Evaluation of SPE based on BBC prison study

What were the findings of the BBC prison study? 

Findings of the BBC prison study=

• ppts did not conform automatically to their assigned role 

• over the course prisoners increasingly identified as a group and worked collectively to challenge tje authority 

• this led to a shift of power and the collapse of the prisoner- guard system 

What is one limitation of SPE based on the BBC prison study?

One limitation of the SPE based on the BBC prison study=

• similar research failed to reproduce its findings 

• E- the Haslam and Reicher (2006) study did not produce pathological prisoner syndrome wuhh the prisoners actually collectivising and showing no signs of a loss of identity. Similarly, the guards did not develop a pathology of power, failing to take on the role and being reluctant to impose their authority. This led to a shift of power and the collapse of the system of authority. 

• C- this suggests that there were unique elements of the SPE that may have encouraged demand characteristics that caused the ppts behaviour, potentially reducing the external validity of the results and conclusions 

What’s one strength of the SPE?

Strength is tjat Zimbardo argues that the conformity to social role wffect can be used to explain events in Abu Ghraib, a military prison in Iraq notorious for the torture and abuse of Iraqi prisoners by US soldiers in 2003+4. Zimbardo believed that the guards who committed the abuses were the victims of situational factors tjat made abuse more likely. These factors such as lack of training were present both in the SPE and Abu Ghraib. Zimbardo concludes that these factors, combined with an opportunity to misuse the power associated with the role of ‘guard’ led to the prisoner abuses in both situations

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