Argument Analysis Prison Policy

Prison Policy – Stanford Prison Study Footprint: Effects of Imprisonment
Name
Institutional Affiliation
My Position is that the Prison Environment Causes Violence
Prison Policy – Stanford Prison Study
Position 1: The Prison Environment Causes Violence
The best evidence in favor of Haney and Zimbardo (1998) claim was the study that was carried out in Stanford University. The experimental results indicate that the participants quickly embraced their designed duties and roles with the guards enforcing authoritarian measures. The prisoners were subjected to psychological torture and harassment by the guards. According to Haney and Zimbardo (1998), drastic changes in the behavior of the prisoners were as a result of mental confusion and social regression. It subjects the prisoners to lack the respect for the law causing the guards to be authoritative and aggressive. Therefore, the rigid structure of the prison made the prisoners conform to the prison environment and the brutality of the guards.
At worst, Zimbardo and Haney (1998) provided evidence that the participants were subjected to physical harassment such as being arrested without their consent, wearing ill-fitted clothes and worked in the yard all day. It was challenging to the prisoners, hence, became hostile.
Position 2: The Prison Environment does not Cause Violence
At best, Lykken (1999) argued convincingly that the research on this subject lacked enough evidence to show that the prison environment caused a disturbance.

The prisoners were supposed to act to certain specifications while in the solitary confinement which simulated their aggressive behavior. Again, Banks (1998) described the experiment as a way of inducing disorientation, depersonalization, and de-individuation of the prisoners, which was a psychological tactic of making the prisoners conform to their rules, hence resulting to hostility.
At worst, Haney and Zimbardo (1998) discussed the psychological distress that the prisoners were subjected to such as emotional disturbance, rage, and disorganized thinking while in prison, which overwhelmed the individuals with different personalities.
References
Haney, C., & Zimbardo, P. (1998). The past and future of US prison policy: Twenty-five years after the Stanford Prison Experiment. American Psychologist, 53(7), 709.
Lykken, D. T. (1999). Psychology and the criminal justice system: A reply to Haney and Zimbardo.