The Stanford Prison Experiment Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

The Stanford Prison Experiment - Essay Example Such a trend was mostly observed during the post war era, where researchers displayed a keen interest in deciphering human behaviour associated with the two traits mentioned above and understands the psychology of people who showed increased levels of conformity and obedience to their authorities. Such an observation was primarily based on the Nazi concentration camps and the likes, where despite the immorality of the acts, people were seen to be submissive and obeying the orders given to them (Kassin, Fein, Markus, 2010; Smith, Mackie, 2000; Fiske, 2009). Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison experiment: This experiment was conducted to study the psychological impact of prison life on the prisoners. As a part of this experiment, regular students were selected to perform the roles of prison guards and prisoners and were made to go through the exact same routines, as is usually observed in prisons. Newspaper advertisements were formally given out to invite ‘participants’ to p articipate in the experiment, and those who responded were ‘arrested’ without a prior warning and made to go through a thorough physical examination, similar to one carried out on real criminals. Such sudden and unexpected ‘arrests’ of the regular college going students, took them by surprise and the students were reported to experience mild shock, and humiliation due to the whole exercise (prisonexp.org, 2011). The experiment was deliberately designed to imitate the scenes from real prisons and steps were taken to disgrace the prisoners, thus resulting in a series of negative social, emotional, and psychological repercussions. The study, unlike other experiments followed all the major ethical considerations, and did not involve any kind of deception or tricks, it received widespread criticism for the unethical nature of the study. This was mainly because of reports of the participants being made to go through extreme social, psychological and emotional tur moil and the fact that they were deliberately exposed to situations involving high amount of stress. The proponents have argued that the experiment conducted were ethical in nature, since the participants were clearly informed about the type of study they have enrolled in. However, the opponents and critics have stated that the information provided to the participants was incomplete in nature, as their consent was taken based on insufficient data. The participants of this study were arrested without a prior warning or information which was least expected leading to stress and emotional turmoil (Shaugnessy et al., 2006). There were widespread criticisms regarding the authenticity and validity of the experiments conducted, especially with regard to the manner in which the study was replicated. It was argued that there is no way to replicate a real prison and hence highly impossible to extract similar reactions from ordinary individuals, since there is a vast amount of difference betwe en regular college going students and hardened criminals. Over and above the questions regarding the plausibility of the study, there were serious concerns regarding the credibility of the study as well, since critics argued that the study was highly generalized in nature and the observations could easily have been made by observing / studying the prisoners from Nazi concentration camps. Also, the study aimed to completely imitate the behaviour of prisoners from popular prison scenes and hence there was a

Business Ethics and Social Responsibility and Its Impact on Efficiency Research Paper

Business Ethics and Social Responsibility and Its Impact on Efficiency - Research Paper Example As a consultant for this firm, the report made by the ABC consultations will also discusses the basic features that are the most prominent for the organizations, the social responsibility,and how these actually shape the overall strategic planning to eventually achievevalue creation as well as increased profit. The SR is a solid framework to discover and discuss relationships that reside in the business-society, which can be achieved by examining the corporations and their social impact (Carroll, 1991; Wood, 1991).There have been many researches that have encouraged open attitude directly related to the efforts that can generate a new way of thinking for the corporations as well as thebusinessesthat compete in the global society. The first part of thereporthighlights an introduction of the topicthatspecifies the subject as well as the basic purpose of the report. Then stated, are the research findings from the investigation, along with the analysis of the gathered information to fina lly end with recommendations. The paper therefore examines the features and tactics required by the XYZ Company on how these can be mixed in the practices of the organizations. The report will also highlight how business ethics helps in developing the social capital,as well as the practices that help the organizations sustain in the competitive environment of the global environments. The report ends with the eight basic characteristicsneeded to attain efficiency that is the responsibility of the owners as well as the managers of the XYZ organization. Introduction A good business that is involved in social responsibility and ethical business practices knows how to achieve a winning business of the new century. The practices of these businesses not only work towards providing value to the owners but also add value to the society as a whole. These businesses therefore not only condemn the unethical practices, but also aim to adopt those kinds of behaviors that that provides a positive impact on the stakeholders (The European Commission, Employment and Social Affairs Directorate; Clarson). As a consultant I will therefore identify the ethical practices thatthe XYZ Company must possess in order to examine the affects that ethical business and social responsibility have on the organization and its processes.