindfolded and then 
stripped and supposedly deloused.

[Zimbardo] He came into 
a madhouse, full blown.

All of us, had gradually acclimated 
to the increasing level of aggression,

increasing powerlessness of the prisoners,

increasing dominance of the guards.

And he comes in and says, "What's 
happening here?" to the other prisoners.

And they said 
"Yeah, you better not make trouble,

it's really terrible, it's a real prison."

And he says, "I'm out of here, 
I don't want this."

And they said "No, you can't leave.

Once you're here, you're stuck. 
This is a real prison."

[Guard] 416 put your hands in the air 
or why don't you play Frankenstein?

293 you can be the bride of 
Frankenstein, you stand here.

[Narrator] Prisoner 416 was soon subjected 
to the harassment of Dave Eshleman,

nicknamed John Wayne 
because of his macho attitude.

[Guard] 416 I want you to walk over here like 
Frankenstein and say that you love 2093.

That ain't a Frankenstein walk!

[Eshleman] I made the 
decision that I would be

as intimidating, as cold, as cruel as possible.

[Prisoner 416] I love you 2093. 
[Guard] Get up close! Get up close!

[Prisoner 416] I love you 2093.
I love you 2093.

[Guard] You get down 
here and do ten pushups!

[Eshleman] I had just watched 
a movie called Cool Hand Luke

and the mean intimidating southern 
prison warden character in that film

really was my inspiration for the 
role that I created for myself.

[Zimbardo] He was creative in his evil.

He would think of very ingenious ways 
to degrade, to demean the prisoners.

[Guard] What if I told you to get 
down on that floor and fuck the floor

what would you do then?

[Zimbardo] One of the best guards, 
was also on that shift

and instead of confronting the 
bad guard, the sadistic guard

essentially, because he didn't 
want to see what was happening,

he became the gofer, he went out to 
get the food and things of this kind.

And that left the John Wayne guard and the 
other guard on that shift to be dominant.

[One of the guards] We were 
continually called upon to act

in a way that is contrary 
to what I really feel inside.

Just continually giving out shit.

It's really just one of the 
most oppressive things you can do.

[Guard] 416, while they do pushups, 
you sing Amazing Grace.

Ready? Down.

[prisoner singing]

[Guard] Keep going.

[Narrator] The madness of the 
experiment started to affect 416.

[prisoner singing]

[Guard] Keep going!

>>[Prisoner 416] I began feeling like, I was 
losing my identity, until I wasn't Clay.

I was 416.

I was really my number and 416 
was going to decide what to do.

[Narrator] Prisoner 416 decided 
to go on a hunger strike.

[Ramsay] They were pushing my limits,

but here was the thing that I could do,

that could push their limits.

After I had missed a couple meals,

I saw this was not a matter 
of indifference to the guards.

I was making headway, they were upset.

[Eshleman] I thought, "How dare this 
newcomer come in and try to change

everything that we had worked 
for the first three days to set up.

And by God, he's going to suffer for that."

[Narrator] Frustrated by 
his continued defiance,

John Wayne threw prisoner 416 into the hole.

After punishing the other prisoners, 
for his disobedience,

John Wayne encouraged them to 
vent their anger at 416 directly.

[Prisoner] Thank you, 416. 
[bangs on door]

[Guard] Ok, 209.
[Prisoner] Thank you, 416.

[Eshleman] We would use our nightsticks to 
bang on the door and we would kick the door

so hard it must've shaken 
him very seriously inside.

Scared the life out of him.

[Ramsay] He yelled at me, and 
threatened me and actually sort of

smashed a sausage into my face 
to try to get me to open up.

But I didn't have any intention 
of eating until I was out.

[Zimbardo] 416 should've 
been, at some level, a hero

'cause he's willing to oppose 
the authority of the system.

In fact, the prisoners accept the guards 
definition of him as a troublemaker.

[Eshleman] I remember some of them 
saying: "Would you eat goddammit!"

"We're sick and tired of this."

And that was proof that there was no solidary, 
there was no support between the prisoners.

[Narrator] While 416 was still in the hole,

John Wayne made a final 
attempt to break him

by giving his fellow prisoners a choice.

They could vote to release 
him by making small sacrifice.

[Guard] You can give me your blankets 
and sleep on the bare mattress

or you can keep your blankets 
and 416 will stay in another day.

What will it be?

[Prisoners] I'll keep my blankets.

[Guard] What will it be over here?

[Prisoners] I'll keep my blankets.

[Guard] How about 536?

[Prisoners] I'll give you my blankets 
Mr. Correctional Officer.

[Guard] We don't want your blankets

[Guard] We got 3 in favor of keeping their blankets.

We got 3 against 1.

Keep your blankets.

416 you're going to be in there for a while,
so just get used to it.

[Eshleman] The study 
showed that power corrupts

and how difficult it is for people who are the 
victims of abuse to stand up and defend themselves.

Why doesn't anybody who is being abused 
by a spouse or something like that

just say "stop it?"

And we realize now that it's 
not as easy as it sounds.

[Narrator] By the end of the 5th day, 4 
prisoners had broken down and been released.

416 was on the second 
day of his hunger strike

and the experiment still had another 9 days to run.

At this point, a fellow psychologist 
visited Zimbardo's basement prison

and would witness the brutality 
of the experiment first hand.

[Zimbardo] The guards had lined up 
the prisoners to go to the toilet.

They had bags over their heads, 
chains on their feet,

and were marching by and I looked up.

And I saw this circus, this parade,

and I said, "Hey Chris, look at that."

[Christina Maslach] I looked up, and 
I began to feel sick to my stomach.

I had this just...
chilling, sickening feeling

of watching this and you 
know, I just turned away.

And I just let loose 
in this emotional tyranny.

I just lost it.

I was angry, scared, I was in tears.

[Zimbardo] And I'm furious,

saying you know, we had a big argument.

You're supposed to 
be a psychologist.

This is interesting dynamic behavior 
and I'm going through this whole thing

the power of the situation.

And she says "No, no, it's 
that young boys are suffering

and you're responsible. 
You're letting it happen."

I said "Oh my god, 
of course you're right."

[Narrator] The next day, 
Zimbardo ended the experiment.

Studies like his stimulated heated debate 
about the ethics of using human subjects.

[Zimbardo] Really young men 
suffered verbally, physically.

Prisoners felt shame in their role.

Guards felt guilt.

So in that sense, it's unethical.

That is, nobody has the right, the power, 
the privilege to do that to other people.

[Narrator] In the wake of experiments 
like Zimbardo's and Milgrim's

ethical guidelines changed, introducing 
greater safeguards to protect participants.

In the Standford experiment, Zimbardo 
might have sped his volunteers distress

had he not taken on a dual role in the study.

[Zimbardo] If I was going to 
be the prison superintendent,

I should have had a colleague 
who was overseeing the experiment.

Who was in a position to stop it at any point.

Or I should've been the principal investigator

and get somebody who was going 
to be the prison superintendent.

I realized that was a big mistake, 
to play both those roles.

And by shifting back and forth.

[Narrator] After the experiment, Zimbardo 
brought all the participants together

to talk about their experiences.

John Wayne would now come face to face

with the hunger striker that he had tormented.

[Eshleman] I was a little worried.

I said "Oh my god, he's really 
gonna come down on me hard now."

Now that we're on equal footing.

[Ramsay] It harms me.

[Eshleman] How did it harm you? 
How does it harm you?

Just to think ((cross talk)) you know 
people can be like that?

[Ramsay] Yeah, it let me in 
on some knowledge

that I've never experienced first hand.

Because I know what you can turn into,

I know what you're willing to do.

[Eshleman] When I look back on 
it now, I behaved appallingly.

You know, it was just horrid to look at.

I think I tried to explain 
to him that at the time,

what you experience and 
what you hated so much

was a role that I was playing, 
that's not me at all.

[Ramsay] He was trying to dissociate 
himself from what he had done.

That did make me angry.

Everyone was acting out 
a part and playing a role:

prisoners, guards, staff,

everyone was acting out a part.

It's when you start contributing 
to the script,

that's you and thus it's something you 
should take responsibility for.

[Eshleman] Uh, I didn't 
see where it was really harmful.

It was degrading and that was part 
of my particular little experiment

to see how I could--

[Ramsay] Your particular little experiment?!

Why don't you tell me about that.

[Eshleman] Yes, I was running...
I was running a little experiment of my own.

[Ramsay] Tell me about your 
little experiments, I'm curious.

[Eshleman] I wanted to see what 
kind of verbal abuse that people can take

before they start objecting, 
before they start lashing back.

[Eshleman] If I have any regret, right now,

it's that I made that decision, 
because it would've been interesting

to see what would have happened 
had I not decided to force things.

It could be that I only accelerated them, 
that the same things would've happened.

But we'll never know.

[Narrator] If the extreme nature of 
Dave Eshleman's behavior tested the prisoners,

it also presented the other 
guards with the choice:

to intervene, or not.

[Eshleman] It surprised me 
that no one said anything to stop me.

They just accepted what I'd say.

And no one questioned 
my authority at all.

And it really shocked me, why didn't 
people say when I started to get so abusive?

I started to get so profane, 
and still people didn't say anything.

[Zimbardo] There were a few guards who
hated to see the prisoners suffer,

they never did anything that 
would be demeaning of the prisoners.

The interesting thing is, none 
of the good guards ever intervened

in the behavior of the guards who gradually 
became more and more sadistical over time.

We like to think there is this core of human 
nature that good people can't do bad things.

And that good people will 
dominate over bad situations.

In fact, one way to look 
at this prison study is that

we put good people in an evil place

and we saw who won.

And the sad message in this case is, 
the evil place won over the good people.

[Eshleman] It did show some very 
interesting and maybe some unpleasant things

about human behavior.

It seems like every century, 
every decade that we go through,

we're suffering the same kind of 
atrocities and you need to understand

why these things happen,

you need to understand 
why people behave like this.