The Lucifer Effect : Understanding How Good People Turn Evil [Random House trade paperback edition.] 9780812974447, 0812974441

Table of contents :
The psychology of evil : situated character transformations --
Sunday's surprise arrests --
Let Sunday's degradation rituals begin --
Monday's prisoner rebellion --
Tuesday's double trouble : visitors and rioters --
Wednesday is spiraling out of control --
The power to parole --
Thursday's reality confrontations --
Friday's fade to black --
The SPE's meaning and messages : the alchemy of character transformations --
The SPE : ethics and extensions --
Investigating social dynamics : power, conformity, and obedience --
Investigating social dynamics : deindividuation, dehumanization, and the evil of inaction --
Abu Ghraib's abuses and tortures : understanging and personalizing its horrors --
Putting the system on trial : command complicity --
Resisting situational influences and celebrating heroism.

Citation preview

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TTWIES BESTSE YORK 7TME

The

LUCIFER EFFECT Understanding

How

Good People Turn Evil

Philip Zimbarclo Creator of

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STANFORD PRISON EXPERIMENT

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an extraordinarily valuable

fchology of violence or

'evil.'"

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—The American

4

.

Praise for

The Lucifer Effect

and

"All politicians

social

commentators

.

.

should read this

.

portant book."

"A formidable

— An

piece of research into the nature of evil."

—The

Observer (U.K.)

—

"Riveting."

"A thorough

dynamics of the Abu Ghraib prison

a discussion of the psychology of

.

.

.

This account's

Zimbardo might be likened

where angels in

anatomy it

uncovering the

each individual and every all

professor's timely study

to

not dealing with

as scholarly as

fear to tread,

tory and even religion are

The

is

rather, quite the opposite. His is

.

calling for greater

of

is

Booklist

an Old Testament

omens and

human

unreali-

psychology and

scary. This

book takes us

'Lucifer' that sits

incubating

human institution. Politics, economics, revealed as being tainted with

screams out

ever mindful and ever ready least

.

Abu Ghraib focus will generate consid-

—

prophet of doom, but the author

contemporary culture

in Iraq

a strong criticism of the Bush ad-

demand."

"In another time. Philip

ties,

evil,

and a chapter celebrating heroism and

social bravery.

erable

Skeptic

narrative of the Stanford Prison Experiment with an

analysis of the social

ministration,

im-

— The Times (London)

at

its evil

his-

spoor

us to be on the alert, to be

we fall into this heart of

utter darkness.

We should be grateful for his insight and heed his warning."

—Brian Keexan. author of An Evil Cradling

'Zimbardo deserves heartfelt thanks dark, hidden corners of the

for disclosing

and illuminating the

human soul."

—Vaclav Havel. former president of the Czech Republic

'Drawing on a lifetime of

good people can be transformed into tion

—even you!

sion that

He decodes how

the

'evil

doers' by the

power

Bush administration,

alone can rid the world of the

of situa-

in the delu-

has turned

evil of terrorism,

model of 'administrative evil.' But Zimbardo also offers us a vision

into a

of

it

Zimbardo demonstrates how

brilliant research.

how we can

challenge an unjust system."

—Gail Sheehy. author of Passages

'If

there has been a

last

more important and compelling book uTitten

twenty-five years. I've not encountered

it.

in the

Zimbardo's engaging and

beautifully written tour de force uncovers the sources of evil. The Lucifer Effect

accomplishes more than simply making the darkness

helps to

make

lightness possible.

It is

visible:

also

crucial reading for everyone."

—Jon D. Hanson, professor of Law. Harvard

'In

it

Law School

the Stanford Prison Experiment. Phil Zimbardo bottled evil in a labo-

ratory.

The

with hope

if

lessons he learned

we heed

show us our dark nature but

till

their counsel. The Lucifer Effect reads like a novel,

as profound as the holiest of scriptures,

sound

also

and

is

at all

us is

times backed by

scientific research."

— Anthony Pratkanis. Ph.D.. founding

editor. Social Influence,

professor emeritus of psychology. University of California

*As one of the senior Criminal Investigation Division agents

conditions at

Abu

Graib firsthand,

it is

truly understands all the factors that

clear to

me

who saw

that Phil Zimbardo

came into play there.

His book

is

a

must-read."

—CW4 Marcia Drewry. retired

USA CIDC special agent

'Zimbardo proves to be a masterful narrator and paces the story at just [He

the right speed

is

like]

a charming explorer

who

desperately

wants us to understand a new and terrifying world that he's discovered."

— The Harvard Crimson

'The Lucifer Effect

makes

for

engaging reading and

is

a valuable and

scholarly contribution to the understanding of the essence of

human

nature."

—JAMA, The Journal of

the

American Medical Association

This important book should be required reading not only for social scientists,

but also for politicians, decision makers, educators and just about

anyone

else disturbed

by the self-destructive directions in which the

United States and the rest of the world seem to be moving."

—American

Scientist

Also by Philip Zimbardo

Shyness:

What

It Is,

What

to

Do About

It

The Shy Child (co-author)

Psychology and

Life

(co-author)

Psychology: Core Concepts (co-author)

The Psychology of Attitude

Change and Social Influence (co-author)

i

THE

LUCIFER EFFECT

1

Digitized by the Internet Archive in

2011

http://www.archive.org/details/lucifereffectundOOzimb

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LUCIFhR EFFECT -^

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Understanding 1

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How Good People Turn Evil

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1

i

Philip

Zimbardo

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©

I

f

Random House Trade Paperbacks

New York

1

1

i

my

Dedicated to the serene heroine of

life.

Christina Maslach Zimbardo

2008 Random House Trade Paperback Copyright

Edition

€ 2007 by Philip G. Zimbardo.

Inc.

All rights reserved.

Random House Trade Paperbacks. The Random House Publishing Group.

Published in the United States by

an imprint

of

Random

a division of

House.

Inc..

New York.

Random House Trade Paperbacks and colophon of Random House. Inc.

are trademarks

Originally published in hardcover in the United States by

Random House.

an imprint of The Random House Publishing Group. a division of

Random

House.

Inc.. in

2007.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Zimbardo. Philip G.

The

lucifer effect:

understanding

how good

people turn

Philip Zimbardo. p.

cm.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-8129-7444-7 1

.

Good and

evil

— Psychological aspects.

I.

BF789.E94Z56 2007 155.9'62—dc22

2006050388 Printed in the United States of America

www.atrandom.com 2

4

6

8

Book design

9

bii

7

Mercedes

5

3

FA'crett

1

Title.

evil

/

Foreword

Since The Lucifer Effect {TIE)

was published in late March 2007, 1 have given more

than a hundred media interviews and lectures the

many

reviews of

process of doing views, that

I

my

so, I

at colleges

much

book, and responded to

and conferences, read

reader feedback. In the

have learned that some misconceptions

exist

about

my

which I will attempt to correct here. In addition, I have had some new ideas

want to

First, tially, it is

deal with briefly before

what

is

the Lucifer

you

start reading.

many

Effect.^ It is

different,

but related, things. Ini-

the story of the cosmic transformation of God's favorite angel, Lucifer,

aka "The Morning

Star," into Satan, the Devil,

sins of Disobedience to

God and

because he committed the twin

Pride ("that goeth before a

fall"). It

was God,

ac-

who created Hell as a space to embrace all the fallen and those humans who would later yield to their temptations.

cording to ancient scriptures, angels

That

is

context for

the most extreme arc of transformation imaginable, and so sets the

my

human

investigations into lesser

nary people, not angels, into perpetrators of ence of powerful situational behavioral contexts are

more

forces.

evil in

feeling,

unfamiliar.

response to the corrosive influ-

Those forces that

likely to distort

us toward engaging in deviant, destructive, or

new and

transformations of good, ordi-

When embedded

in

and acting no longer function

exist in

many common

our usual good nature by pushing evil

behavior when the settings are

them, our habitual ways of thinking,

to sustain the

moral compass that has

guided us reliably in the past. I

challenge the traditional focus on the individual's inner nature, disposi-

tions, personality traits,

understanding

most of the

human

time, they

and character

as the primary

failings. Instead.

I

and often the

sole target in

argue that while most people are good

can be readily seduced into engaging

in

what would nor-

mally qualify as ego-alien deeds, as antisocial, as destructive of others. That seduction or initiation into

evil

can be understood by recognizing that most actors

are not solitary figures improvising soliloquies

on the empty stage

of

life.

Rather,

Foreword

viii

they are often

in

an ensemble of different players, on a stage with various props

and changing costumes, tors. Together,

influencing

and stage directions from producers and

scripts,

they comprise situational features

how

play,

we

who make

for a three-part analysis of

human

tion hold

up the person as

grams

change follow a medical model

rehabilitation, therapy, reeducation

kinds.

and not

is

situations.

invested in

an

individualistic orienta-

of dealing only at the individual level of

and medical treatments, or punishment and

doomed

to

just the person.

We need to adopt a public

fail if

TLE

the

main causal agent paradigm

calls for a

health model for prevention of

spouse abuse, bullying, prejudice, and more that

evil,

shift is directed at legal

is

shift of

the

two

of violence,

identifies vectors of social dis-

ease to be inoculated against, not dealt with solely at the individual

ond paradigmatic

for

a call

sinner, culpable, afflicted, insane, or irrational. Pro-

execution. All such programs are situation or system

is

action by trying to understand what individ-

any society that

in

Thus TIE

what situational forces bring out of those actors,

and maintain

forces create

Most institutions

of

human drama work

the

implicate systemic features into our analysis.

ual actors bring into any setting,

and how system

direc-

to appreciate as

behavior can be dramatically modified. By recognizing the im-

pact of those off the stage, in the wings,

any given

we must come

level.

A

sec-

theory to reconsider the extent to which

powerful situational and systemic factors must be taken into greater account in

sentencing mitigation.

Although much of to

engage

deeper message evils that

this

book details

how easy it is for ordinary people to begin

in evil deeds, or to be passively indifferent to the suffering of others, the

we

is

are

a positive one.

them. By becoming more

moral compass

It is

how and why

by understanding the

of such

a better position to uncover, oppose, defy, and triumph over

all in

"evil

smart."

we build up

reset negatively. In this sense,

a firm resistance to having our

TLE

is

a celebration of the

human

capacity to choose kindness over cruelty, caring over indifference, creativity over destructiveness.

and heroism over

villainy.

For me. the most important part of the

journey you are about to embark upon comes at the very end. Chapter 16 invites

you

to consider

first

ences, of

Then you

it

ways

fundamental strategies of

to join this

growing band of

perspective for heroism as for hostile imagination

My new

our children,

citizens

and

mission

evil in

is

to think of

evil:

some

promoting

who

Now it is time to begin Italians say.

the very

on behalf

act it.

same

I

social influ-

you face

regularly.

of others

when

yet

propose the same situational

situation that

can intlame the

of us can inspire the heroic imagination in oththis

conception of teaching people, especially

themselves as "heroes-in-waiting.

action in a particular situation that

As

unwanted

introduces the notion of ordinary or everyday heroes, an invitation for

others are doing evil or doing nothing to stop

ers.

resisting

to actively challenge social temptations that

may occur only once

'

ready to take a heroic

in their lifetime.

our journey into a special heart of darkness.

Andiamo!

November

9.

2007

Preface

I

wish

I

could say that writing this book was a labor of love;

moment of the two years it took to complete.

single

painful to review

and

to read over

my memory of

all

I

t3^pescripts

that for a

was emotionally

prepared from them. Time had

the extent of creative evil in

many

which many

of the prisoners,

allowing the abuses to continue for as long as

had

was not it

of the videotapes from the Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE)

and over the

the extent of the suffering of sivity in

it

First of all.

also forgotten that the

first

and the extent did

I

—an

was

part of this book

dimmed

of the guards engaged,

actually

years ago under contract from a different publisher. However.

I

of

my

pas-

evil of inaction.

begun

thirty

quit shortly after

beginning to write because I was not ready to relive the experience while I was so close to

it. I

am glad that

then because this

is

I

did not

the right time.

hang

in

and

still

force myself to continue WTiting

Now I am wiser and able to bring a more ma-

ture perspective to this complex task. Further, the parallels between the abuses at

Abu Ghraib and added

validity,

the events in the SPE have given our Stanford prison experience

which

in turn sheds light

on the psychological dynamics that con-

tributed to creating horrific abuses in that real prison.

A second emotionally draining obstacle to writing was becoming personally and intensely involved

As an expert witness vestigative reporter I

in fully researching the

for

one of the

MP prison

than a social psychologist.

Abu Ghraib guards.

I

1

worked

abuses and tortures.

became more

at

like

an

in-

uncovering everything

could about this young man. from intensive interviews with him and conversa-

tions

and correspondence with

ground

in corrections

and

his family

members

in the military, as well as

to

checking on his back-

with other military personnel

who had served in that dungeon. 1 came to feel what it was like to walk in his boots on the Tier

1

A

night shift from 4 p.m. to 4 a.m. every single night for forty nights

without a break.

As an expert witness

testifying at his trial to the situational forces that con-

Preface -

had perpelraled.

Iributcd to the spccilic abuses he

many hundreds

of digitally

and unwelcomed

documented images

task, hi addition.

reports from various military

was

told that

memorize

as

and

I

many of

was provided with

to the terriiic

him and

of the then-available

committees. Because

and conclusions as

I

had

I

I

to

could. That cog-

emotional strain that arose after Sergeant

Ivan "Chip" Frederick was given a harsh sentence and chological counselor for

all

to all of the

That was an ugly

to bring detailed notes to the trial.

their critical features

added

nitive challenge

was given access

civilian investigating

would not be allowed

I

I

of depravity.

his wife.

became an informal

I

Martha. Over time.

became,

I

psy-

them.

for

"Uncle Phil." I

was doubly

frustrated

many

cept any of the

and angry,

by the military's unwillingness to ac-

first

mitigating circumstances

I

had detailed that had

directly

contributed to his abusive behavior and should have reduced his harsh prison sentence.

The prosecutor and judge refused

conception that

was

was the standard individualism

shared by most people in our culture.

is

entirely "dispositional." the

chosen rational decision tion that for the

many

to

any idea that situational

to consider

forces could influence individual behavior. Theirs

It is

the idea that the fault

consequence of Sergeant Chip Frederick's

engage

in evil.

Added

to

my

distress

was the

of the "independent" investigative reports clearly laid the

abuses at the

feet of senior oflicers

and on

freely

realiza-

blame

their dysfunctional or "absentee

landlord" leadership. These reports, chaired by generals and former high-ranking

government

mand had

officials,

made

evident that the military and civilian chain of com-

"bad barrel"

built a

in

which a bunch

of

good soldiers became trans-

formed into "bad apples."

Had I written this book shortly after the end of the Stanford I

w^ould have been content to detail the w^ays in

pow^erful than

we

think, or that

we acknowledge,

in

I

create the Situation.

A

—that of the System, the complex of powerful

historic,

beha\

ior requires that

power, situational power,

in given contexts.

in the political, eco-

and cultural matrix that defines situations and

legitimate or illegitimate existence.

human

forces that

However, most psychologists have

been insensitive to the deeper sources of power that inhere

them

in

large body of evidence in social psychology supports the

refer to that evidence in several chapters.

nomic, religious,

more

the bigger power for

concept that situational power triumphs over individual power I

forces are

shaping our behavior

many contexts. However. would have missed the big picture, creating evil out of good

Prison Experiment.

which situational

A

full

we recognize

gives

understanding of the dynamics of the extent and limits of personal

and systemic power.

Changing or preventing undesirable behavior

of individuals or groups re-

quires an understanding of what strengths, virtues, and vulnerabilities they

bring into a given situation. Then,

we need

to recognize

more fully the complex

of

situational forces that are operative in given behavioral settings. Modifying them,

or learning to avoid them, can have a greater impact on reducing undesirable in-

xi

Preface

dividual reactions than remedial actions directed only at changing the people in

the situation. That

means adopting a public health approach

dard medical model approach to curing individual

we become

less

hidden behind a

situational

change

this book.

which

of the System,

and

will be transient

repeat the

I

in place of the stan-

and WTongs. However, unis

invariably

and fully understand its own set of rules and regu-

veil of secrecy,

lations, behavioral

Throughout

power

sensitive to the real

ills

and systemic contributions

to

any

change

situational

mantra that attempting

illusory.

understand the

to

individual's behavior does not ex-

cuse the person or absolve him or her from responsibility in engaging in immoral, illegal,

or evil deeds.

In reflecting

on the reasons that I have spent much of

studying the psychology of

and terrorism

torture,

ing

—

I

my professional career

—

must

upon me. Growing up

shaped

evil

of violence, anonymity, aggression, vandalism,

also consider the situational formative force act-

South Bronx,

in poverty in the

New York means

surviving by developing useful "street-smart" strategies. That

who has power with

City,

ghetto

much of my outlook on life and my priorities. Urban ghetto life is all about

whom

that can be used against

you should ingratiate

tional cues for

when

determining what

it

to bet

yourself.

and when

takes to

make

you or It

to help you.

figuring out

whom to

means deciphering

avoid,

and

subtle situa-

to fold, creating reciprocal obligations,

and

the transition from follower to leader.

In those days, before heroin and cocaine hit the Bronx, ghetto

life

was about

people without possessions, about kids whose most precious resource in the ab-

sence of toys and technologies was other kids to play with. Some of these kids became victims or perpetrators of violence; some kids I thought were good ended up doing some really bad things. Sometimes it was apparent what the catalyst was. For instance, consider Donny's father, who punished him for any perceived wrongdoing by stripping him naked and making him kneel on rice kernels in the bathtub. This "father as torturer"

the ladies

who lived in up

experience, ended cats alive.

another

As part

was

the tenement.

in prison.

of the

gang

at other times

Another kid took out

initiation process

we

do some daring deeds, and intimidate

kid.

charming, especially around

As a young teenager. Donny. broken by that

synagogue. None of this was ever considered ing the group leader and conforming to the

evil

his frustrations by skinning

all

had

girls

to steal, fight against

and Jewish

or even bad:

norms

it

of the gang.

who kicked you

For us kids systemic power resided in the big bad janitors their stoops

and the heartless landlords who could

kids going to

was merely obey-

evict

whole

off

families by getting

the authorities to cart their belongings onto the street for failure to pay the rent. still feel

shame. But our worst enemy was the

for their public

swoop down on us Spalding rubber stickball bats

and

as

we played

ball).

stickball in the streets (with a

police,

broomstick bat and

Without offering any reason, they would confiscate our

force us to stop playing in the street. Since there

ground within a mile

I

who would

of

where we

lived, streets

were

all

we

was not a

play-

had. and there was

lit-

Preface

zii

lie

danger posed to citizens by our pink rubber

ball.

I

their location.

me

into his

trusted

When

my head smashed

squad car

grown-ups

With such

in

uniform

rearing,

all in

time

when we hid the

to spill the

one cop said he would arrest

refused,

I

recall a

me out

bats as the police approached, but the cops singled

beans as to

me and as he pushed

against the door. After that.

never

I

proven otherwise.

until

the absence of any parental oversight

those days kids and parents never mixed on the streets

—

it is

— because

obvious where

in

my

human nature came from, especially its darker side. Thus. The Luin me for many years, from my ghetto sandbox through my formal training in psychological science, and has led me to ask

curiosity about

has been incubating

cifer Effect

days

big questions

and answer them with empirical evidence.

The structure of

this

book

somewhat unusual.

is

It

starts off

chapter that outlines the theme of the transformation of

good people and angels turning raises the fident

to

be in predicting

how

human

character, of

evil, devilish

things.

It

we really know ourselves, how conwhat we would or would not do in situations we

fundamental question of

we can

do bad things, even

with an opening

well

have never before encountered. Could we.

like

God's favorite angel. Lucifer, ever

be led into the temptation to do the unthinkable to others.^

The segment detail as

of chapters

on the Stanford Prison Experiment unfolds

in great

our extended case study of the transformation of individual college stu-

mock

dents as they play the randomly assigned roles of prisoner or guard in a prison in a

— that became

too real.

all

The chapter-by-chapter chronology

is

presented

cinematic format, as a personal narrative told in the present tense with mini-

mal psychological

interpretation.

terminated prematurely

Only

explain the evidence gathered from

processes that were involved in

One

of the

after that

study concludes

—do we consider what we learned from it.

—

it.

it

had

to be

and

describe

and elaborate upon the psychological

it.

dominant conclusions

of the Stanford Prison Experiment

is

that

the pervasive yet subtle power of a host of situational variables can dominate an individual's will to resist. That conclusion

chapters detailing this see

how

phenomenon

a range of research participants

average citizen volunteers alike

is

given greater depth in a series of

across a body of social science research.

—other

— have come

to

college student subjects

conform, comply, obey, and be

readily seduced into doing things they could not imagine doing

outside those situational force

fields.

A

set of

outlined that can induce good people to do

obedience to authority, passivity nalization.

Dehumanization

of ordinary,

normal people

Dehumanization

is

like

is

in

when

they were

dynamic psychological processes evil,

among them

is

deindividuation.

the face of threats, self-justification, and ratio-

one of the central processes

into indifferent or even

in the

transformation

wanton perpetrators

of evil.

a cortical cataract that clouds one's thinking and fosters

the perception that other people are less than to see those others as

We and

human.

It

makes some people come

enemies deserving of torment, torture, and annihilation.

Preface

With

this set of analytical tools at

causes of the horrendous abuses and

xiii

our disposal, we turn to

upon the

reflect

Abu Ghraib

torture of prisoners at Iraq's

Prison by the U.S. Military Police guarding them. The allegation that these im-

moral deeds were the

sadistic

work of a few rogue soldiers,

so-called

bad apples,

is

challenged by examining the parallels that exist in the situational forces and psychological processes that operated in that prison with those in our Stanford

We

prison.

examine

in depth, the Place, the Person,

and the Situation

to

draw

conclusions about the causative forces involved in creating the abusive behaviors that are depicted in the revolting set of "trophy photos" taken by the soldiers in

the process of tormenting their prisoners.

However,

it is

then time to go up the explanatory chain from person to situa-

on a half dozen

tion to system. Relying

of the investigative reports into these

abuses and other evidence from a variety of

human

adopt a prosecutorial stance to put the System on legal system, tried for

rights

trial.

which demands that individuals and not

wrongdoing.

I

legal sources,

I

situations or systems be

bring charges against a quartet of senior military officers

and then extend the argument structure within the

and

Using the limits of our

command complicity to the civilian command

for

Bush administration. The

reader, as juror, will decide

if

the

evidence supports the finding of guilty as charged for each of the accused.

mind

This rather grim journey into the heart and

around

in the final chapter.

It is

is

turned

human

nature,

of darkness

time for some good news about

about what we as individuals can do to challenge situational and systemic power. In

all

the research cited

individuals

from

evil

who

and

in

who

resisted,

our

real- world

examples, there were always some

did not yield to temptation.

What

delivered

was not some inherent magical goodness but rather, more

likely,

an un-

derstanding, however intuitive, of mental and social tactics of resistance. line a set of

unwanted periences in the

upon

such strategies and

social influence. This advice

and the wisdom

domains

in a

available

when most

for resisting the

of

of influence

module

Finally,

is

anyone be more able

based on a combination of

my social psychological colleagues who and persuasion.

(It is

my own exare experts

supplemented and expanded

and few

rebel, the rebels

our heroes as

can be considered heroes

special, set apart

sacrifices.

who make such

They are a

sacrifices.

around a humanitarian cause,

for

from us ordinary mor-

Here we recognize that such special

individuals do exist, but that they are the exception

lives

out-

powerful forces toward compliance, conformity, and obedience.

by their daring deeds or lifelong

the few

I

to resist

on the website for this book, www.lucifereffect.com).

give in

We have come to think of tals

tactics to help

them

among

special breed

the ranks of heroes,

who

ognize as heroes are heroes of the moment, of the situation,

when the cafl to service is sounded.

So. The Lucifer Effect

note by celebrating the ordinary hero

organize their

example. By contrast, most others

who

we rec-

act decisively

journey ends on a positive

who lives within each of

us. In contrast to

the "banality of evfl." which posits that ordinary people can be responsible for the

xlv

Preface

most despicable acts of cruelty and degradation nality of heroism."

which unfurls the banner

of their fellows,

of the heroic

I

posit the "ba-

Everyman and Every-

woman who heed the call to service to humanity when their time comes to act. When that bell rings, they will know that it rings for them. It sounds a call to uphold what is best in human nature that rises above the powerful pressures of Situation and System as the profound assertion of human dignity opposing evil.

Acknowledgments

This book would not have been possible without a great deal of help at every stage

along the long journey from conception to

its

realization in this final form.

EMPIRICAL RESEARCH began with the planning, execution, and analysis

It all

at Stanford University

search

came out

of

back

in

August 1971. The immediate impetus

an undergraduate

onment, headed by David

of the experiment

Jaffe,

who

class project later

in

did

for this re-

on the psychology

became the warden

we

of impris-

our Stanford

Prison Experiment. In preparation for conducting this experiment, and to better

understand the mentality of prisoners and correctional

what were the

critical features in

staff,

as well as to explore

the psychological nature of any prison experi-

summer school course at Stanford University covering these topics. My co-instructor was Andrew Carlo Prescott, who had recently been paroled from a series of long confinements in California prisons. Carlo came to serve as an ence,

I

taught a

invaluable consultant and dynamic head of our "Adult Authority Parole Board."

Two

graduate students, William Curtis Banks and Craig Haney, were

gaged used

at every stage in the

this

fully

en-

production of this unusual research project. Craig has

experience as a springboard into a most successful career in psychology

and law, becoming a leading advocate for prisoner rights and authoring a number of articles prisons.

and

I

and chapters with me on various

thank them each

still

for their contribution to that

practical aftermath. In addition,

lege students

cannot

fering they

topics related to the institution of

my

who volunteered for an experience that,

forget.

As

I

also say in the text,

endured during and following

study and

its

inteUectual

appreciation goes to each of those col-

I

later, some of them them again for any suf-

decades

apologize to

this research.

Acknowledgments

xvi

SECONDARY RESEARCH The task

of assembling the archival prison experiment videos into

from u hich transcripts could be prepared

fell

to

D\D

formats

Sean Bruich and Scott Thomp-

son, two exceptional Stanford students. In addition to highlighting signifi-

cant episodes in these materials. Sean and Scott also helped pull together a wide array of background materials that

we had gathered on

various aspects of the

study.

Tanya Zimbardo and Marissa Allen

assisted with the next task of helping to

organize and assemble extensive background materials from media clippings, notes,

and assorted

articles.

A team

O'Connor and Matt Estrada, expertly conducted reference checking. Matt transferred

my

of other Stanford students, notably Kieran also

my audiotaped interview with Sergeant Chip Frederick into an under-

standable typescript.

value the feedback that

I

drafts

1

received

from colleagues and students

Stephen Behnke.

on various chapters

in first

among them Adam

alike,

and second

Breckenridge.

Tom Blass. Rose McDermott. and Jason Weaver. Anthony Wang earn special thanks for their assistance with the sec-

Pratkanis and Cindy

tion of the final chapter that deals with resisting

unwanted

influence, as does

new views on the psychology of heroism. My understanding of the military situation at Abu Ghraib and other theaters

Zeno Franco of the

war

for his contributions to the

benefited from the

wisdom

Warrant

of

Colonel Larry James, also a military psychologist. supplied

me

Officer

Marci Drewry and of

Doug Bracewell has continually

with useful online sources of information about a host of topics

lated to issues

I

deal with in the two chapters of the book

re-

on Abu Ghraib. Gary

Myers, the legal counsel for Sergeant Frederick, not only served on this case for an

extended period without remuneration but also provided materials and information that

Adam Zimbardo offered

I

needed

to

make

with

the source

all

a perceptive analysis of the sexual nature of the "trophy

photos" that emerged from the "fun and games" on Tier In partitioning

me

sense of that complex setting.

my acknowledgments,

1

As

night

a major share goes to

shift.

Bob Johnson

(my psychologist co-author buddy on our introductory psychology textbook. Core Concepts).

tions

Bob read the

on ways

to

entire manuscript

improve

it.

and

Bob's input with that of Rose Zimbardo. Rose glish Literature

who made

should to convey

offered endlessly valuable sugges-

as did Sasha Lubomirsky. is

who

helped to coordinate

a Distinguished Professor of En-

sure that every sentence of this book I'unctioned as

my message to general readers. Thanks to each of them

dling this chore with such grace

and good

editing, a lost art

essential themes.

Lynn Anderson performed admirably and

tor,

to

who. along with \'incent La Scala.

it

han-

sense.

my Random House editor. \\ Murphy, for among many editors, and his valiant attempt to

Thanks also

for

ill

addt'ci

his

meticulous

pare

it

down

to

astutely as copy edi-

tonsisteiux and clarity to

my

mes-

I

t

Acknowledgments

sages.

xvii

John Brockman has been the guardian angel agent

for this

book and

its

promotion. Finally,

my

having

viTitten for a

aching body was prepped

dozen or so hours on end. day in and night out,

for the

next round by

my massage therapist, Gerry Ann Hollingsworth of

Huber, of Healing Winds Massage in San Francisco, and by the Gualala Sea Spa, whenever

I

worked

at

^

'

j

my Sea Ranch hideout. j

To each of these helpers, abled

family, friends, colleagues,

and students, who en-

me to transform thoughts into words into a manuscript and into this book, my sincerest thanks.

j

please accept

Ciao,

Phil Zimbardo

'

Contents

Preface

ix

Acknowledgments List

xv xxi

of Illustrations

ONE The Psychology of

Evil:

Situated Character

3

Transformations

TWO 23

Sunday's Surprise Arrests

THREE

40

Let Sunday's Degradation Rituals Begin

FOUR 57

Monday's Prisoner Rebellion FIVE

80

Tuesday's Double Trouble: Visitors and Rioters

SIX

Wednesday

Is

Spiraling

Out of Control

1

00

1

30

1

54

1

74

SEVEN The Power

to Parole

EIGHT Thursday's Reality Confrontations

NINE Friday's Fade to Black

TEN The SPE's Meaning and Messages: The Alchemy of Character Transformations

195

ELEVEN The SPE:

Ethics

and Extensions

229

XX

C

onicnts, ^

TWELVE Investigating Social Dynamics: Power, Conformity.

25^

and Obedience

THIRTEEN Investigating Social Dn namics: Deindividuation.

Dehumanization. and the

Evil of Inaction

297

FOURTEEN Abu

Ghraib's Abuses and Tortures: Understanding and

Personalizing

Its

324

Horrors

FIFTEEN Putting the System on

Trial:

Command

Complicity

380

SIXTEEN Resisting Situational Influences and Celebrating Heroism

444

Notes

491

Index

535

A

...

List of Illustrations

1.

M.

C. Escher's illusion of

2

angels and devils

3.

Stanford Prison Experiment (SPE) guard in uniform

34 41

4.

SPE prisoners

43

2. Police arresting

student prisoner

lined

up

for their frequent

counts

5

SPE grievance committee meets with Superintendent Zimbardo

6.

SPE's Yard in action

7.

SPE prisoner

8

SPE hooded, chained prisoners await hearings

suffers

81

107

an emotional breakdown

9 SPE naked prisoner in his 10.

66

cell

v^ath the Parole

Board

#3

SPE chart comparing behaviors

15

of guards

5

and prisoners (from

202

video records) 1 1.

131

Ad soliciting New Haven

adults for Milgram's study of obedience

1 3.

"Teacher" shocks "learner" complying with authority pressure

267 268 269

14. 1 5.

Abu Ghraib Prison: Prisoner pyramid with smiling MP guards Abu Ghraib Prison: MP dragging prisoner on ground with a dog leash

326

1 6.

Staff Sergeant

1 7.

Abu Ghraib

18.

Unmuzzled Belgian Shepherd Army dogs

(courtesy Alexandra Milgram and Erlbaum Press) 12. "Learner"

1

9

is

attached to shock apparatus in obedience experiment

Chip Frederick proudly holding American

prisoners forced to simulate

Abu Ghraib MP

in prison cell

sodomy and terrifying

to

flag in Iraq

masturbate

naked prisoner

with face painted in style of a rock group

2 1 Chip Frederick sitting on top of prisoner "Shit Boy"

Abu Ghraib MP

2

Heroic Chinese student. "Tank Man." facing

3.

—

down Army revisited

356 358 365 3

posing with murdered "Ghost detainee" on Tier

24. M. C. Escher's illusion of angels and devils

339

369

20. Chip Frederick with "Hooded Man." the iconic image of torture

22

325

tanks

1

70

410 463 489

THE

LUCIFER EFFECT

M

C. Escher's "Circle Limit

IV"

T 2006

The M.

C.

Escher Company-Holland.

All rights reserved, www.mcescher.com.

CHAPTER ONE

The Psychology of

Evil:

Situated Character Transformations The mind a

hell,

hell

is its

own

place,

and

in itself

can make a heaven of

of heaven.

—John Milton.

Paradise Lost

Look at this remarkable image for a moment. Now close your eyes and conjure it in your

memory.

Does your mind's eye see the heavens.^ Or do

many

white angels dancing about the dark

you see the many black demons, horned

bright white space of

Hell.^

Once aware

tives are equally possible.

devils inhabiting the

In this illusion by the artist M. C. Escher, both perspec-

you cannot see only one and not the

of the

other. In

congruence between good and

what follows,

1

will

evil,

not allow you to

back to the comfortable separation of Your Good and Faultless Side from

drift

"Am I capable of evil.^" is the question that I want you again as we journey together to alien environments.

Their Evil and Wicked Side. to consider over

and over

Three psychological truths emerge from Escher's image. filled

with both good and

tween good and evil to

become

is

evil

—was,

is,

will

always

permeable and nebulous.

devils and,

perhaps more

be.

First,

the world

is

Second, the barrier be-

And third,

it is

possible for angels

difficult to conceive, for devils to

become

angels.

Perhaps evil,

this

image reminds you of the ultimate transformation of good into

the metamorphosis of Lucifer into Satan. Lucifer, the "fight bearer."

was

God's favorite angel untU he challenged God's authority and was cast into Hell

along with his band of fallen angels. "Better to reign in Hell than serve in

Heaven," boasts Satan, the "adversary of God" in Milton's Paradise Lost In Lucifer-Satan becomes a pets,

fiar,

an empty imposter who uses

and banners, as some national leaders do

in Hefi of all the

major demons. Satan

is

today.

boasts, spears,

Hefi,

trum-

At the Demonic Conference

assured that he cannot regain Heaven in

any direct confrontation. However. Satan's statesman, Beelzebub, comes up with ^

the most evil of solutions in proposing to avenge themselves against

rupting God's greatest creation, humankind.

Adam and

God by

cor-

Though Satan succeeds in tempting

Eve to disobey God and be led into

evil,

God decrees

that they wifi in

4

The Lucifer Effect

iimc be savod. However, for the

around that injunction,

would thereafter become the

diaries

the world of evil

evil,

who want to rid new form of systemic

target of zealous inquisitors

known.

what thinkers

is

be allowed to slither

will

but their horrific methods would breed a

the world had never before Lucifer's sin

Satan

rest of time.

enlisting witches to tempt people to evil. Satan's interme-

the Middle Ages called "cupiditas."* For

in

Dante, the sins that spring from that root are the most extreme "sins of the wolf." the spiritual condition of having an inner black hole so deep within oneself that

no amount of power or money can ever

malady

called cupiditas.

can be exploited

whatever

or taken into one's

by.

fill

For those suffering the mortal

it.

exists outside of one's self self.

has worth only as

it

In Dante's Hell those guilty of that sin

are in the ninth circle, frozen in the Lake of Ice. Having cared for nothing but self in

they are encased in icy Self for eternity. By making people focus only on

life,

oneself in this w^ay. Satan

mony of

love that unites

and

all

his followers turn their eyes

away from the har-

living creatures.

The sins of the wolf cause a human being to turn away from grace and to make self his only good and also his prison. In the ninth circle of the Inferno,

—

the sinners, possessed of the

the insatiable wolf, are frozen in a

spirit of

imposed prison where prisoner and guard are fused

in

an egocentric

self-

reality.

In her scholarly search for the origins of Satan, the historian Elaine Pagels offers

a provocative thesis on the psychological significance of Satan as humanity's

mirror:

What

fascinates us about Satan

the

is

way he

expresses qualities that go

beyond what we ordinarily recognize as human. Satan evokes more than the greed, envy.

lust,

and anger we

and more than what we

resemblance to animals ("brutes"). volve the supernatural

"Other

"

them enough

as different

'Cupiditas. in Kiiglish.

.

Evil.

then, at

is

tupidily.

it.

which iiu\ms

(upiditas

everything that

than

It is

worst impulses,

human

beings a

worst, seems to in-

We create myths of evil conspiracies and them. We reject the

"other

"

means

self. I'or

is

it's

unknown,

yet

we

are thrilled by

avarico. grocxi. the slronj; desire for wealth or

the desire to turn into oneself or take into oneself

instance, lust

and rape arc forms of

Ihey entail using another person as a thing to gratify ones cupiditas.

its

to

to mc^biiize forces against

and dangerous because

power over another. What is

.

own

—what we recognize, with a shudder, as the dia-

We fear evil, but are fascinated by to believe

.

our

which imputes

Martin Ruber's characterization of CH)d as "wholly other."-

bolic inverse of

come

identify with

call brutality,

the opposite of the concept of caritas. which

own

desire:

cupiditas. because

murder

for protit

means envisioning oneself

is

also

as part of

which each individual self has worth in it.self but al.so as it relates to every other "Do unto others as you would have them d(» unto you" is a weak expression of caritas. The

a ring of love in self

Ixilin "Carilus el

tas

and

amor, Deus

love are. (itxl

is."

ihi

est"

is

probably the best expression of the concept "wherever cari-

The Psychology

5

of Evil

contemplating sexual excess and violations of moral codes by those

who

are not

our kind. Professor of religious studies David Frankfurter concludes his search for Evil

Incarnate by focusing on the social construction of this

evil other.

[T]he construction of the social Other as cannibal-savage, demon, sorcerer,

vampire, or an

toire of

amalgam of them all, draws upon a consistent reperstories we tell about people out on the

symbols of inversion. The

periphery play with their savagery, libertine customs, and monstrosity.

At the same time, the combined horror and pleasure we derive from contemplating this Otherness colonists, missionaries,

—sentiments that influenced the

and armies entering the lands

brutality of

of those Others

certainly affect us at the level of individual fantasy, as well. ^

TRANSFORMATIONS: ANGELS, DEVILS, AND THE REST OF US MERE MORTALS The Lucifer Effect

is

my

attempt to understand the processes of transformation at

work when good or ordinary people do bad or

evil things.

We will deal with the

fundamental question "What makes people go wrong.^" But instead of resorting to a traditional religious

dualism of good versus

we

will look at real people

corrupting nurture,

meshed

in

doing their

jobs, surviving

evil,

of

wholesome nature versus

engaged in

life's

daily tasks, en-

within an often turbulent crucible of

human nature. We will seek to understand the nature of their character transforwhen they are faced with powerful situational forces.

mations

Let's

begin with a definition of

Mine

evil.

is

a simple, psychologically based

one: Evil consists in intentionally behaving in ways that harm, abuse, demean, dehu-

—

manize, or destroy innocent others

or using one's authority and systemic power to en-

courage or permit others to do so on your behalf In short, as

Irving Sarnoff says in his aphorism, "Evil

is

knowing

my

friend

and mentor

better but doing worse. "^

What makes human behavior work.? What determines human thought and What makes some of us lead moral, righteous lives, while others seem to easily into immorality and crime.? Is what we think about human nature

action.? slip

based on the assumption that inner determinants guide us up the good paths or

down

the bad ones.?

our thoughts, tion, of the

Do we

feelings,

moment,

give insufficient attention to the outer determinants of

and

actions.?

of the mob.?

To what extent are we creatures of the

And

is

situa-

there anything that anyone has ever

done that you are absolutely certain you could never be compelled Most of us hide behind egocentric biases that generate the

to do.?

illusion that

we

are special. These self-serving protective shields allow us to believe that each of us is

above average on any

test of self-integrity.

Too often we look

to the stars

through the thick lens of personal invulnerability when we should also look

down to the slippery slope beneath our feet. Such egocentric biases are more commonly found

in societies that foster

independent orientations, such as Euro-

6

The Lucifer Effect

American Africa,

and

cultures,

and the Middle

In the course of

upon three

our voyage through good and

How

issues:

such as

less so in collectivist-orientcd societies,

in Asia,

Kast.''

well

do you

know

really

evil.

I

will

yourself,

ask you to reflect

your strengths and

come from reviewing your behavior in fanew settings where your old habits are challenged.' In the same vein, how well do you really know the people w ith whom you interact daily: your family, friends, co-workers, and lover.' One thesis of this book is that most of us know ourselves only from our limited experiweaknesses.^ Does your self-knowledge

miliar situations or from being exposed to totally

ences in familiar situations that involve rules, laws, constrain us.

the taxes, day in and year out. But

new and

tirst

computer-matched

suffice.^

when

as expected

we encounter

of

Guyana, the

I

would

like

My

you

various forms of

suicide and murder

Rwanda, the mass

start a

to totally

new

job,

The

old

you might not

the ground rules change.

Throughout our journey question as

You

date, join a fraternity, get arrested, enlist in

the military, join a cult, or volunteer for an experiment.

work

and pressures that

what happens when we are exposed

unfamiliar settings where our habits don't

go on your

policies,

We go to school, to work, on vacation, to parties: we pay the bills and

to continually ask the

We

evil.

of Peoples

"Me

also.'"

examine genocide

will

Temple followers

in

in the jungles

Lai massacre in \'ietnam. the horrors of Nazi concentra-

tion camps, the torture by military

and

civilian police

around the world, and the

sexual abuse of parishioners by Catholic priests, and search for lines of continuity

between the scandalous, fraudulent behavior of executives

how some common

Com

corporations. Finally,

evils

run through the recently uncovered abuses of

Cihraib Prison in Iraq.

gether will

come out of

ticularly a study that

One

we

will see

at

Enron and

threads in

\\ brld-

these

all

civilian prisoners at

Abu

especially significant thread tying these atrocities to-

a body of research in experimental social psychology, par-

has come to be

known

as the Stanford Prison Experiment.

Fixed and Within or Mutable and Without?

Evil:

The idea that an unbridgeable chasm separates good people from bad people source of comfort Evil JFi

for at least

is cssi'iniiilizcd.

some people and

destinies unfold.

such as leaders

more

two reasons.

Most of us perceive

Evil as

it

an

creates a binary logic, in entity, a quality that

is

is

a

which

inherent

not in others. Bad seeds ultimately produce bad fruits as their

We

define evil by pointing to the really bad tyrants in our era.

Hitler. Stalin, Pol Pot. Idi ,'\min.

who have

First,

Saddam

orchestrated mass murders.

We

Hussein, and other political

must

also

acknowledge the

ordinary, lesser evils of drug dealers, rapists, sex-trade traffickers, perpetra-

tors of fraudulent

scams oy the

elderly,

and those whose bullying destroys the

well-being of our children.

Upholding a (lOod-Evil dichotomy also takes "good people" bility

off the responsi-

hook. They are freed from even considering their possible role

in creating.

The Psychology

7

of Evil

sustaining, perpetuating, or conceding to the conditions that contribute to delin-

quency, crime, vandalism, teasing, bullying, rape, torture, terror, and violence. the

"It's

way of the world, and there's not much that can be done to change it, cer-

tainly not by me."

An alternative conception treats evil in incrementalist terms, as something of all capable, depending on circumstances. People may at any time

which we are

possess a particular attribute (say intelligence, pride, honesty, or evil) to a greater

Our nature can be changed, whether toward the good or the bad

or lesser degree. side of

human nature. The incrementalist view implies an acquisition of qualities

through experience or concentrated

practice, or by

means

of

vention, such as being offered a special opportunity. In short,

come good

an external

we can

inter-

learn to be-

or evil regardless of our genetic inheritance, personality, or family

legacy.^

Alternative Understandings: Dispositional, Situational, and Systemic

Running parallel to this pairing of

essentialist

and incremental conceptions

contrast between dispositional and situational causes of behavior.

some unusual

make

some unexpected

behavior,

how do we

sense,

proach has been

violent behavior,

the search

is

on

go about trying to understand

one searches

ties."

wound

for

free will,

tries

scores of other students

traditional ap-

and other dispositions. Given Given heroic deeds,

which high school students mur-

and teachers rocks suburban communi-

In England, a pair of ten-year-old boys kidnap two-year-old Jamie Bulger

young men and women become during World

War

killed. In

many

traditional

individualism)

psychiatry

is

if

and

most European counNazis

they were caught, they and their families would be

countries "whistle-blowers" risk personal loss by exposing injus-

and immoral actions

The

in cold blood. In Palestine

suicide bombers. In

many people protected Jews from capture by the

II.

even though they knew that

tice

The

that doesn't

genes that predispose toward altruism.

from a shopping center and brutally murder him Iraq,

it.'

for sadistic personality traits.

In the United States, a rash of shootings in

der and

some anomaly

to identify inherent personal qualities that lead to the action: ge-

makeup, personality traits, character,

netic

event,

the

is

When faced with

is

of superiors. Why.^

view (among those

to look within for

who come from

answers

—

for

cultures that emphasize

pathology or heroism. Modern

dispositionally oriented. So are clinical psychology

and personality

and assessment psychology. Most

of our institutions are founded

spective, including law. medicine,

and

on such a

religion. Culpability, illness,

and

sin,

per-

they

assume, are to be found within the guilty party, the sick person, and the sinner.

They begin sponsible.^

their quest for

Who caused

it.^

understanding with the "Who questions": Who Who gets the blame.^ and Who gets the credit.^

is

re-

Social psychologists (such as myself) tend to avoid this rush to dispositional

judgment when trying

to

understand the causes of unusual behaviors. They pre-

8

The Lucifer Effect

Icr to

begin their search for

meaning by asking the "What

ditions could be contributing to certain reactions?

What was the

involved in generating behavior?

of the actors? Social psychologists ask:

questions":

What con-

What circumstances might be

situation like from the perspective

To what extent can an individual's actions

be traced to factors outside the actor, to situational variables and environmental processes unique to a given setting?

The is

dispositional

approach

to a public health model.

is

to the situational as a

medical model of health

A medical model tries to find the source of the illness, By contrast, public health

disease, or disability within the affected person.

ment, creating conditions that foster

illness.

re-

come from the environ-

searchers assume that the vectors of disease transmission

Sometimes the

sick person

is

the end

product of environmental pathogens, which unless counteracted will affect others, regardless of

attempts to improve the health of the individual. For example, in

the dispositional approach a child

who exhibits a

may

learning disability

be given

a variety of medical and behavioral treatments to overcome that handicap. But in

many cases,

especially

among the poor,

the problem

is

caused by ingesting lead

paint that flakes off the walls of tenement apartments and tions of poverty

is

in

worsened by condi-

— the situational approach. These alternative perspectives are not

just abstract variations in

conceptual analyses but lead to very different ways of

dealing with personal and societal problems.

The

significance of such analyses extends to

chologists, go about

our daily

lives

and how they may be changed culture

alist

motives,

who

traits,

is

do

better.

But

it is

of us

who. as

intuitive psy-

why people do what

they do

the rare person in an individu-

not infected with a dispositional bias, always looking

genes,

to overestimate the

to

all

trying to figure out

to

first

and personal pathologies. Most of us have a tendency both

importance of dispositional qualities and

the importance of situational qualities

when

to

underestimate

trying to understand the causes of

other people's behavior. In the following chapters

I

consider

how

people's character

body of evidence that

will offer a substantial

counterbalances the dispositional view of the world and

may

will

situations that unleash powerful situational forces. People ally in a state of

dynamic

interaction.

Although you probably think of yourself as

You are not the same person working alone as you are

or

when you

The Malleus Malcficarum

One view

of the to

lirst

is

likely

group;

.jrui

are traveling abroad as

the hujuisit ion's

WID

when

not to be true. in a

romantic

friends or in

at

home

an

base.

Program

docunu'iitcd sources of the widespread use of the dispositional

understand

text that

in a

an educational one: when you are with close

anonymous crowd;

to

and situations are usu-

having a consistent personality across time and space, that

setting versus

expand the fcKus

be transformed by their being immersed in

evil

became the

and

rid

the world of

its

pernicious influence

bible of the Inquisition, the \UiUfus

is

found

in

a

Malcfuarum. or "The

The Psychology

Hammer. "8

Witches'

It

was required reading

with a conundrum to be solved:

How

can

9

of Evil

for the Inquisition judges.

evil

erned by an all-good, all-powerful God.^ One answer: God allows

men's souls. Yield to

its

temptations, go to Hell; resist

vited into Heaven. However.

It

begins

continue to exist in a world govas a test of

it

temptations, and be in-

its

God restricted the Devil's direct influence over people Adam and Eve. The Devil's solution was to

because of his earlier corruption of

have intermediaries do his ple they

evil

To reduce the spread of

them

to confess to heresy,

identification

were witches,

direct: find

test their

what amounted

in

for

witch

our times might be known as the

out through spies

who among

WID

the popula-

witchly natures by getting confessions using various

and kill those who

torture techniques, of

the proposed solution was

and then destroy them. The mechanism

and destruction (which

program) was simple and tion

evil in Catholic countries,

and eliminate witches. What was required was a means to identify witches,

to find

get

bidding by using witches as his indirect link to peo-

would corrupt.

failed the test.

to a carefully designed

Although I have made

system of mass

terror, torture,

light

and

ex-

termination of untold thousands of people, this kind of simplistic reduction of the

complex issues regarding evil fueled the fires of the Inquisition. Making "witches" the despised dispositional category provided a ready solution to the problem of societal evil

tured,

by simply destroying as

and boiled

in oil or

burned

Given that the Church and der that

many agents of evil as could be identified, tor-

at the stake.

its

State alliances

were run by men,

it is

no won-

women were more likely than men to be labeled as witches. The suspects

were usually marginalized or threatening

in

some way: widowed,

poor. ugly, de-

formed, or in some cases considered too proud and powerful. The terrible paradox of the Inquisition

is

that the ardent

and often sincere

erated evil on a grander scale than the world in the use

of

any

ideal of

human

perfection.

mind, which can create great works of

was perverted the

will.

before.

It

evil

The

to

engage

The

tools of the trade of the Inquisition are

around the world,

in military

and

standard operating procedure (as

still

on display

our

shall see later in

and philosophy,

were designed

civilian interrogation centers,

we

ulti-

exquisite nature of the

art. science,

in acts of "creative cruelty" that

gen-

ushered

by State and Church of torture devices and tactics that were the

mate perversion

human

combat

desire to

had ever seen

to break

in prisons

where torture

visit to

is

Abu Ghraib

Prison).^

Power Systems Exert Pervasive Top-Down Dominance

My

appreciation of the power residing in systems started with an awareness of

mechanisms that translate ideology — the causes of — into operating procedures, such as the Inquisition's witch hunts. In other

how evil

institutions create

words,

ways

my

in

say.

focus has widened considerably through a fuller appreciation of the

which situational conditions are created and shaped by higher-order

— 10

The Lucifer Effect

systems

factors

talcen into

Aberrant,

power. Systems, not just dispositions and situations, must be

ol

account

in

illegal,

order to understand complex behavior patterns. or immoral behavior by individuals in service professions,

such as policemen, corrections

and

officers,

deeds of "a few bad apples." The implication

must be

set

on one

side of the

impermeable

it is

for creating

is

typically labeled the mis-

that they are a rare exception

line

between

evil

and

and good, with the

But

side.

the guardians of the system,

to deflect attention

sion.

is

who is making the distinction.' who want to isolate the problem in order and blame away from those at the top who may be responsible

majority of good apples set on the other Usually

soldiers,

untenable working conditions or

for a lack of oversight or supervi-

Again the bad apple-dispositional view ignores the apple barrel and impact on those within

tentially corrupting situational

it.

A

its

po-

systems analysis

focuses on the barrel makers, on those with the power to design the barrel. It is

the "power

elite."

the barrel makers, often working behind the scenes,

who arrange many of the conditions of life for the rest of us. who must spend time in the variety of institutional settings C.

Wright

Mills

The power

has illuminated elite is

they have constructed. The sociologist

this black hole of

composed

men whose

of

positions enable

scend the ordinary environments of ordinary

make

in positions to

do occupy such pivotal is itself

an

is

act that

is

ture, in

they are

Whether they

important than the

fact that

modern

society.

They occupy

they

make

often of g^reater significance than the deci-

command of the major hierarchies and

They

the machinery of state and claim establishment.

to tran-

positions: their failure to act. their failure to

sions they do make. For they are in

organizations of

less

them

men and women:

decisions having major consequences.

do or do not make such decisions

decisions,

power:

its

rule the big corporations.

prerogatives.

strategic

which are now centered the

command effective

They

They run

direct the military

posts of the social struc-

means

of

power and the

wealth and celebrity which they enjoy.'"

As the fine

our

interests of these diverse

reality in

ways

that Cicorge Orwell prophesied in 19S4.

corporate-religious complex

resources and quality of It is

power brokers coalesce, they come

life

is

of

the ultimate

The

to de-

military-

megasystem controlling much

of the

many Americans today.

when power

is

wedded

to

chronic fear that

it

becomes

formidable.

— The Power

to

Eric Hoffcr. T/jc Pussiotuitc State of Mitnl

Create "The

[

nemy" just as

Mafia dons

lea\e the "whackings" to underlings. Systems create hierarchies of

dominance

The powerful don't usually do the

dirtiest

work themselves,

The Psychology with influence and communication going

power

wants

elite

to destroy

fashion a program of hate.

down

an enemy nation,

it

—rarely up—the

kill

line.

When

What does it take for the citizens of one society- to

them.-

It

a

turns to propaganda experts to

the citizens of another society to the degree that they

ment them, even

11

of Evil

hate

want to segregate them,

tor-

requires a "hostile imagination." a psychological

construction embedded deeply in their minds by propaganda that transforms those others into "The Enemy." That image

one that loads

his rifle

enemy threatening

one's personal well-being

emboldens mothers and fathers to rearrange priorities to turn It is

stones

a soldier's most powerful motive,

is

with ammunition of hate and

fear.

and the

to send sons to

The image of a dreaded

societ^^'s

national security

war and empowers governments

plowshares into swords of destruction.

aU done with words and images. To modify an old adage: Sticks and

may break your bones,

but names can sometimes

kifl

The process

you.

be-

dehumanized percep-

gins with creating stereotyped conceptions of the other,

tions of the other, the other as worthless, the other as all-powerful, the other as

demonic, the other as an abstract monster the other as a fundamental threat to

our cherished values and

beliefs.

With public

fear

notched up and the enemy

threat imminent, reasonable people act irrationally, independent people act in

mindless conformity', and peaceful people act as warriors. Dramatic visual images of the

enemy on

posters, television,

magazine covers, movies, and the Internet

imprint on the recesses of the limbic system, the primitive brain, with the powerful

emotions of fear and hate.

The social philosopher Sam Keen brilliantly depicts how^ this tion

is

created by virtually every nation's propaganda on

the transformative powers on the

human psyche of

hostile

imagina-

path to war and reveals

its

these "images of the

enemy" ^^

Justifications for the desire to destroy these threats are really afterthoughts, pro-

posed explanations intended

for the official

record but not for critical analysis of

damage to be done or being done. The most extreme instance of this hostile imagination at work is of course when it leads to genocide, the plan of one people to eliminate from existence all

the

those in

who

which

are conceptualized as their enemy.

Hitler's

We are aware of some of the ways

propaganda machine transformed Jewish neighbors, co-workers,

even friends into despised enemies of the State

who deserved

This process was seeded in elementary school textbooks by texts that rendered all

Here I would

like to

Jews contemptible and not worthy of

of images

human

and

compassion.

consider briefly a recent example of attempted genocide along

with the use of rape as a weapon against humanity Then pect of this

the "final solution."

means

I

will

show how one

as-

complex psychological process, the dehumanization component, can

be studied in controlled experimental research that isolates systematic analysis.

its critical

features for

— 12

The iMcifer Effect

CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY: GENOCIDE. RAPE. AND TERROR Literature has taught us for at least three thousand years that

no person or

state

Agamemnon, commander of the Greek forces, tells his men before they engage their enemy. "We are not going to leave a single one of (the Trojansj alive, down to the babies in their mothers' wombs not even they must live. The w^hole people must be wiped out of existence ..." These vile words come from a noble citizen of one of the most civilized nation-states of its time, the home of philosophy, jurisprudence, and classiis

incapable of

evil.

In

Homer's account

of the Trojan War.

—

cal

drama.

We

live in

the "mass murder century."

More than 50

million people have

been systematically murdered by government decrees, enacted by soldiers and civilian forces willing to carry out the

kill

orders. Beginning in 1915.

Ottoman

Turks slaughtered 1.5 million Armenians. The mid-twentieth century saw the Nazis liquidate at least 6 million Jews. 3 million Soviet

hundreds of thousands of "undesirable" peoples. As dered 20 million Russians.

POWs.

2 million Poles, and

Stalin's Soviet

empire mur-

Mao Zedong's government policies resulted in an even

number of deaths, up to 30 million of the country's own citizens. The Communist Khmer Rouge regime killed off 1 .7 million people of its own nation in Cambodia. Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath Party is accused of killing 100.000 Kurds in greater

2006. genocide has erupted

Iraq. In

in

Sudan's Darfur region, which most of the

world has conveniently ignored. ^-

Note that almost exactly the same words that lennia ago were also spoken

in

our

own time,

Agamemnon

used three mil-

in the African nation of

Rwanda, as

the ruling Hutus were in the process of wiping out their former neighbors, the Tutsi minority.

One

going to

the Tutsi, and one day

kill all

victim recalls

what one

of her tormentors told her: "We're

Hutu children

will

have to ask what a Tutsi

child looked like."

The Rape of Rwanda The peaceful

Tutsi people of

mass destruction could be ciency.

Rwanda

The systematic slaughter

spread throughout the country

death squads

killed

in

Central Africa learned that a

a simple machete, used against

lethal

of

efti-

of Tutsis by their former neighbors, the Hutus. in a

few months during the spring of 1994 as

A

report by the United Nations estimates that be-

tween 800.000 and a million Rwandans were murdered

making the massacre ^the most

of the entire Tutsi population

in

about three months'

ferocious in recorded history Three quarters

were exterminated.

Hutu neighbors were slaughtering former on command.

weapon

thousands of innocent men. women, and children with ma-

chetes and nail-studded clubs.

time,

them with

A Hutu murderer

said in

worst thing about the massacre was

friends

and next-door neighbors

an interview a decade

killing

my

neighbor:

later that

we used

'The

to drink to-

3

The Psychology gether. his cattle

described

how

would graze on

of Evil

1

my land. He was like a relative." A Hutu mother who looked at her

she had beaten to death the children next door,

with wide-eyed amazement because they had been friends and neighbors

She reported that someone from the government had

lives.

all

their

told her that the Tutsi

were their enemies and had given her a club and her husband a machete

to use

against this threat. She justified the slaughter as doing "a favor" to those children,

who would have become

helpless

orphans given that

their parents

had akeady

been murdered. Until recently, there

was

recognition of the systematic use of rape of

little

Rwandan women as a tactic of terror and accounts it began when a Hutu leader. Mayor

these

spiritual annihilation.

Silvester

daughter of his former friend and then had other ported that he had told her.

By some

Cacumbibi. raped the

men also rape her. She later re-

"We won't waste bullets on you: we will rape you. and

that will be worse for you."

Unlike the rapes of Chinese scribed subsequently), in early reporting

sharing

the rape of

details of the

and the reluctance

with outsiders,

it

women by Japanese soldiers in Nanking (to be de-

where the

much

nightmare were blurred by

of the Chinese to relive that experience by

known about

is

failures

the psychological dynamics of

Rwandan women. ^^

When the citizens of

the \illage of Butare defended

its

borders against the on-

slaught of the Hutus. the interim government dispatched a special person to deal

with what

women's

it

considered a revolt. She \vas the national minister of family and

affairs

and Butare's

favorite daughter.

ha\ing grown up

in the area.

Pauhne Xyiramasuhuko. a Tutsi and former social worker who lectured on w^omen's empow^erment. was the only hope of

this \1llage.

That hope w^as instantly shattered.

Pauline super\ised a terrible trap, promising the people that the Red Cross w^ould provide food and shelter in the local stadium: in

realitv'.

armed Hutu thugs

(the In-

terahamwe) were aw^aiting their arrival, eventually murdering most of the innocent sanctuary seekers. They were machine-gunned, grenades were thrown into the unsuspecting throngs, and survivors were sliced apart with machetes.

Pauline gave the order that "Before you

kill

the

women, you need

to rape

them." She ordered another group of these thugs to burn alive a group of seventy

women and

girls

they were guarding and provided them with gasoline from her

car to do so. Again she invited the

One

of the

young men

men

to rape their victims before killing

told a translator that they couldn't rape

them.

them because "we

day and we were tired. We just put the gasoline in bottles and among the women, then started burning." A young woman. Rose, was raped by Pauline's son. Shalom, who announced

had been

killing all

scattered

it

that he

had "permission" from

his

mother

to rape Tutsi

women. She was the only God as the witness of

Tutsi allowed to live so she could deliver a progress report to

the genocide. She

was then

forced to

watch her mother being raped and twenty

of

her relatives slaughtered.

A U.N. report estimated that at least 200.000 women were raped during this

14

The Lucifer

brief period of horror,

many

of

them

Efji'ct

Ivilled

"Some were penetrated

afterward.

with spears, gun barrels, bottles or the stamens of banana

were mutilated with machetes, boiling water and

"Making the matter worse, the

off" (p. 8 5).

Sexual organs

trees.

women's

acid:

breasts were cut

most of them committed by

rapes,

many men in succession, were frequently accompanied by other forms of physical torture

and often staged

dation"

(p.

among

the

as public performances to multiply the terror

They were

89).

also used as a public

way

promoting

of

and degra-

social

Hutu murderers. This shared emergent camaraderie

is

bonding

often a by-

product of male group rape.

The extent

woman was

inhumanity knew no boundaries. "A 45-year

raped by her 12-year-old son

to his throat

were forced

of the

—

open her thighs

'

Rwandan

—with Interahamwe holding a hatchet

her husband, while their

in front of

to hold

old

(p. 1 1 6).

five

other young children

The spread of AIDS among the living

rape victims continues to wreak havoc in Rwanda. "By using a disease, a plague, as

an apocalyptic

terror, as biological warfare, you're annihilating the procreators,

perpetuating death unto generations." according to Charles Strozier. professor of history at the John jay College of Criminal Justice in

How do we even Pauline a

new

and

social

and status differentials. status of the

woman

kind of criminal: one

tion of history

New York (p.

116).

begin to understand the forces that were operating to

make

enemy women.' A combina-

against

psychology can provide a framework based on power

First,

she was moved by the widespread sense of the lower

Hutu women compared with the beauty and arrogance

of Tutsi

women. They were taller and lighter-skinned and had more Caucasian features, which made them appear more desirable to men than Hutu women were. A racial distinction had arbitrarily been created by Belgian and German colonialists

who

for centuries

same

religion.

clared fits

around the turn

them

of the twentieth century to distinguish

had intermarried, spoke the same language, and shared the

They forced

all

Rwandans

to carry identification cards that de-

to be in either the majority Fiutu or the minority Tutsi, with the bene-

of higher education

and administrative posts going

another source of Pauline's pent-up desire

was

between people

a political opportunist in a

became

to the Tutsi. That

for revenge.

was

It

also true that she

male-dominated administration, needing

to prove

her loyalty, obedience, and patriotic zeal to her superiors by orchestrating crimes

never before perpetrated by a

woman

against an enemy,

it

became

also

encourage the mass murders and rapes of Tutsis by being able to view stractions

and

which needed

also by calling

easier to

them

as ab-

them by the dehumanizing term "cockroaches,"

to be "exterminated.

"

Here

is

a living

imagination that paints the faces of the enemy

documentary

in hateful

of the hostile

hues and then destroys

the canvas.

As unimaginable

as

it

may

be to an\' of us for

someone

to intentionally in-

spire

such monstrous crimes, Nicole Bergevin. Pauline's lawyer

trial,

reminds

tible,

and you wouldn't even dream you would ever commit

us.

"When you do murder

trials,

you

realize that

in

we

this act.

her genocide

are

all

suscep-

But you come

5

The Psychology

to

understand that everyone

pen

to

my daughter.

It

is

[susceptible].

of Evil

could happen to me,

It

could happen to you"

(p.

Highlighting even more clearly one of the

considered opinion of Alison Des Forges of tigated

1

could hap-

it

130).

main

theses of this

book

is

the

Human Rights Watch, who has inves-

many such barbarous crimes. She forces

us to see our reflection mirrored

in these atrocities:

This behavior

lies

just

under the surface of any of

us.

The

simplified ac-

counts of genocide allow distance between us and the perpetrators of genocide.

same

They are so

thing.

But

if

evil

we

couldn't ever see ourselves doing the

you consider the

terrible pressure

under which people

were operating, then you automatically reassert their humanity that

becomes alarming. You are forced

"What would (p.

I

to look at the situation

have done.^ Sometimes the answer

is

—and

and

say,

not encouraging."

132)

The French journalist Jean Hatzfeld interviewed ten of the Hutu militia members now in prison for having macheted to death thousands of Tutsi civilians. ^^ The testimonies of these ordinary men mostly farmers, active church-

—

goers,

and a former teacher

—are

chilling in their matter-of-fact, remorseless

depiction of unimaginable cruelty. Their words force us to confront the unthinkable again

and again: that human beings are capable

humanity

for a

of totally

abandoning

their

mindless ideology, to follow and then exceed the orders of charis-

matic authorities to destroy everyone they label as "The Enemy." Let's

few of these accounts, which make

Truman

reflect

Capote's In Cold Blood pale in

on a

com-

parison.

"Since

want

I

to

was

killing often,

I

began

to feel

it

did not

mean anything

to

me.

I

make clear that from the first gentleman I killed to the last, I was not

sorry about a single one."

"We were doing a job to order. We were

lining

up behind everyone's enthusi-

asm.

We gathered into teams on the soccer field and went out hunting as kin-

dred

spirits."

"Anyone who hesitated

watch

his

mouth,

to

to say

kill

because of feelings of sadness absolutely had to

nothing about the reason

for his reticence, for fear of

being accused of complicity."

"We killed everyone we tracked down

We had no reaWe were cutters of ac-

[hiding] in the papyrus.

son to choose, to expect or fear anyone in particular. quaintances, cutters of neighbors, just plan cutters."

"Our Tutsi neighbors, we knew they were not guilty of no misdoing, but

we thought

all

Tutsis at fault for our constant troubles.

We no longer looked

6

'

The Lucifer Ef[ect

1

at

them one by one. we no longer stopped

been, not even as colleagues. They had

had experienced

together,

become a

how we

reasoned and

them

as they

threat greater than

more important than our way

how we

the community. That's

to recognize

had

all

we

of seeing things in killed at the

same

time."

"We no longer saw a human being when we turned up a Tutsi in the swamps. mean a person like us. sharing similar thoughts and feelings. The hunt was

I

—savagery took over

was savage

savage, the hunters were savage, the prey

the mind."

A particularly moving reaction to these brutal murders and rapes, presses a

theme we

will revisit,

comes from one

which ex-

women.

of the surviving Tutsi

Berthe:

knew that a man could kill another man. because happens all the Now know that even the person with whom you've shared food, or whom you've slept, even he can kill you with no trouble. The closest

"Before.

time.

with

it

I

I

neighbor can genocide,

kill

you with

his teeth: that

Romeo

Lieutenant General

about his experiences as the force

Rwanda

in

have learned since the

I

face of the world.

Dallaire has authored a powerful testimony

commander

for the U.N.

Assistance .Mission to

Shake Hands with the Devil^^ Although he was able to save thousands

of people by his heroic ingenuity, this top military

by his inability to

more

what

is

and my eyes no longer gaze the same on the

atrocities.

summon more

He ended up with

aid

commander was left devastated to prevent many

from the United Nations

severe post-traumatic stress disorder as a psy-

chological casualty of this massacre. •'^

The Rape of Nanking. China So graphically horrifying

—

yet so easily visualized

—

is

the concept of rape that

we

use the term metaphorically to describe other, almost unimaginable atrcKities of war. Japanese soldiers butchered between 260. {)()()

ians in just a few bloody

than the

months

total annihilation

civilian deaths in

of 19 37.

Those

and

3

SO. ()()() Chinese civil-

figures represent

more deaths

caused by the atomic bombing of Japan and

most Huropean countries during

all

of

Beyond the sheer number of Chinese slaughtered,

World War it

is

all

the

II.

important

recognize the "creatively evil" ways devised by their tormentors to

for

us to

make even

death desirable. The authorjris Chang's investigation of that horror revealed that

Chinese

men were used

mated 20. ()()()

for

to 80. ()()()

disembowel women,

bayonet practice and

women were

in decapitation contests.

An esti-

raped. .Many soldiers went beyond rape to

slice off their breasts,

and

nail

them

to walls alive. Fathers

The Psychology were forced

to rape their

17

of Evil

daughters and sons their mothers as other family

mem-

bers watched, i"

War engenders cruelty and barbaric behavior against anyone considered the Enemy, as the dehumanized, demonic Other The Rape of Nanking for the graphic detail of the horrific

stroy innocent civilian

is

notorious

extremes soldiers went to to degrade and de-

"enemy non-combatants." However were

it

a singular in-

cident and not just another part of the historical tapestry of such inhumanities

we might

against civilians civilians

during the

U.S.

timated 100.000 Berlin

1945 and 1948.

My Lai

at the

320

scribes

think

an anomaly.

it

British troops executed

and raped

Revolutionary War. Soviet Red .\rmy soldiers raped an es-

women

toward the end of World War

In addition to the rapes

and murders

of

II

and between

more than 500

civilians

massacre in 1968. recently released secret Pentagon evidence de-

and Cambodian

incidents of .-Vmerican atrocities against Vietnamese

civilians. ^^

Dehumanization and Moral Disengagement

in the

Laboratory

We can assume that most people, most of the time, are moral creatures. But imagine that this morality-

When

car and driver

cline,

is like

move

disengaged.

is

If

simple analog}'.

I

chapter,

think, captures

we

will

led to

then the nature of the

It is

cir-

driver's skills or intentions. This

one of the central themes

my

in the theory of

moral

Stanford colleague Albert Bandura. In a later

review his theory, which

good people can be

the car happens to be on an in-

precipitously dowTihill.

cumstances that determines outcomes, not the

disengagement developed by

pushed into neutral.

a gearshift that at times gets

that happens, morality

mental research that Bandura and

why some

will help explain

do bad things. At this point.

I

want to turn

his assistants conducted,

which

othen\1se

to the experiillustrates the

ease with which morality can be disengaged by the tactic of dehumanizing a potential victim. ization.

1"^

In

an elegant demonstration that shows the power

one single word

how the experiment

is

shown

to increase aggression

toward a

of

dehuman-

target. Let's see

worked.

Imagine you are a college student who has volunteered

for a

study of group

problem solving as part of a three-person team from your school. Your task

is

to

help students from another college improve their group problem-solving perfor-

mance by punishing their errors. That punishment

takes the form of administer-

ing electric shocks that can be increased in severity over successive

taking your

names and those

trials.

of the other team, the assistant leaves to

perimenter that the study can begin. There will be ten

trials

You don't "

realize that

it is

After

the ex-

during each of which

you can decide the shock level to administer to the other student group room.

tally

tell

in the next

part of the experimental script, but you 'acciden-

overhear the assistant complaining over the intercom to the experimenter

that the other students "seem like animals."

You don't know

it.

but in two other

The Lmifcr Kflect

1

condilioiis to

u hich other students

like

you have been randomly assigned, the

sistant describes the other students as "nice

Do trial all

level 2.

But soon

anonymous

others.

erage of about a level treat

them

a level

label

3.

it

begins to matter what each group has heard about

H"

you know nothing about them, you give a steady av-

you have come

5. If

more humane

in a

to think of

fashion, giving

them

them

However, imagining them as "animals" switches

when

as "nice guys."

off

any sense of com-

they commit errors, you begin to

levels of intensity, significantly

other conditions, as you steadily

move up toward

Think carefully has tripped personally,

lege students like

for a

off in tell

moment about the psychological processes that

some

authority, like

whom you

who must

in the

whom

a simple

you do not

have never seen, that other

col-

"animals." That single descriptive term changes

your mental construction of these others. college kids

more than

the high level 8.

your mind. You overheard a person,

you seem

you

significantly less shock, about

shock them with ever-increasing

know

as-

at all.

effect.^ It doesn't seem so initially. On the first same way by administering low levels of shock,

passion you might have for them, and

label

them

these simple labels have any

the groups respond in the

around these

guys" or does not

It

distances you from images of friendly

be more similar to you than different. That

new mental

set

has a powerful impact on your behavior. The post hoc rationalizations the experi-

mental students generated

to explain

why

they needed to give so

the "animal-house" students in the process of "teaching

them

much shock

to

a good lesson"

were equally fascinating. This example of using controlled experimental research to investigate the underlying psychological processes that

occur

in significant

when we

real-world cases of violence will be extended in chapters 12 and 13

consider

how

chology of

behavioral scientists have investigated various aspects of the psy-

evil.

Our

ability to selectively

standards

.

.

cruel in one

engage and disengage our moral

how people can be barbarically moment and compassionate the next. .

helps explain

—Albert Bandura-" Horrific Images of

Abuse

The driving force behind

why

at

this

Abu Ghraib

Prison

book was the need

to better

American Military

Police at the

Abu

Clhraib Prison in Iraq.

evidence of these abuses rocketed around the world the

understand the

how and

of the physical and psychological abuses perpetrated on prisoners by

first

time

in

women engaged supposed

to be

in

As the photographic

May 2004. we

recorded history vivid images of young American in uniniiiginable

all

saw

for

men and

forms of torture against civilians they were

guarding. The tormentors and the tormented were captured in an

extensive display of digitally

had made during

documented

their violent escapades.

clepra\

it\

that the soldiers themselves

The Psychology

Why

19

of Evil

such

did they create photographic evidence of

which

illegal acts,

found would surely get them into trouble? In these "trophy photos."

like

displays by big-game hunters of yesteryear with the beasts they have killed,

saw smiling men and women The images are feet: forcibly

of punching, slapping,

and kicking detainees; jumping on

naked prisoners

to

wear women's underwear over

oners to masturbate or simulate

fellatio

their

and pyramids: forcing

their heads: forcing

male

pris-

while being photographed or videotaped

with female soldiers smiling or encouraging for

piles

we

animal creatures.

in the act of abusing their lowly

arranging naked, hooded prisoners in

if

the proud

it:

hanging prisoners from cell rafters

extended time periods: dragging a prisoner around with a leash tied to his

neck: and using unmuzzled attack dogs to frighten prisoners.

The iconic image that ricocheted from that dungeon to the streets of Iraq and every corner of the globe was that of the "triangle man": a hooded detainee

is

standing on a box in a stress position with his outstretched arms protruding from

under a garment blanket revealing electrical wires attached to told that It

he would be electrocuted

if

he

fell

went nowhere:

did not matter that the wires

and must have experienced considerable photographs that the of the greater

image of the

U.S.

surely have

his fingers.

He was

box when his strength gave out.

mattered that he believed the

it

stress.

lie

There were even more shocking

government chose not

damage they would

U.S. military

off the

to release to the public

done

to the credibility

because

and moral

and President Bush's administrative command.

I

have

seen hundreds of these images, and they are indeed horrifying. I

was deeply distressed

at the sight of

such suffering, of such displays of arro-

gance, of such indifference to the humiliation being inflicted oners.

had

was

I

just I

to learn that

I

was not

around the globe asked

one of the abusers, a female

soldier

who

and "a few bad

surprised.

The media and the "person

in the

how such evil deeds could be perpetrated by these

men and women, whom

seven

helpless pris-

turned twenty-one. described the abuse as "just fun and games."

was shocked, but

street"

cell

amazed

also

upon

military leaders

apples." Instead.

I

had

labeled as "rogue soldiers"

wondered what circumstances

in that prison

block could have tipped the balance and led even good soldiers to do such bad

things.

To be

cuse them or in this

these

sure,

advancing a situational analysis

make them morally acceptable.

madness.

I

wanted

young people

to

understand

Rather.

how it was

to be so transformed in

for I

such crimes does not ex-

needed

to find the

meaning

possible for the characters of

such a short time that they could do

these unthinkable deeds. Parallel Universes in

The reason

that

oner abuse

in the

I

Abu Ghraib and

Stanford's Prison

was shocked but not surprised by the images and

Abu Ghraib

"Little

Shop

thing similar before. Three decades earlier.

they unfolded in a project that

1

of Horrors" I

directed, of

was

that

1

stories of pris-

had seen some-

had witnessed eerily similar scenes as

my own design:

naked, shackled pris-

20

Thi' Liidfer Effect

oners with bags over their heads, guards stepping on prisoners' backs as they did push-ups. guards sexually humiliating prisoners, and prisoners suffering from ex-

treme

stress.

Some

of the visual images from

my experiment

changeable with those of the guards and prisoners the notorious

The

Abu

college students role-playing guards

in the real

at

Stanford

in a mock prison exsummer of 1971 were mirrored

guards and real prison

2003. Not only had

in the Iraq of

that

randomly assigned normal,

where they were

sociates. Craig

some

of the

How power

and work

in the

do ordinary people adapt

If

designed the experi-

My

weeks.

jaffe.

and

1

simulated prison

you put good people

Would

filled

set-

student research as-

wanted

to

understand

psychology of imprisonment.

such an institutional

setting.-

between guards and prisoners play out

place corrupt them.'

absent in a prison

to

I

realistically

for several

Haney. Curt Banks, and David

dynamics operating

differentials

actions.'

to live

seen such

healthy, intelligent college students to

enact the roles of either guards or prisoners in a ting

I

conditions that allowed such

for creating the

abuses to flourish. As the project's principal investigator.

ment

in Iraq,

and prisoners

niversity in the

I

had been responsible

I

are practically inter-

remote prison

Ghraib.

periment conducted

events.

in that

How

do the

in their daily inter-

bad place, do the people triumph or does the

in a

the violence that

is

with good middle-class

ploratory issues to be investigated in

what

endemic

boys.-

to

most

real prisons be

These were some of the ex-

started out as a simple study of prison

life.

EXPLORING THE DARK SIDE OF HUMAN NATURE Our journey together ness visible." flourished.

It

will

be one that the poet Milton might say leads into "dark-

will take us to places

where

evil,

by any delinition of the word, has

We will meet a host of people who have done very bad things to others,

often out of a sense of high purpose, the best ideology,

are alerted to watch for their banality sion, as

and

demons along

their similarity to

your adventure guide.

through their eyes

and personal. At

I

in order to give

times, the

view

it.

to

transform

it

will invite

you an will be

you

to

insider's

be disappointed by

in their

ugly, but

bites

told.

up

close

only by examining

might we be able to change

it

was

like to

to con-

it.

is

the backdrop

I

and some will

I

will

use

be a prisoner, a guard, or a prison super-

intendent at that time in that special place. Although the research

never before been

evil,

through wise decisions and innovative communal action,

you understand what

from media sound

shoes and see

perspective upon

downright

evil

walk

rhe basement of Stanford University's Jordan Hall to help

may

your next-door neighbor. With your permis-

and understanding the causes of such lain

and moral imperative. You

the path, but you

is

widely

of our research publications, the

narrate the events as they unfold in

ent tense, re-creating the highlights of each day

and night

first

in

full

known

story has

person, pres-

chronological

I

— The Psychology

21

of Evil

we consider the implications of the Stanford Prison Experiment we wiW expand the bases of the psychological theoretical, and practical

sequence. After ethical,

—

study of

evil

by exploring a range of experimental and

gists that illustrates

will

examine

in

some

detail research

research by psycholo-

We

on conformity, obedience, deindividuation,

dehumanization, moral disengagement, and the

"Men

field

the power of situational forces over individual behavior.

evil of inaction.

are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their

own

minds." said

President Franklin Roosevelt. Prisons are metaphors for constraints on freedom,

both

and symbolic. The Stanford Prison Experiment went from

literal

being a symbolic prison to becoming an all-too-real one in the minds of

and guards. What are other self-imposed prisons that

ers

limit

initially

its

prison-

our basic freedoms.^

Neurotic disorders, low self-esteem, shyness, prejudice, shame, and excessive fear of terrorism are just

some

of the chimeras that limit our potentiality for

and happiness, blinding our

With that knowledge But

now

let

what it was

in

full

Abu Ghraib returns to capture our attention. TV images to appreciate more fully

mind,

us go beyond the headlines and like to

be a prison guard or a prisoner in that horrid prison at the time

of those abuses. Torture forces it

freedom

appreciation of the world around us.-^

its

way into our investigation in the new forms that

has taken since the Inquisition.

I

you

will take

one of

into the court-martial of

we will witness some of the negative fallout of the actions. Throughout, we will bring to bear all we know about the triadic

those military policemen, and soldiers'

components of our social psychological understanding, focusing on acting people

and maintained by systemic

in particular situations, created

on

trial

ment that

the

command structure of

leaders for their

the U.S. military.

combined complicity

spawned the torture and abuses

The

first

unwanted

Abu

of

We

in creating a dysfunctional

system

Ghraib.

some guidelines on how to resist how to build resistance to the seductive lures of influWe want to know how to combat mind control tactics used to of choice to the

tyranny of conformity, compliance,

obedience, and self-doubting fears. Although also endorse the

power of people

I

preach the power of the situation,

to act mindfully

and

critically as

agents directing their behavior in purposeful ways. By understanding influence operates

and by

realizing that

any of us can be vulnerable

informed

how social

to

and pervasive powers, we can become wise and wily consumers instead easily influenced by authorities,

I

put

part of our final chapter will offer

compromise our freedom

ance

will

social influence,

ence professionals.

I

forces.

CIA officials, and top govern-

its

subtle

of being

group dynamics, persuasive appeals, and compli-

strategies.

want

to

end by reversing the question with which we

considering whether you are capable of are capable of becoming a hero. "banality of heroism."

the right situational

I

to

1

want you

started. Instead of

to consider

whether you

My final argument introduces the concept of the

believe that

moment

evil.

any one of us

make

is

a potential hero, waiting for

the decision to act to help others despite

22

The Uuifer Effect

personal risk and sacrifice. But

uc have

far to travel before

we

conclusion, so audiamo!

Power said

to the world.

"You arc mine."

The world

kept

it

prisoner on her throne.

Love said to the world.

The world gave

it

"I

am thine."

the freedom of her house.

— Rabindranath Tagore. Stray

Birds--

gel to that

happy

CHAPTER TWO

Sunday's Surprise Arrests

band

Little did this tolling for

of

young strangers

them, that their

lives

realize that Palo

Altos church

would soon be transformed

in totally

bells

were

unexpected

ways. Sunday. August 14. 1971.9:55a.m. The temperature

It is

the humidity

is

low. as usual, the visibility

blue sky above. Another postcard-perfect nia.

is

unlimited: there

is

is

in the seventies.

a cloudless azure

summer day begins in Palo Alto.

Califor-

The Chamber of Commerce would not have it otherwise. Imperfection and

regularity are as

weeds

little

tolerated in this western paradise as

in a neighbor's garden.

It

feels

good

to be alive

is litter

on a day

ir-

in the streets or

a place

like this, in

like this.

This

is

the Eden where the American

Palo Alto's population rives

from the

Drive with

Stanford

with is

its

its

1 1

is like

to.

out. the

end of the

.000 students living and studying about a mile away

frontier.

down Palm

trees lining the entrance to Stanford University.

a sprawling mini-city covering

across the

comparison

Alto, by contrast,

Highway 101

to the

East Palo Alto's single-

where

dream plays

on 60.000 citizens, but its main distinction de-

more than

eight thousand acres,

own police and fire departments and post office. Just an hour's drive north

live

Alto. In

closing in

hundreds of palm

San Francisco. Palo

blacks

is

my

is

safer, cleaner, quieter,

Yet. all

recruiting a

new

this oasis, trouble

about to go on

"by

1

was used

and two-family houses more nearly resemble a suburb

land, the Black Panther Party resist racist practices

all

is

has begun brewing of

promoting black

means

if

he could have

as a cab driver

pride,

late.

Over

in

necessary." Prisons are

with his "Soledad Brothers"

Oak-

backed by black power, to

becoming centers

breed of political prisoners, inspired by George Jackson,

trial

Most

tracks at the east end of town, in East Palo

money by moonlighting

around

whiter.

run-down, multistory tenement buildings

high school teacher might have dreamed of living

saved enough

and

for the alleged

murder

for

who

is

of a prison

24

The Lucifer Fffcct

The women's

giHird.

ing

niowiiicnt

libcriilioii

women's secondary citizenship and

unpopular war

in

is

picking up slcain. dcdicaled lo end-

fostering

new opportunities for them. The

Vietnam drags on as body counts soar daily. That tragedy wors-

ens as the Nixon-Kissinger administration reacts to antiwar activists with evergreater bombings in reaction to the mass demonstrations against the war. "military-industrial complex"

openly question

its

the

is

enemy

of this

new

aggressive-commercial-exploitation values. For

likes to live in a truly

dynamic

era. this Zeitgeist

COMMUNAL

is

unlike any in recent history.

COMMUNAL GOOD

EVIL,

Intrigued by the contrasts between the sense of ambient anonymity

New

York City and

Palo Alto.

I

difference.

this sense of

community and personal

decided to conduct a simple I

had become

duced when people

tield

experiment to

that encouraged aggression. Based liberating hostile impulses.

I

identify

I

test

with

in

felt

in

1

the validity of this

anonymity

them when they were

on the Lord of

lived

identity that

interested in the antisocial effects that

no one could

felt

The

who anyone who

generation of people,

in-

in a setting

the Flies conception of

masks

had conducted research showing that research par-

who were "deindividuated" more readily inflicted pain on others than those who felt more individuated.' Now wanted to see what the good citizens

ticipants

did

I

of Palo Alto

would do

vandalism.

designed a Candid Camera-type

I

automobiles

an invitation

in response to the temptation offered by

in Palo Alto and. as a

field

to

study that involved abandoning

comparison, three thousand miles away

in the

Bronx. Good-looking cars were placed across the street from the campuses of

New

York University's Bronx campus and Stanford University, with their hoods

raised

and

license plates

removed

— sure "releaser" signals

coming vandals. From concealed vantage photographed the action

We

had not

yet set

in the

points,

to lure citizens into be-

my research team watched and

Bronx and videotaped the Palo Alto scene.-

up our recording equipment

vandals appeared and began stripping the car

in the

to

moved the

walking and driving, stopped

battery. Passersby. all

was followed by

a parade of vandals

New

York City

magazine carried

this

who systematically

to strip

stripped

our helpless

and then demol-

^

In a

at

work under the

matter of days,

we recorded

twenty-three separate destructive incidents on that hapless Oldsmobile

Bronx. The vandals turned out to be

just

ordinary citizens. They were

well-dressed adults who. under other circumstances, might

and

less

all

demand more

in the

white, police

coddling of criminals and would "very definitely agree" with

the opinion poll item about the necessity for pectation, only

to re-

car.

sad tale of urban anonymit>'

heading "Diary of an Abandoned Automobile."

protection

first

Mom

items of value before the demolition derb\' began. This episode

ished that vulnerable Tiine

for

check out the glove compartment while he

empty the trunk and the son car of any and

Bronx when the

—Dad barking orders

more law and

order.

Contrary to ex-

one of these acts was performed by kids simply delighting

in the

25

Sunday's Surprise Arrests

joys of destruction. Even

more

daylight, so

we had no need

no darkness

for its expression.

But what was the

made

surprising, all this destruction took place in broad

our infrared

for

fate of

film. Internalized

our abandoned Palo Alto

to look obviously vulnerable to assault.^ After a

single act of

vandalism against

one even touched

it.

it!

People passed

Well, not exactly.

car.

full

drove

by.

anonymity needs

which had

been

also

week, there was not a by.

looked at

but no

it.

rained one day. and a kindly gentleman

It

shut the hood. (God forbid the engine should get wet!)

When I drove the car away,

back to the Stanford campus, three neighbors called the police to report a possible

an abandoned

theft of

enough

event on their

turf. I believe

is

my

operational definition of "community."

an unusual or possibly

to take action in the face of

reciprocal altruism, others

The message

That

car.^

people caring

of this

would do the same

little

demonstration

to protect their property or person. is

that conditions that

make us

anonymous, when we think that others do not know us or care to. can social, self-interested behaviors.

masking one's

illegal

such prosocial behavior comes from the assumption of

My

feel

foster anti-

earlier research highlighted the

power

of

identity to unleash aggressive acts against other people in situa-

tions that gave permission to violate the usual taboos against interpersonal violence. This

abandoned car demonstration extended that notion

anonymity

as a precursor to violations of the social contract.

become the only

Curiously, this demonstration has

bit of

to include

ambient

empirical evidence

used to support the "Broken Windows Theory" of crime, which posits public

disor-

der as a situational stimulus to crime, along with the presence of criminals.^ setting that cloaks people in ability

and

settings,

anonymity reduces

civic responsibility for their actions.

such as our schools and jobs, the

We see this in many institutional

military,

and

advocates argue that alleviating physical disorder

from the

streets,

wiping out

crime and disarray in city

graffiti,

streets.

and

There

Any

their sense of personal account-

fixing

prisons.

Broken Windows

—removing abandoned cars

broken windows

—can reduce

evidence that such proactive measures

is

well in some cities, such as New York, but not as well in other cities. Community spirit thrives in a quiet, orderly way in places such as Palo Alto

work

where people care about the physical and

social quality of their lives

resources to work at improving both. Here there that contrasts with the nagging tugs of inequity folks in

some other

partment

crime and contain

well educated, well trained, friendly,

act

fairly,

are just blue-collar workers off

when

them can

the city budget let

is

even

if.

evil

—

have

justifiably so.

and honest. The

in the red.

to

and

trust

faith in their police de-

because the police are

police go "by the book."

on rare occasions, people

who happen

and have the

a sense of fairness

and cynicism that drag down

places. Here, for example, people

to control

which makes them

is

forget that police

wear blue uniforms and can

get laid

At rare times, however, even the best of

authority rule over their humanity. That doesn't happen often in a

place like Palo Alto, but

it

did in a curious

way

that forms the back story of

the Stanford Prison Experiment started off with a big bang.

how

The

2fi

Lm ifcr

Effect

TOWN-GOWN CONFRONTATIONS

AT

STANFORD AND BEYOND The only blemish on the otherwise excellent service and citizenship record of Palo Alto's finest was their loss of composure during a confrontation with Stanford student radicals during the

When

Indochina.

1

970

involvement

strike against the United States

these students started "trashing"

campus

buildings.

I

organize several thousand other students in constructive antiwar activities to

and vandalism

that violence

got only negative

in

helped

show

media attention and had no impact

on the conduct of the war, while our pro-peace

tactics might.^ Unfortunately, the

new university president. Kenneth Pitzer. panicked and called in the cops. and. as in many such confrontations happening all over America, too many cops lost their professional

composure and beat up the

kids they

had previously

felt

it

was

their

—

duty to protect. There were even more violent police-campus confrontations

at

the University of Wisconsin (October 1967). Kent State University in Ohio (May

1970). and Jackson State University in Mississippi (also dents were shot

who

wounded, and

at.

killed

May

1970). College stu-

by local police and National Guardsmen,

other times are counted on as their protectors. (See Notes for details.)"

in

From The SewYork The resurgence ments as

its

of

Times.

May

2,

197()(pp. 1.9):

campus antiwar sentiment

—took

central issue

— with Cambodian dexclop-

a variety of forms yesterday

and included

the following incidents:

Two National Guard units were put on alert by Gov. Marvin Mandel of Maryland

after students at the University of

state police following a rally

Maryland clashed with the

and a hit-and-run attack on the

R.O.T.C.

headquarters on the College Park Campus.

About 2.300 Princeton University Students and voted to strike until at least

Monday

afternoon,

scheduled: this will conclude a boycott of strike at Stanford University

California

A

campus:

all

29 and far

gas was

first

as

A

is

student

police used tear gas to disperse the demonstrators. level of

violence that had ne\er before been

forty arrests. The

campus

at least

thirteen times

most serious demonstrations occurred on

1970, following news of the

30.

away

from as

members

mass meeting

social functions. ...

seen on this bucolic campus. Police were called to

April

faculty a

developed into a rock-throwing melee on the

Stanford report described a

and made more than

when

U.S. invasion in

Cambodia. Police

San Francisco were sunmioned. rocks were thrown, and

tear

used on campus during these two nights, which President Pitzer de-

scribed as "tragic." Approximately sixty-five people, including

many

police offi-

were hurt.

cers, I

lard feelings arose

and the Palo Alto

between the Stanford college community, on the one

police

and

hard-line,

"hawk" townies. on the

other. This

side,

was

.

27

Sunday's Surprise Arrests

a strange conflict because there had never been the same kind of love-hate,

town-gown relationship that existed between the townies in New Haven and Yale University students that

The new chief department

in

I

had experienced

as a graduate student

of police, Captain James Zurcher,

who had taken charge of the

February 1971, was eager to dissolve any lingering animosity

from the riot-torn days of his predecessor and was thus receptive to collaborate in a

Young, articulate

officers

new facility,

sparkling

—Stanford

program

conducted student tours of the Police Department's

while students reciprocated by inviting police to share dor-

mitory meals with them and police rookies

sit

in

on

classes.

suggested further that interested

work out reasonable

insoluble social problems. However,

new pocket of

it

was

it

into a "good cop." Great idea,

I

like

naively helped to

I

replied,

interesting to study

how men become

and what went into transforming a rookie but that would require a big grant that

was a

How about creating a prison

role

in

narrower

in function as well as in territory.

which rookie cops and

both mock guards and mock prisoners.^ That sounded In addition to whatever

I

might learn, the chief

sonal training experience for his rookies to be in this

rests of the students

Shortly before

some

mock

with that foot in the door,

I

of his

felt

college students

like

that

prison experience.

I

was

would be

a good idea to the chief. it

would be a good

men. So he agreed

per-

to assign several of

delighted,

knowing that

could then ask to have his officers conduct

mock

ar-

who were soon to become our prisoners.

we were ready

to begin, the chief

own men as mock prisoners or guards,

reneged on his promise to

saying they could not be spared for

the next two weeks. Nevertheless, the spirit of detente

volunteered to assist in

suggested that the ideal

would be

was maintained, and he

my prison study in whatever other way feasible. way

to start the study

most

realistically

and with

mock

dramatic

flair

oners.

would take only a few hours on an off-time Sunday morning, and

It

for his officers to stage arrests of

would surely make a big difference to-be

had

their

rather than

I

But I did have a small grant to study what went into the making of a

prison guard, since that

I

was another sign what seemed

solutions to

in this context that

would be

socialized into the role of police officers

use his

It

Palo Alto.

evil in

Chief Zurcher agreed that

didn't have.

I

might even participate in some of our research.

that reasonable people could

create a

my request to

student "depolarization. "^

of city police

the would-be

in the success of the research

freedom suddenly stripped away as they would

coming

to Stanford voluntarily to

if

prisit

the prisoners-

in real arrests,

surrender their freedom as re-

search subjects. The chief acquiesced halfheartedly and promised that the duty sergeant would assign one squad car for this purpose on Sunday morning.

DISASTER: MISSION

My

ABOUT TO ABORT BEFORE TAKEOFF

mistake was not getting this confirmation in writing. Reality checks

written documents (when an agreement

is

not filmed or taped).

When

I

demand realized

28

The Uuifer Effect ~

this truth

on Saturday and

was already away As

I

for the

*

called the station for a confirmation. Chief Zurcher

weekend. Bad omen.

Sunday the duty sergeant had no intention

expected, on

of committing

the Palo Alto Police Department to a surprise mass arrest of a band of college stu-

dents for alleged penal code violations, certainly not without written authorization

from his

No way

chief.

this old-timer

experiment conducted by someone

Agnew. had dismissed important things

an

as

was going

me.

like

whom

"effete intellectual snob."

for his ofticers to

do than

to get involved in

There were obviously more

to play cops

and robbers as part of

some lamebrained experiment.

In his view, psychology experiments

dling into other people's affairs

and finding out things

better

have thought psychologists could read people's minds eyes, so like to

he avoided looking

at

me when

he

any

his vice president. Spiro

said. "Sorry

meant med-

private.

left

He must

they looked into their

if

about that. Professor.

I'd

men to a new duty post

help you out. but rules are rules. Can't reassign the

without formal authorization."

"Come back on Monday, when

Before he could say.

the chief's here."

systems were go: our mock prison had been carefully constructed of Stanford's Psychology Department: the guards

were eagerly waiting

to receive their

first

had

had a

all

first

All

basement

in the

selected their uniforms

prisoners: the

ready been bought: the prisoners' uniforms had been

day's food

and

had

hand sewn by my

and taped bugging of the prisoner

tary's daughter: videotaping facilities

I

aground before even being launched.

flash of this well-planned study going

al-

secre-

cells

had

been readied, the university Health Department, the Legal Department, the Fire Department, and the campus police had renting beds and linens were complete.

all

been

alerted:

and arrangements

Much more had been done

to

for

accommo-

date the daunting logistics of dealing with at least two dozen volunteers for two

weeks, half living in our prison day and night, the others working eight-hour shifts.

I

had never before conducted an experiment that

hour per subject per

lasted

and with one simple "No":

session. All this,

it

more than one might

all

crash

and burn. Having learned that precaution that

an ace

in

the hole

this scenario as

Therefore.

1

is

soon as

1

is

the better part of scientific

the best attribute of a Bronx wiseguy.

learned that Captain Zurcher had

had persuaded

a

San Francisco TV director

I

counted on the power of the media

split

its

wisdom and

had anticipated from the scene.

at station

the exciting surprise police arrests as a special feature for

gram.

1

KRON

to film

evening news pro-

to soften institutional resistance

even more on the lure of showbiz to get the arresting

officers

on

—

my side

and

in front

of the camera.

"Sure

is

a shame. Sergeant, that

we would. We have

a

we can't proceed today

TV cameraman

right here

the arrests for tonight's evening news. for the

It

as the chief expected

from Channel 4

all

ready to film

would have been good public

relations

department, but maybe the chief won't be too upset that you decided not

to permit us to

go ahead as planned."

'

"

29

Sunday's Surprise Arrests

"Look.

I

didn't say

would be willing Th\

\'anitv.

do

to

Name

Is

I

it.

T\'

was against

it. it's

men

only that I'm not sure any of our

We cant just pull them off

their durv; you know.

News Time

"Why don't we leave it up to the t^vo officers here.-

If

they don't mind being filmed

forTV' while they go through a few routine police arrests, then

maybe we could go

ahead as the chief agreed we should."

"No

waw

big thing. Sarge." said the younger officer. Joe Sparaco.

cameraman with

black hair as he looked at the

snugly on his shoulder.

"It's

a slow

Sunday morning, and

this

combing

camera

his big

seems

like

his

resting it

might

be sort of interesting." "Ail right,

trouble

swer any I

the chief must

everything's

if

calls

chimed

all set

know what

up

already.

he's doing:

and cut the experiment short in.

"Officers,

would you

I

don't

want

to

make any

But hear me. you bener be ready to an-

spell

if I

need you."

your names

can pronounce them right when the news report

is

for the T\'

shown

ensure their cooperation no matter what came up in Palo

man so that he

tonight.-" .Aito

I

needed

before

all

of

to

our

had been arrested and gone through the formal booking process down

prisoners

here at headquarters.

"Must be a

pretty'

important experiment

Bob asked, straightening

Professor.'" Officer

to

have T\' coverage and

his tie

ail.

huh.

and automatically fingering

the handle of his gun. "I

guess the T\' people think

ness of

my

so.

" I

said,

with

full

aw^areness of the precarious-

perch, "what with surprise arrests by the pofice

unusual ex-periment that might have some interesting reason the chief gave us the go-ahead. Here

each of the nine suspects

to be arrested.

I

is

a

list

man can

film

your movements.

ing procedure, read as

them

their

.-Vrrest

one

Miranda

at a

rights,

car.

arrests,

Drive

with Craig Haney. slowi\'.

of

my

so the camera-

is

burglar}' for the

first five

sus-

in a detention cell

and whatever you usually

do.

while you pick up the next suspect on

We will transfer the prisoner fi-om your holding cell to our jail. The only ir-

regular thing we'd the holding

want him sistant.

names and addresses

459 Penal Code violation, and make it armed robbery for the nexl four a Section 211 Code. Return each one to headquarters for booking, finger-

"Then put each one list.

a rather

time using 3-our standard operat-

printing, filling out criminal identification cards,

the

all. It is

probably that's the

search them, and handcuff them,

you would any dangerous suspect. The charge

pects, a

of the

will be driving

graduate research assistant, behind \'Our squad

and

effects:

cell,

to see

like

you to do is to blindfold the prisoner when you put him

Curt Banks, and one of our guards. \'andy. will do the transport.

"Sounds

into

When we transfer him out. we don't us or know exactly where he is headed. Craig, with my other as-

with one of these blindfolds.

fine. Professor.

Bob and I can handle

it

just fine,

no problem."

"

50

The Lucifer Effect

NOW COMES THE We

MAIN STORY

leave the sergeant's front office to go downstairs to check out the booking

room

—Joe and Bob.

new:

this unit

was

cameraman.

Craig, the

just

from overuse but

just old age.

I

jail,

wanted the

volved in the proceedings from the

dardized as possible.

Everything

is

spanking

first

and the cameraman

man

earlier

over the anticipated resistance of the duty sergeant.

them some

to stay in-

arrest to the last to keep the arrests as stan-

about the

purpc:)se of the

manner because my concern had been winning

study but done so in a cursory

lay out for all of

I.

which had become run down, not

officers

had debriefed the TV

I

and

Bill,

constructed within the main Palo Alto City office center, a

short distance but a far cry from the old

me that

occurred to

It

I

should

of the procedural details of the study as well as

of the reasons for doing this kind of experiment.

ing

LINE^

It

some

would help create a team

feel-

show that I cared enough to take the time to answer their questions. "Do these kids know they are going to be arrested.- Do we tell them it's part of

and

also

an experiment or what.-" "Joe.

we put lars a

they have

day to participate

ment, and

sit

in a

—

"You mean but

volunteered for a study of prison

all

newspapers calling

in the

for college students

two

They answered an ad to

earn

fifteen dol-

two-week experiment on the psychology of imprison-

to say these kids are getting paid fifteen

in a jail cell for

life.

who want

weeks.-

Maybe

Joe and

I

bucks a day

to

do nothin'

could volunteer. Sounds

like

easy money."

"Maybe. Maybe

we I

will

had

told

your

"Well,

"As large

it's

easy money, and

maybe

do the study again, using some police

I

anything interesting turns up.

if

you do."

saying, the nine students you are about to arrest were part of a

group of about a hundred men who answered our ads

and The Stanford arrests of

and guards, as

chief."

you can count on us

was

if

officers as prisoners

Daily.

We

in the Palo Alto

Times

screened out the obvious weirdos, the ones with prior

any kind, and any with medical or mental problems. After an hourlong

psychological assessment and in-depth interviews by

and Curt Banks, we

my

assistants. Craig

Haney

selected twenty-four of these volunteers to be our research

subjects."

"Twenty-four times

gonna hafta pay "It

comes

to

out.

fifteen

It's

bucks times fourteen days

not outta your pocket,

$5,040. but the research

is

is it.

is

a

lot

of

money

you're

Doc}"

supported by a government grant

from the Office of Naval Research to study antisocial behavior, so

I

don't have to

pay the salaries myself." "Did

all

the students

"Well. no. in fact

prisoners role."

want

to be prison guards.-"

no one wanted

to be a guard: they

all

preferred to lake the

31

Sunday's Surprise Arrests

"How come? Seems than being a prisoner,

being a guard would be more fun and

like

at least to

me it

does. Another thing

twenty-four hours' work as a prisoner they only work usual

is

peanuts.

is

less hassle

that fifteen bucks for

better pay for the guards

It's

if

shifts."

"That's right, the guards are planning to

work eight-hour

shifts,

with three

crews of three guards around the clock covering the nine prisoners. But the reason

why

these students preferred being in the prisoner role

some time become a prisoner, rested in

some

for draft

protest for civil rights or against the war.

could never imagine ever being a prison guard

—they

hope of becoming a prison guard. So although they are for the

is

that they might at

evasion or DUI charges, for example, or ar-

Most

them

of

all

participating primarily

how

money, some of them also expect to learn something about

handle themselves in

said they

didn't go to college in the

they will

this novel prison situation."

"How did you choose your guards.^ Bet you picked the biggest guys.^" "No, Joe, we randomly assigned all the volunteers to each of the two

condi-

came up heads, the volunteer was assigned to be a guard; if it was tails, a prisoner. The guards were told yesterday that they had come up heads. They came to our little jail in the basement of Stanford's Psychology Department to help us put the finishing touches on it. so that they would feel like it was their place. Each of them picked out a uniform at the local Army tions, like tossing a coin. If

it

surplus store, and they are waiting

now for the action to begin."

"Did they get any training to be guards.'"

"Wish I had the time tion yesterday: for

them

to

do

to

but

that,

all

we did was

no specific training in how to

act their

give

them a

brief orienta-

new role. The main thing is

maintain law and order, no violence against prisoners, and not allow

any escapes.

I

"The kids you are going mitory, or at

them the kind of psychological mind-set we want to create in this prison.

also tried to convey to

prisoners being powerless that

were simply

to arrest

some designated house

if

told to wait at

home,

of

in a dor-

they lived too far away, and they would be

hearing from us this morning."

"And so they soon "I'm a

little

"Sure,

fire

will,

huh,

Joe.?

We'll give 'em the real thing."

confused about a couple of things."

away. Joe. You too.

Bill, if

there

is

something you want

to

know to

help share later with your producer for tonight's show."

"My to set

question

up a prison

paying out

enough? at

all

Why

is

of

that

this.

Doc: What's the point of going through

all

the trouble

own down at Stanford, arresting these college students, money, when we already have prisons enough and criminals your

not just observe what goes on in the county

San Quentin? Wouldn't that

tell

you what you want

to

jail

or the action over

know about guards and

prisoners in real prisons?" Joe

had

hit

the nail right on the head. Instantly

1

was

into

my college profes-

sor role, eager to profess to curious listeners: "I'm interested in discovering it

means

psychologically to be a prisoner or a prison guard.

What changes

what

does a

"

"

32

The Lucifer Effect

person undergo

in the

new role? Is it possible in the new identity that is different from one's

process of adapting to that

short time of only a few weeks to take on a

usual

self?

"There have been studies of actual prison

some

but they suffer from

gists,

free to

observe

scope, without

all

phases of prison

much

by sociologists and criminolo-

life

serious drawbacks. Those researchers are never life.

Their observations are usually limited

direct access to prisoners

and even

less to

there are only two classes of people that populate prisons, staff and inmates,

researchers are outsiders viewed with suspicion,

They can

insiders.

see only

if

not distrust, by

what they are allowed

rarely get beneath the surface of prison

We'd

life.

in

the guards. Since

all

all

the system's

on guided tours that

to see

like to better

understand the

deeper structure of the prisoner/guard relationship by re-creating the psychological

environment of a prison, and then

document the

entire process of

and

to be in a position to observe, record,

becoming indoctrinated

into the

mental

set of

prisoner and guard." "Yes.

I

guess

it

makes sense the way you put

difference between your Stanford

jail

and

real

chimes

it." Bill

ones

in.

"but the big

the t\'pe of prisoners and

is

guards you're starting out with. In a real prison, we're dealing with criminal types, violent

guys

who

think nothing about breaking the law or attacking

guards.

And you

heads

necessary. Your sweet

if

like real

guards and prisoners

"Let

me throw in

who know it

for

gotta have tough guards to keep little

a few are.

you know,

in line,

mean

ready to break

or violent or tough

are.

a zinger." says Bob.

"How can you

expect these college kids

they're getting fifteen bucks a day for doing nothing will not just cool

two weeks and have some fun and games "First.

them

Stanford kids aren't

I

your expense. Doc?"

at

should mention that our subjects are not

The others come from a lot of

all

young people come

recruited a cross section of

all

Stanford students, only

over the country and even from Canada. As to the

them who were

Bay Area

in the

just finishing

summer school

ford or at Berkeley. But you're right in saying that the Stanford

be populated with the usual prison types.

men who seemed

to be

summer, and we've County

at

Stannot

Jail will

We went out of our way to select young

normal, healthy, and average on

all

the psychological di-

mensions we measured. Along with Craig, here, and another advanced graduate student. Curt Banks.

I

carefully selected our final

sample from among

all

those

we

interviewed. Craig,

who had

been waiting patiently

for this sign of recognition

from

his mentor to get a word in edgewise, was ready to add to the thesis being

down:

"In a real prison,

when we observe some

— example, prisoners — we cant determine the

event

stabbing each other or a ^uard smashing an inmate

for

extent to which the particular person or the particular situation

There are indeed some prisoners

some guards who

who

laid

is

responsible.

are violent sociopaths, and there are

are sadistic. But do their personalities account for

all

or even

33

Sunday's Surprise Arrests

most of what goes on

in prison?

I

doubt

We have to take the situation into ac-

it.

count." I

beamed

doubt but

felt

warming

ued,

at Craig's

eloquent argument.

reassured to have Craig put

it

I

also shared the

same

dispositional

so well to the police officers.

contin-

I

my best minilecture style:

into

"The rationale is this: our research will attempt

to differentiate

between what

people bring into a prison situation from what the situation brings out in the peo-

who

ple

By

are there.

preselection,

our subjects are generally representative of

of students who many ways. By randomly assigning them to the we begin with 'guards' and 'prisoners' who are comparable

They are a homogeneous group

middle-class, educated youth.

are quite similar to each other in

two

different roles,

indeed, are interchangeable. lious

At

The prisoners are not more

violent, hostile, or rebel-

than the guards, and the guards aren't more power-seeking authoritarians.

this

moment

'prisoner'

and

one and

'guard' are

alike.

No one wanted

to be a

guard; no one really committed any crime that would justify imprisonment and

punishment. In two weeks, their roles

change

character.? That's

will these

what we plan

Craig added. "Another evil situation to see

"Thanks, Craig,

morning, so

I

we

still

see

be so indistinguishable.^ Will

any transformations

of their

to discover."

way of looking at it is.

you're putting good people in an

who or what wins." I

like that,"

gushed Cameraman

The

to use that tonight as a tease. this

youngsters

their personalities.^ Will

Bill.

station didn't have a

"My

director will

want

communicaster available

have to both shoot and also come up with some angles to hook

the arrest footage on. Say, Professor, time

is

running. I'm ready, can

we get started

now.?"

"Of course.

Bill.

But, Joe.

I

never did answer your

first

question about the ex-

periment."

"Which was.?" "Whether the prisoners knew they would be arrested as part ment. The answer

is

no.

They were merely

the experiment this morning.

search since they charged. Just go

If

know

of the experi-

told to be available for participation in

They may assume that the

arrest

is

part of the re-

they did not commit the crimes for which they will be

they ask you about the experiment, be vague, neither say

about doing your duty as

if it

were a

real arrest; ignore

it is

any of

or

isn't.

their ques-

tions or protests."

Craig couldn't resist adding, "In a sense, the arrest, will

like

everything else they

be experiencing, should merge reality and illusion, role-playing and identity."

A

bit flowery.

I

thought, but certainly worth saying. Just before Joe started

the siren on his all-white squad car. he put on his silver reflecting sunglasses, the kind the guard wore in the movie Cool

one from seeing your

would

also be

eyes.

I

Hand Luke, the kind

grinned, as did Craig,

knowing

that prevents any-

that

all

our guards

donning the same anonymity-inducing goggles as part of our

at-

"

34

The Lucifer Effect

tempt to create a sense of deindividuation. Art.

life,

and research were beginning

to merge.

THERE'S A COP "Momma. Momma, ble!"

there's a

KNOCKING ON THE DOOR"'"

policeman

screeched the youngest Whittlow

door and he's going to arrest Hub-

at the

girl.

Mrs. Dexter Whittlow didn't quite hear the message, but from the sound of Nina's screech there was

some

sort of trouble that Father should attend to.

"Please ask your father to see to ing her conscience because she had

been taking place

had

visits

ing of his going

out of mind"

and

lot

carried

away

to college that she secretly prayed for

she could find

rooftops

him

"Momma.

of sight,

often.

in this lovable child

on the high school

get in trouble for

for

"It's

pranks, or

plain

silly

that he

sometimes got

month, when they had

when

they went about

and immaiurc. Hubbie.

it!"

Dad's not home, he's over

and Hubbie's downstairs being arrested by "Hubbie Whittlow. you're wanted on residenliiil burglary.

was

his friends, like last

reversing and "ripping off" street signs.

and you could

was the "out

bless-

from Palo Alto High School. For men. a good career had to come

fault

tile

She

for a life of

would cool the all-too-obvious passion between Hubbic

away when he was with

painted the

just returned.

about Hubble recently, preparing herself

before hasty marriage plans, she told

The only

the changes that had

from her beautiful fuzzy-blond, blue-eyed charmer. One

effect that

his girlfriend

Mrs. Whittlow was involved in examin-

church services from which she had

in the

also been thinking a

twice-a-year

it."

many misgivings about

at

the golf course with Mr. Marsden.

a policeman!

a violation of Penal

Code number 459.

I'm going to take you to police headquarters for booking. Be-

Sunday's Surprise Arrests

fore

search and handcuff you.

I

TV camera

(Mindful of the

was

Super Cop

must warn you

I

35

of your rights as a citizen."

grinding away, recording for posterity this classic arin stance

and

Dragnets cool Joe Friday in delivery.)

rest.

Joe

"Let

me make some facts clear: You have the right to remain silent and are not re-

all

all

quired to answer any questions. Anything you say can and will be used against

you

in a court of law.

You have the right to consult an attorney before you answer

any questions, and an attorney may be present during the questioning. And have no funds

to hire

represent you at

all

an

attorney, the public defender will provide

you

Do you understand your

stages of the proceedings.

if

you

one to

v\1th

rights.

am taking you to Central Station for booking crime are charged with. Now come peacefully over to the squad car." on the you Good. Having these rights in mind,

I

Mrs. Whittlow was stunned to see her son being body searched, handcuffed,

and spread-eagled against the

TV news.

police car like a

common

criminal one sees on the

Gathering her composure, she demanded courteously: "What

is

this all

about. Officer.^"

"Ma"am. glary,

he

"I

know,

have instructions to arrest Hubbie Whittlow on charges of bur-

I

—

Officer, I told

him not

to take those street signs, that

influenced by those Jennings boys."

"Momma, you "Officer,

don't understand, this

Hubbie

is

is

a good boy. His father

of replacing anything that

was taken. You

he shouldn't be

—

part of

and

see

I

will

be glad to pay for the costs

was just a prank, nothing serious

it

intended."

By now a small crowd

of neighbors

was gathering

at a respectable distance,

lured by the treat of a threat to someone's security or safety. Mrs. Whittlow a special effort not to notice

them so

ingratiating herself with the police officer so he

George were here, he'd

what happens when

would be nicer to her son.

know how to handle the

golf

made

as not to be distracted from the task at hand, "If

only

situation," she thought. "This

is

comes before God on Sunday."

let's move along, we've got a busy schedule: there's a lot more arrests made this morning," Joe said as he moved the suspect into the squad car. "Momma. Dad knows all about it. ask him. he signed the release, it's all right,

"Okay, to be

don't worry,

it's

—

just part of

The wailing

siren of the

more curious neighbors such a nice

squad car and

to console

Hubbie

when

felt

mesh

his pink

pointed at

flashing lights brought out even

poor Mrs. Whittlow. whose son seemed

like

boy.

uneasy

for the first time, seeing his

guilty sitting there alone in the backseat of a

protective

its

screen. "So this

is

how

it

mother's distress and feeling

cop car. handcuffed behind the cop's

feels to

be a criminal." he was thinking

cheeks suddenly flushed with embarrassment as Neighbor Palmer

him and exclaimed

to his daughter.

"What

is

this

world coming

to.^

Now it's the Whittlow boy who's committed a crime!" At the

station, the

booking procedure was dispatched with customary

effi-

— 36

The Lucifer Effect

ciency. given the cooperativeness of the suspect. Officer ble while Joe discussed with us

taken a

little

how

this first arrest

too long, considering that there were eight

cameraman wanted

it

to

move more

Bob took charge of Hub-

had gone.

more

that the next arrest could be deliberate in

its

would take most

—the experiment would come

I

was mindful

of the media, so

I

day

of the

to

first

and the

arrests

was not independent

that the police's cooperation

would

at that rate

of the

power

the remaining arrests on the

all

list.

re-

Interesting as

was to observe. knew that its success was not under my many things could go wrong, most of which had anticipated and tried I

1

was always the unexpected event

to counteract, but there

even the best-laid plans. There are too

many

world, or the "field." as social scientists call

The experimenter

The subject

is

is

it.

That's the comfort of laboratory

The action

in charge.

on the researcher's

that could wipe out

uncontrolled variables in the real

is all

under exquisite con-

as the police interrogation

turf. It's

caution: "Never interrogate suspects or witnesses in their homes: bring station,

agreed

complete the arrests.

this part of the study

control. So

trol.

We

story.

worried that once the filming was completed they might be

luctant to follow through with

research:

had

filmed sequences, but after that

have to be sped up. Whittlow alone had already taken thirty minutes: it

it

However, the

slowly so he could get positioned better since

he had to shoot only a few good arrest sequences to convey the

good T\' shots or not

thought

I

to go.

where you can

capitalize

on the

manuals

them to the

on the lack of

unfamiliarity. seize

social

supports, and in addition, you need not worry about unplanned interruptions." I

tried gently to

urge the policeman to move a

ing with requests for one

Form CI

1-6.

more shot, one more

Bureau of Criminal

Identification

pleted with the required information

mug

We

shot remaining.

save time, shooting after

and

and only attempt

and

full set

was

but

kept intrud-

Bill

blindfolding Hubble.

Investigation,

had been com-

of fingerprints, with only the

would do that with our Polaroid camera all

at

our

jail

to

new uniforms. Hubble had without comment or emotion after his

prisoners were in their

navigated through the booking process first

bit faster,

angle. Joe

at a joke

had been rebuffed by

Joe:

"What

are you. a wise

guy or somethin'.^"

Now he was sitting in a small detention cell at Central Station.

blindfolded, alone,

and

this

helpless,

wondering why he had ever gotten himself into

mess and asking himself whether

ing that

if

it

was worth

it.

But he took solace

in

know-

things got too tough to handle, his father and his cousin, the public de-

fender, could be

counted on

to arrixe

and

gel

him out

of the contract.

"OINK. OINK. THi: PIGS ARE HERE" The next

arrest scenario played itself out in a small Palo Alto apartment.

"Doug, wake up.

your pants on.

will

damn

it. it's

the police.

One minute,

please, he's

coming.

CiCt

you."

"What dya mean, the

police.-

What do

they want with

us.-

Look. Suzy. don't

"

37

Sunday's Surprise Arrests

we haven't done anything they can prove. Let me do the talkknow my rights. The fascists can't push us around."

get uptight, act cool,

ing to the pigs.

I

Sensing a troublemaker at hand. Officer Bob used his friendly persuasion approach. *Are you Mr.

Doug Karlson.^"

"Yeah, what of

it.'"

number 459.

"I'm sorry, but you are suspected of Penal Code violation

and

glary,

right to

am

I

remain

"Cut

warrant

you have

silent,

—

know my rights. I'm not a college graduate for nothing. my arrest.'"

As Bob was thinking about how the nearby church bells tolling.

He

become a

most did

at last year's

it

"It's

to

handle

this

was

—

I

pig.

don't

but

might get ripped

I

antiwar

want

riots at Cal.

this for the

off

As

money

game?

I

Doug heard

tactfully. it

was Sunday!

prefer

it.

didn't go to

by the police someday, told the interviewer

I

like

I

al-

—Haney.

I

and not the experience because the

whole idea sounds ridiculous, and I don't think it I

problem

Sunday!" He had forgotten

said to himself. "Prisoner, huh. so that's the

college to

think

Where's the

it. I

for

bur-

taking you downtowTi to the station for booking. You have the

will

work, but

I'd like to see

how

deal with being oppressed as a political prisoner. "I

have

to

laugh

when

I

think of their

question 'Estimate the likelihood

silly

of your remaining in the prison experiment for the full

percent

scale.'

For me. 100 percent, with no sweat.

simulated prison. reacted to

'My

my

If

I

don't dig

answer

ideal occupation,

future

—the

to

it. I

quit, just

"What would you

which

I

to

100

not a real prison, only a

walk away And

like to

hope would

two weeks, on a

It's

I

wonder how they

be doing ten years from now.''

entail

an

active part in the world's

"

revolution.'

"Who am

What is unique about me.' How's my straight-from-the-shoulder From a "conventional" perspective. I'm a fanatic. From a political perspective. I'm a socialist. From a mental health perspective. I'm healthy. From an existential-social perspective. I'm split, I.'

answer: 'From a religious perspective. I'm an atheist.

dehumanized, and detached

—and

"

I

don't cry much.'

Doug was reflecting on the oppression of the poor and the need to seize power back from the capitalist-military rulers of rear of the squad car

on

its

swift

this

country as he

sat defiantly in the

journey to the station house.

"It's

prisoner." he thought. "All the exciting revolutionary ideas have

good

to be a

come out

of the

He felt a kinship with Soledad Brother George Jackson, liked his letters, and knew that in the solidarity of all oppressed people lies the strength to win the revolution. Maybe this little experiment would be the first step in training his mind and body for the eventual struggle against the fascists ruling

prison experience."

America.

The booking and

fingerprints

officer

were

comments as his height, weight, He was all business. Joe easily rolled

ignored Doug's flippant

efficiently recorded.

3S

The Lucifer Effect

set of fingerprints even when Doug tried to make his Doug was a bit surprised at how strong the pig was. or maybe he was little weak from hunger since he hadn't had any breakfast yet. Out of

each tingcr to get a clear

hand

rigid.

just a

somber proceedings evolved finks at Stanford really

much

charged

I

On "I

Doug called out a

rat

porch of inches

my

tall. 1

AM PREPARED TO

70 pounds it

at

high-pitched voice,

"tell

me again, what

Tom was

his

was this eighteen-year-old

was surprising: "Where and what and

efficiency

Tom Thompson,

baby

built like a

under

of soUd muscle

our interview. "What would you

involve organization

BE ARRESTED. SIR"

the designated pickup place for

Rosanne.

secretary.

no-nonsense person, in

in his

conviction, you could be paroled in a couple of years."

first

The next scenario occurs

reply

maybe those

was. giving them so

I

with.'"

"Burglary.

him

me in to the cops. What a fool

personal background that they might use against me."

"Hey. Copper."

am

a slightly paranoid thought: "Hey.

turned

crew

the

bull, five feet, eight

cut.

If

there were ever a

When we had asked

soldier boy.

be doing ten years from now.'" his

like to

arc unimportant

producing

in

—the kind of work would

unorganized and

inefficient

areas of our government." Marital plans:

plan to marry only after

"I

Any therapy, drugs, mitted a criminal act. ing

my

I

still

am solid financially."

remember the experience when was

father take a piece of

ashamed

I

tranquilizers, or criminal experience.' "I I

candy

have never comfive

or six of see-

to eat in a store while shopping.

I

was

of his act."

In order to save

on rent money. Tom Thompson had been sleeping

in

the

backseat of his car. accommodations that were neither comfortable nor well suited to studying. Recently he

had had

once on the eye and once on the

lip."

to "fight off a spider that bit

summer

school course load in order to advance his credit standing.

working

forty-five

hours a week

at assorted jobs

student food service to save up for next frugality.

Tom

planned

to

graduate

fall's

six

and eating

twice,

tuition.

months

As

early.

He was

a result of his tenacity

He was

full

also

leftover food at the

also bulking

exercising seriously in his spare time, which apparently he had a total

me

Nevertheless, he had just completed a

lot

and

up by

of given his

absence of dates or close friends.

To be studies

a paid participant in the prison study

and summer

meals a day. a

jobs

real bed.

was the

ideal job for

Tom since his

were now over and he needed the money. Three square

and maybe a hot shower were

However, more than anything else^or anyone

else

like

winning the

lottery.

— he envisioned the next two

weeks as a paid vacation.

He had not been doing squats for long on the porch at 4 SO Kingsley Street, where he was waiting to start his stint in our experiment, before the squad car pulled up behind his bS Chevy. At a distance was Haney's Fiat with the un-

39

Sunday's Surprise Arrests

daunted cameraman filming what was he'd get

more

was eager

to be the last outside arrest. After this,

interior footage in the station,

to get

back

KRON

to

then over at our

what

mock

prison. Bill

usually a

tame

prepared to be arrested without any

resis-

with some hot video

for

is

Sunday-evening news show. "I'm

Tom Thompson,

sir. I

am

tance."

Bob was

leery of this one;

he might be some kind of nut

who wanted to prove

something with his karate lessons. The handcuffs were slapped on right away, even before Miranda rights were read.

more thorough than

dude was packing a gun, a

there

was something

later,

"but there

military

this particular

someone facing an

too self-assured for

is

else

to

false-arrest

it

It

feeling

was too

meant a

trap of

cocky,

some

charge was in the making, or

about that guy Thompson, he's

me

like

a

in the enemy."

no crimes that Sunday

in Palo Alto, or cats stranded

summon Bob and Joe away from finishing their ever-more-efficient ar-

rest procedures.

taken

arrest; usually

off the wall

—a sergeant

Fortunately, there were

up trees,

kind of nonresistance.

out of the ordinary. "I'm no psychologist," Joe told

something

drill officer

And his search for concealed weapons was

had been with the others because he had a funny

who showed

about guys

kind: the

it

down

to

These young

By

our

early afternoon

jail,

all

of

our prisoners had been booked and

to the eager waiting

men would be

arms

of our guards-in-the-making.

leaving this sunny Palo Alto paradise, going

down

a

short concrete staircase into the transformed basement of the Psychology De-

partment into Hell.

in

Jordan Hall, on Serra Street. For some

it

would become a descent

CHAPTER THREE

Let Sunday's Degradation Rituals Begin

As each of the blindfolded prisoners of Jordan Hall into our

little jail,

is

down

escorted

the flight of steps in front

our guards order them to

strip

and remain stand-

ing naked with their arms outstretched against the wall and legs spread apart.

They hold that uncomfortable

position for a long time as the guards ignore

because they are busy with last-minute chores, belongings the three

for safekeeping, fixing

cells.

be a dclouser. to rid

inate our

Without any

staff

him

unevenly hanging

on

Such a guy

testicles.

blindfolded,

each prisoner

is

many

A woman's

It is

their small penis size or laughing at their

numbers on

and

front

and back

we bought from

a

just

for identifica-

Boy Scout sup-

and some

prisons. Covering the

is

part of the

head

is

also a

erasing one of the markers of individuality and promoting greater

a locked chain

prisonment.

when

sets

a substitute for the head shaving that

ritual in the military

anonymity among the prisoner clogs,

contam-

make fun

nylon stocking serves as a cap covering the long hair of

of these prisoners.

newcomer method of

to

thing!

The numbers have been sewn on from

ply store.

sprayed with pow-

then given his uniform, nothing fancy,

a smock, like a tan muslin dress, with tion.

is

of lice that might be brought in to

encouragement, some guards begin

of the prisoners' genitals, remarking

Still

packing away the prisoners'

up their guards quarters, and arranging beds in

Before being given his uniform, each prisoner

der, alleged to jail.

like

them

I'veii

is

when he

caste. Next,

each prisoner dons

attached to one ankle is

—

a constant

aslrep. the prisoner will be

a pair of

rubber

reminder of im-

reminded of

his status

the chain hits his loot as he turns in his s\ccp. The prisoners are allowed no

underwear, so when they bend

owr

llieir

haw

been

fully outfitted,

the guards reiiioxe the blind-

new

look \n the luli-ieiigth mirror

When

the prisoners

folds so that the prisoners

propped against the wall.

an

official

can

A

reflect

on

behiiuls show.

their

Polaroid photo

booking form, where an

II)

documents each

prisoner's identity

on

tuimber replaces "Name" on the form. The

I

I

41

Let Sunday's Degradation Rituals Begin

humiliation of being a prisoner has begun,

much

as

it

does in

from military boot camps to prisons, hospitals, and low-level

many

institutions

jobs.

move your head: don't move your mouth: don't move your hands: move your feet; and don't move anjlhing. Now shut up, and stay where you barks Guard Arnett in his first show of authority. ^ He and the other day shift

"Don't don't are.

"

guards. in

J.

Landry and Markus. are already starting

menacing positions

as they undress

and

to wield their police billy clubs

outfit the prisoners.

The

first

four pris-

oners are lined up and told some of the basic rules, which the guards and the

warden had formulated during the guard orientation on the previous day. like

the

you not

warden to

to correct

my

work." says .Arnett. "so

I

have to correct me. Listen carefully to these

prisoners by

number and by number

only.

will

make

rules.

Address guards as

it

"I

don't

desirable for

You must address "Mr. Correctional

"

Officer.'

As more prisoners are brought outfitted, tion.

and made

to join their fellows standing against the wall for indoctrina-

The guards are trying

know

into the Yard, they are similarly debused,

"Some of 3'ou prisoners already shown you don't know how to act. so you read slowly, seriously, and authoritatively. The

to be very serious.

the rules, but others of you have

need to learn them." Each rule

is

42

The Lucifer Effect

prisoners arc slouching, sliultling. gazing around this strange

up

straight,

number 72 58. Hands

your

at

He

Arnett begins to quiz the prisoners on the rules.

working hard say that he

is

having none of

doing his

job.

about

six

brown

Warden David

Suddenly.

full

—

who

a

is

curly hair, and tightly pursed

"Stand

Jaffe enters the jail.

is

seems

to

him

a

little

than usual, standing very

guy.

erect,

seriously.

They

yet.

rule reading." says Arnett. Jaffe.

graduate Stanford students, taller

style

Stocky, with long, shaggy blond hair.

inches shorter than Arnett.

aquiline features, dark

wall for the

demanding and critical,

that: they are giggling, laughing, not taking

"No laughing!" orders Guard J. Landry. is

is

nothing personal intended. But the prisoners are

are hardly into playing their role as prisoners

Landry

world. "Stand

manner. His

to set a serious tone in olticial military just

new

sides, prisoners."

tall,

slim fellow with

lips.

at attention against this

who is actually one of my under-

maybe

five feet five,

but he seems to be

shoulders back, head held high. He

is

al-

ready into his role as the warden. I

am

watching the proceedings from a small scrim-covered window behind

Ampex

a partition that conceals our videocamera.

viewing space

at the

taping system, and a tiny

south end of the Yard. Behind the scrim. Curt Banks and

others on our research team will record a series of special events throughout the next two weeks, such as meals, prisoner count-offs.

We

and a prison chaplain, and any disturbances. to record continuously, so

we do

so judiciously. This

visits

by parents, friends,

don't have sufficient funds is

also the site

where we

ex-

perimenters and other observers can look in on the action without disturbing

and without anyone being aware serve

of

when we

are taping or watching.

and tape-record only that action taking place

it

We can ob-

directly in front of us in the

Yard.

Although we cannot see

into the cells,

we can

listen.

The

are bugged

cells

with audio devices that enable us to eavesdrop on some of the prisoners'

talk.

The

prisoners are not aware of the hidden microphones concealed behind the indirect lighting panels. This information will be used to

ing and feeling other.

It

may

when

in private,

let

us

know what

they are think-

and what kinds of things they share with one an-

also be useful in identifying prisoners

who

need special attention

because they are becoming overly stressed. 1

am amazed

dressed up for the

at

Warden

first

and surprised

jaffe's pontificating

time in a sports jacket and

tie.

at

His clothing

seeing is

him

all

rare for stu-

dents in these hippie days. Nervously, he twirls his big Sonny Bono mustache, as

he gets into

his

himself to this

cause he

is

new role. have told Jaffe that this is the time for him to introduce new group of prisoners as their warden. He is a bit reluctant beI

not a demonstrative kind of guy: he

Because he was out of town, he did not take part

in

is

lower-key. quietly intense.

our extensive setup plans but

arrived just yesterday, in time for the guard orientation, jaffe loop, especially since Craig

felt

a

little

out of the

and Curt were graduate students, while he was only

an undergraduate. Perhaps he also

felt

uneasy because he was the

littlest

one

43

Let Sunday's Degradation Rituals Begin

among our comes on

all six-foot-plus-tall staff.

But he

stiffens his spine

and

and serious.

you probably already know,

"As

that

otherwise

as strong

you are unable

I

am

your warden. All of you have shown

to function outside in the real

world

one reason or an-

for

other Somehow, you lack the sense of responsibility of good citizens of this great country.

We in this prison,

what your responsibility

your correctional

staff,

as citizens of this country

are going to help you to learn is.

You heard the rules. Some-

time in the very near future there will be a copy of the rules posted in each cell. expect you to

know them and be able to recite them by number

these rules, keep your hands clean, repent for your misdeeds, attitude of penitence, then

you and

I

will get

along just

If

We

you follow all of

and show a proper

fine.

Hopefully

I

won't

have to be seeing you too often." It

was an amazing improvisation, followed by an order from Guard Markus,

talking

up

for the first time:

"Now you thank

the

warden

for his fine

you." In unison, the nine prisoners shout their thanks to the

speech to

warden but without

much sincerity.

THESE ARE THE RULES YOU WILL LIVE BY The time has come

new

to

impose some formality on the situation by exposing to the

prisoners the set of rules that will govern their behavior for the next few

weeks. With

all

the guards giving

some

input. Jaffe

worked out these rules

intense session yesterday at the end of the guard orientation.-

in

an

44

The Lucifer Effect

Guard Arncll read the

full set

talks

it

over with

of the rules aloud

Warden Jaffe. and they decide that Arnett will

—

his first step in

dominating the day

shift.

He

begins slowly and with precise articulation. The seventeen rules are:

Prisoners must remain silent during rest periods, after lights out. during

1

meals, and whenever they are outside the prison yard. 2.

Prisoners must eat at mealtimes and only at mealtimes.

3.

Prisoners must participate in

4.

Prisoners must keep their

prison activities.

all

cell

clean at

all

times. Beds

must be made and

personal effects must be neat and orderly. Floors must be spotless. 5.

Prisoners must not move, tamper with, deface, or

damage

walls, ceilings,

windows, doors, or any prison property. 6.

Prisoners must never operate

7.

Prisoners must address each other by

8.

Prisoners

Prisoners lation."

"We will

number

must always address the guards

and the Warden 9.

cell lighting.

as "Mr. Chief Correctional Officer."

must never refer to

They are imprisoned

are halfway there.

I

their condition as

1 0.

an "experiment" or "simu-

until paroled.

hope you are paying close attention, because you

commit each and every one of these rules

dom intervals."

only.

as "Mr. Correctional Officer"

the guard forewarns his

to

memory, and we

will test at ran-

new charges.

Prisoners will be allowed 5 minutes in the lavatory.

lowed to return to the lavatory within

1

hour

No prisoner will be al-

after a

scheduled lavatory

period. Lavatory visitations are controlled by the guards. 1 1

.

Smoking

is

a privilege.

Smoking

will

be allowed after meals or

must never smoke

cretion of the guard. Prisoners

at

in the cells.

the dis-

Abuse

of

the smoking privilege will result in permanent revocation of the smoking privilege.

12.

Mail

is

a privilege. All mail flowing in and out of the prison will be in-

spected and censored. 1 3.

Visitors are a privilege. Prisoners

or her at the door to the yard.

the guard 14.

may

terminate the

All prisoners in

each

who are allowed a visitor must meet him

The

visit will

be supervised by a guard, and

visit at his discretion.

cell will

stand whenever the warden, the prison

superintendent, or any other visitors arrive on the premises. Prisoners will 1

5.

wait on orders to be seated or to resume

Prisoners must obey

all

activities.

orders issued by guards at

order supersedes any written order.

A

all

times.

A

guard's

warden's order supersedes both the

guard's orders and the written rules. Orders of the superintendent of the prison are supreme. I

h.

Prisoners must report

all

rule violations to the guards.

Let

"Last, but the

Sundays Degradation

most important, rule

for

45

Rituals Begin

you

remember

to

at all times

is

num-

ber seventeen," adds Guard Arnett in an ominous warning:

Failure to obey

1 7.

Later on in the tion

any

shift.

and rereads the

of the above rules

Guard

J.

may result in punishment.

Landry decides that he wants some of the ac-

adding his personal embellishment: "Prisoners are a

rules,

community running

part of a correctional community. In order to keep the

smoothly, you prisoners must obey the following rules."

nods in agreement: he already

Jaffe nity,

likes to

think of this as a prison

in which reasonable people giving and following rules can

commuharmo-

live

niously.

The

Count

First

in This

Strange Place

According to the plan developed by the guards

day

before.

Guard

J.

at their orientation

meeting the

Landry continues the process of establishing the guards'

authority by giving instructions for the count. "Okay, to familiarize yourselves

with your numbers, we are going to have you count them

and

fast."

three-digit like to see

The prisoners shout out

numbers on the

them

"You were too slow

The prisoners

in standing

come a staple in the guards' Jaffe asks. "I

front of their smocks. "That

at attention."

tall.

control

off

from

left

to right,

their numbers, which are arbitrary four- or

Give

was

pretty good, but I'd

reluctantly stand erect at attention.

me

ten push-ups." (Push-ups soon be-

and punishment

"Was that a smile.^"

tactics.)

can see that smile from down here. This

is

not funny, this

is

serious

business that you have gotten yourselves into." Jaffe soon leaves the Yard to

around back

and

son. Craig. Curt, Initially

with us on

to confer I

give

him

a pat on the ego: "Right on, Dave,

the purpose of counts, as in

to

ensure that

or

is still

all

prisoners are present

in his cell sick or

of the counts

is

come

how he did in his opening scene. Almost in uniall

prisons,

is

and accounted

needing attention. In

for prisoners to familiarize

way to

go!"

an administrative necessity for,

that

this case, the

none has escaped

secondary purpose

themselves with their

new numbered

identity.

We want them to begin thinking of themselves, and the others, as prison-

ers with

numbers, not people with narnes. What

of the counts

is

is

fascinating

is

how the

nature

transformed over time from routine memorizing and reciting of

IDs to an open forum for guards to display their total authority over the prisoners.

As both groups

of student research participants,

able, get into their roles, the

who

are initially interchange-

counts provide public demonstration of the transfor-

mation of characters into guards and prisoners.

The prisoners are finally sent into their cells to memorize the rules and quainted with their

new cellmates. The cells,

anonymity of prison ten by twelve feet in

living conditions, are actually reconstructed small offices,

size.

together side by side.

get ac-

designed to emphasize the ambient

For the office furniture

The cells are totally barren

we substituted three cots, pushed of

any other

furniture, except for

46

The Lucifer

Cell

which has

3.

special

The

cell.

and

a sink

guards can turn back on office

which we have turned

down

black doors

fitted

num-

cell

door.

run the length of the wall down the right

cells

made

a central window, with each of the three

on the

bers prominently displayed

which the

olT but

reward designated good prisoners put into that

doors were replaced with specially

with a row of iron bars

The

faucet,

at will to

l-ffcct

side of the Yard, as

it

ap-

pears from our vantage point behind the one-way observation screen. The Yard

is

a long, narrow corridor, nine feet wide and thirty-eight feet long. There are no

windows, simply

indirect

neon

lighting.

The only entrance and

exit

is

at the far

north end of the corridor, opposite our observation wall. Because there only a single

exit,

we have

several fire extinguishers

order of the Stanford University

Human Subjects

viewed and approved our research. (However,

handy

is

fire,

by

Research Committee, which

re-

fire

case of a

in

extinguishers can also

become

weapons.)

on the walls

Yesterday, the guards posted signs

"The Stanford County

and a

of the Yard, designating this

Another sign forbade smoking without permission,

Jail."

third indicated, ominously, the location of solitary confinement, "the Hole."

Solitary consisted of a small closet in the wall opposite the cells.

and

for storage,

That

is

its file

boxes took up

all

where unruly prisoners would spend time

fenses. In this small space, prisoners

darkness

for the length of

It

had been used

but about a square yard of open space. as

punishment

for

various

would stand, squat, or sit on the floor

of-

in total

time ordered by a guard. They would be able to hear the

goings-on outside on the Yard and hear

all

too well anyone banging on the doors

of the Hole.

The prisoners are 5704, and 7258;

sent to their arbitrarily assigned

Cell 2

4325. and 5486. In one

number

for

cells: Cell

819. 1037. and 8612: while

sense, this

is like

Cell 3

1

is

for

new inmate

is

paroled out

of.

where there

socialized

is

and

a prisoner-of-war situation wherein a

a preexistent prisoner

into

3401.

houses 2093.

of the enemy are captured and imprisoned as a unit, rather than

civilian prison,

community

into

like

a

which each

which prisoners are always entering and being than most

POW

— and certainly more commodious, clean, and orderly than the hard

site at

All in

camps

is

all,

Abu Ghraib ture and

our prison was a

much more humane

Saddam Hussein made

Prison (which, by the way.

murder long before American

facility

soldiers did

relative "comfort." this Stanford prison

more

notorious for tor-

recently). Yet. despite

would become the scene of abuses

eerily

foreshadowed the abuses of Abu (Ihraib by

years

later.

Army

its

that

Reserve Military Police

Role Adjustments It

takes a while for the guards to get into their roles.

made feels

at

the end of each of the three different

uneasy, not sure what

it

From the Guard

shifts,

we

learn that

takes to be a good guard, wishes he

Shift Reports,

Guard Vandy

had been given

47

Let Sunday's Degradation Rituals Begin

some

training, but thinks

a mistake to be too nice to the prisoners. Guard

it is

Geoff Landry, kid brother of

].

Landry, reports feeling guilty during the humiliat-

ing degradation rituals in which the prisoners in

uncomfortable positions. He

which he

is

had

to stand

naked

for a

did not approve. Instead of raising

an

objection,

long time

some things

sorry that he did not try to stop

he just

left

of

the Yard as

often as possible rather than continue to experience these unpleasant interactions.

Guard Arnett. a graduate student

the others, doubts that the prisoner induction thinks that the security lite.

Even

on

is

who

are troublemakers

we missed

out something that

all

like

the fact that

we go along.

tice as

Arnett

is

able to single out those

is

it

also points

"too good" in his "rigid adher-

2093

be disparagingly

will later

precisely because of his militaristic

He has brought some strong

was something

values into our

something to no-

into conflict with those of the guards,

Recall that

He

—a concern about Prisoner 2093.

Tom-2093

nicknamed "Sarge" by the other prisoners style of obediently following orders.

may come

desired effect.

our observations but Officer Joe had remarked

orders and regulations."^ (Indeed.

situation that

its

and those who are "acceptable." He

Tom Thompson

about during the arrest of Arnett doesn't

in

having

is

bad and the other guards are being too po-

after this first day's brief encounters,

prisoners

ence to

his shift

who is a few years older than

in sociology,

also noticed about

Tom by the ar-

resting police officer.

819 considers the whole

In contrast. Prisoner

He found

the

first

situation quite "amusing.""*

counts rather enjoyable, "just a joke," and he

the guards did as weU. Prisoner 1037 had watched as

processed in the

any of

it

same humiliating fashion

seriously.

felt

that

some

of

the others were

all

as he was. However, he refused to take

He was more concerned with how hungry he had become,

having eaten only a small breakfast and expecting to be fed lunch, which never

came. He assumed that the failure to provide lunch was another arbitrary punishment

inflicted

by the guards, despite the

behaved. In truth,

we had simply

fact that

had taken so long and there was so much

most prisoners had been well

up lunch because the

forgotten to pick

for us to deal with,

arrests

which included a

last-minute cancellation by one of the students assigned to the guard role. Fortunately,

night

we

got a replacement from the original pool of screened applicants for the

shift.

The Night The night

Guard Burdan. Shift Takes

shift

Over

guards arrive before their starting time

at

6

p.m. to

don

their

new

uniforms, try on the sleek silver reflecting sunglasses, and equip themselves with whistles, handcuffs,

down

and

offices of the

They report

to the Guards' Office, located

warden and the superintendent, each with

the door. There the day

thing

billy clubs.

a few steps from the entrance to the Yard, in a corridor that also houses the

is

not yet

shift

guards greet their

under control and everything fully

is

new

his

buddies,

in place, but

own tell

sign printed

them

on

that every-

add that some prisoners are

with the program. They deserve watching, and pressure should be

48

The Lucifer Effect

applied to got thciii inU)

line.

"We're gonna do that

when you come back tomorrow."

hue

The

iirst

meal

is

linally

just line, you'll see a straight

oi

the

newcomer guards.

served at seven o'clock.

It's

a simple one. olTered cafe-

boasts one

on a table set out in the Yard. ^ There is room for only six inmates at the when they finish the remaining three come to eat what is left. Right off. Prisoner 8612 tries to talk the others into going on a sit-down strike to protest

teria style table, so

these "unacceptable" prison conditions, but they are

go along right now. 8612 arresting cops

Back

8612

some

is

Doug

in their cells, the prisoners are

5704. the

tallest of

has gotten

to him.

he has

hungry and

too

Karlson. the anarchist

tired to

who

gave the

but

819 and

lip.

disobey, talk loudly

told that

wise guy

all

the

ordered to remain

and laugh, and

lot.

has been

to earn the right to it

is

away with

silent until

and he demands that

lenges this principle, saying

get

it

silent,

—

now. Prisoner

for

now. but his tobacco addiction

his cigarettes be returned to him. He's

smoke by being a good

5704

prisoner.

breaking the rules, but to no

avail.

chal-

According

to

the rules of the experiment, any participant could leave at any time, but this

seems

to

have been forgotten by the disgruntled prisoners. They could have used

the threat to quit as a tactic to improve their conditions or reduce the mindless

more deeply

hassling they endured, but they did not as they slowly slipped

into

their roles.

Warden

Jaffe's final official

task of this

day

first

is

to

inform the prisoners

Any prisoners who have friends or relatives in the vicinity should write to them about coming to visit. He describes the letter-writing procedures and gives each one who asks for it a pen. Stanford about Visiting Nights, which are coming up soon.

County

Jail

stationery,

and a stamped envelope. They are

and return these materials by the end because he has

oner ID number, or

for

complete their

letters

He makes

it

whether anyone will not be allowed

clear that the guards have discretion to decide to write a letter,

to

of the brief "writing period."

failed to follow the rules, did

know

not

any other reason a guard may have. Once the

his pris-

letters are

written and handed to the guards, the prisoners are ordered back out of their cells for the first

count on the night

rity purposes, also

Visiting Night

making

and the

shift.

Of course, the

copies for our

mail. then,

become

and

effectively to tighten their control

The

New Meaning

Officially,

as far as

1

of

staff reads

before mailing

tools that the

each

them

letter for secu-

out.

The

lure of

guards use instinctively

on the prisoners.

Counts

was concerned, the counts were supposed

tions: to familiarize the prisoners all

files

prisoners were accounted for

the counts also serve as

;r

at

means

to serve twt) func-

with their ID numbers and to establish that the start of each guard

shift. In

of disciplining the prisoners.

many

prisons,

Though the

Iirst

count started out innocently enough, our nightly counts and their early-morning counterparts would eventually escalate into tormenting experiences. "Okay. boys,

now we are going to have a

little

count! doing to be a

lot

of fun."

49

Let Sunday's Degradation Rituals Begin

Guard Hellmann

them with a

tells

"The better you do

the shorter

it,

and

yard, they are silent

Guard Geoff Landry quickly adds,

big grin.

it'll

be."

As the weary prisoners

sullen, not looking at

one another.

It

out into the

file

has already been a

who knows what's in store before they can finally get a good night's

long day, and sleep.

Geoff Landry takes

command: "Turn around, hands

No

against the wall.

You want this to last all night.? We're going to do this until you get it right. by counting off in ones." Hellmann adds his two cents: "I want you to do it

talking!

Start

want you

fast,

and

we'll

have to do

I

Landry chimes

it

loud,

and

do

it

have to do

if

slow, so

again."

As soon

it

Maybe you

Some

"We'll be here

of the prisoners are

all

I

don't

night until

it

very well,

once again." "That's right,"

numbers are called

as a few

me right, I said Now try it from the

didn't hear

they can count backwards.

other end," Landry says playfully. "Hey!

mann says gruffly.

obey. 'T didn't hear

was awful

"Stop! Is that loud.?

yells,

said clear." "Let's see

I

The prisoners

loud."

again. Guys, that

in, "we'll

Hellmann

out,

to

want anybody laughing!"

we

get

it

Hell-

right."

becoming aware that a struggle

for

dominance

is

going on between these two guards, Hellmann and the younger Landry. Prisoner

819,

who

has not been taking any of

this seriously, begins to

Landry and Hellmann one-up each other that

you could laugh,

angry

He

for the first time.

and commands 819

to

gets right billy club.

count

say

up

in the prisoner's face, leans

Now

Landry pushes

his fellow

on him, and guard aside

do twenty push-ups, which he does without comment.

Hellmann moves back start to

I

Maybe you didn't hear me right." Hellmann is getting

819.?

pushes him back with his

laugh aloud as

at the prisoners' expense. "Hey, did

off again,

to center stage: "This time, sing

he interrupts. "Didn't

you gentlemen have those stocking caps too

I

it."

As the prisoners

say that you had to

tight

sing.?

Maybe

around your head and you

me too well." He is becoming more creative in control techniques and He turns on Prisoner 103 7 for singing his number off key and demands twenty jumping jacks. After he finishes, Hellmann adds. "Would you do ten more for me.? And don't make that thing rattle so much this time." Because there is no way to do jumping jacks without the ankle chain m.aking noise, the commands

can't hear dialogue.

are becoming arbitrary, but the guards are beginning to take pleasure in giving

commands and

forcing the prisoners to execute them.

Even though guards alternate "Oh, that's

you

namic duo ers

count

one

I

for

When

in

funny

to

bad."

want it to sound

have the prisoners singing numbers, the two

"Now once

it"

more." Hellmann

sweet. " Prisoner after prisoner

and complaining

tells

is

them.

"I'd like

ordered to do more

being too slow or too sour.

the replacement guard. Burdan. appears with the warden, the dyof

off

Hellmann and Landry immediately switches

to

having the prison-

by their prison ID numbers and not just their lineup numbers from

to nine, as they

Hellmann

is

saying "There's nothing funny about

terrible, really

to sing,

push-ups

it

had been doing, which of course, made no

insists that

they can't look at their numbers

when

official sense.

Now

they count since by

50

The Lucifer Effect

now they

should have memorized them.

ber wrong, the punishment

Landry

dominance

is

If

anyone of the prisoners

a dozen push-ups for everyone.

num-

gets his

competing with

Still

guards' pecking order. Hellmann becomes ever

more way you count when you're going down. want you to count when you're going up. Do ten more push-ups for me. will you. 5486. The prisoners are clearly complying with orders more and more quickly. But that just reinforces the guards' desire to demand more of them. Hellmann: 'Well, that's for

arbitrary:

"I

donl

in the

the

like

I

"

just great.

Why

don't you sing

it

time.

You men don't sing very

this time.'

doesn't sound too sweet to me." Landry:

"I

well,

it

just

don't think they're keeping very good

Make it nice and sweet, make it a pleasure to the ear." 819 and 5486 conmock the process but. oddly, comply with the guards' demands to perform

tinue to

many jumping jacks as their punishment. The new guard, Burdan. gets into the

more quickly than

act even

did the

other guards, but he has had on-the-job training watching his two role models strut their stuff. "Oh. that

was

3401. come out here and do a j^ond

what

Now.

pretty!

solo, tell

way want you to do it. number is!" Burdan goes be-

that's the

us what your

I

guards have been doing by physically pulling prisoners out

his fellow

of line to sing their solos in front of the others.

He has been made

Prisoner Stew-819 has become marked. tune, again

and again, but

his

song

is

to sing a solo

deemed never "sweet enough." The guards

banter back and forth: "He sure doesn't sound sweet!" "No. he doesn't sound sweet to like

me at all."

"Ten more." Hellmann appreciates Burdan's beginning to act

a guard, but he

not ready to relinquish control to him or to Landr)-.

is

the prisoners to recite the

When they don't know "5486. you sound

it,

number

as most do not, ever

in

an unforgettable way:

eight

push-ups and

number

is.

ments, the

5486." He first

"First

is

to

do

five

new

signs of creative

you

in

the nine tired prisoners to count off

He is obviously not as 5486 is confused and made

"I'd

have you do

it

by

7s.

will

remember exactly what

creative as to

but

I

in to

fill

is

not out of

really satisfied

now by twos,

Hellmann

ignores Landrys

last

will

domi-

adding to his comyet.

it

He moves back

with the

last

one. he

then by threes, and up and

Hellmann but competitive nevertheless.

do more and more push-ups. Hellmann interrupts.

know

you're not that smart, so

your blankets." Landry tries to continue: "Wail. wait, hold wall." But

that

the space, but instead of

typically either

upon them. But Landry

up.

more."

number

evil.

and demands another number count. Not

tells

five

to the far side of the Yard, apparently ceding

Hellmann. As he does. Burdan moves

or elaborating

have

cleverly inventive in designing punish-

competing with Hellmann. he supports him.

mands

better.' Let's

plan to teach Jerry- 548 6 his

push-ups. ihcn four jumping jacks, then

just so

becoming more

Landry has withdrawn

nance

creative

jumping jacks,

six

asks

more push-ups.

you do any

real tired. Can't

Hellmann has come up with a

He

of the prisoner next douTi in line to them.

have none of that and.

in a

it.

come over and get Hands against the

most authoritative fashion,

order and dismisses the prisoners to get sheets and blankets.

Let Sunday's Degradation Rituals Begin

make

their beds,

and stay

51

who

Hellmann.

in their cells until further notice.

taken charge of the keys, locks them

has

in.

THE FIRST SIGN OF REBELLION BREWING At the end of

Hellmann

yells

out to the prison-

gentlemen, did you enjoy our counts.^" "No

sir!"

"Who

his shift, as

ers. "All right,

8612 owns up

Prisoner

he

is

leaving the Yard.

he was raised not

to that remark, saying

three guards rush into Cell 2 and grab 8612. salute of dissident radicals as he shouts, "All

—with the

into the Hole

distinction of being

who

power

now

up on Hellmann's previous question

follows

cer." "That's

count.^" "Yes

more

"Yes

sir."

sir,

authority, the three caballeros

remind

Prisoner

5486

He

also

felt

its

occupants that

sir,

guilty for not having

his behavior in not

wanting

well by reminding himself that

"it's

dumped show

Mr. Correctional Offi-

though

in a

Hellmann peers

into

in real apple pie order."

when 8612 was put into the Hole.

done anything

to sacrifice his

is

any dissent. Landry

hall in formation, as

want these beds

"I

later reported feeling depressed

All

to the prisoners. "All right, did

military parade. Before going off to the guards" quarters, Cell 2 to

lie.

willing to openly challenge their

is

walk down the

a

occupant. The guards

what.^" "Yes

Since no one else

like it."

He

to the people!"

its first

said that.^"

tell

giving the clenched-fist

is

that they are united about one principle: they will not tolerate

you enjoy your

to

to intervene.

But he rationalized

comfort or get thrown into solitary as

only an experiment."^

Before lights out at 10 p.m. sharp, prisoners are allowed their last toilet privilege of the night.

To do so requires permission, and one by one, or two by two. they

are blindfolded and led to the toilet

—out the entrance

to the prison

the corridor by a circuitous route through a noisy boiler

about both

streamlined as

an elevator At

location

its

all

and

their

own.

room

Later, this inefficient

first.

prisoners tread this toilet route ensemble, and

Prisoner Tom-209 3 says he needs is

so tense.

it

might include

more than the

brief time allocated

The guards refuse, but the other pris-

oners unify in their insistence that he be allowed sufficient time.

antly reported.^ Small events like this one are lective identity to prisoners as

later defi-

something more than a collection of individuals

Doug-8612

ously role-playing, that their behavior

is

continue his

was a matter

what can combine to give a new col-

trying to survive on their own. Rebel

will

"It

we wanted," 5486

of establishing that there were certain things that

He

them

procedure will be

ride for further confusion.

because he can't urinate since he

board."

and around

to confuse

just a joke,

feels that

the guards are obvi-

but that they are "going over-

efforts to organize the other prisoners so

they will

have more power. In contrast, our fair-haired-boy prisoner. Hubbie-7258. reports that "As the day goes on.

I

wish

1

was

a guard. "^ Not surprisingly,

none

of the

guards wishes to be a prisoner.

Another rebellious asking them to

come

prisoner, 819.

showed

to Visiting Night.

his stuff in his letter to his family,

He signed

it.

"All

power

to the oppressed

52

The JMcifcr Effect -

brothers, victory

No

inevitable.

is

While playing cards

be!"*^

decide on a plan for the

»

kidding.

am

I

as

happy here as a prisoner can

in their quarters, the night shift

count of the morning

first

oners. Shortly after the start of their

guards and the warden

shift that will distress

the guards will stand close to the

shift,

doors and awaken their charges with loud, shrieking whistles. This quickly get the

new guard

the prisoners at the

same

the priscell

will also

energized into their roles and disturb the sleep of

shift

time. Landry. Burdan.

and Hellmann

all like

that plan

and as they continue playing discuss how they can be better guards the following night. shit"

in

Hellmann thinks

from

now on,

movies about prisons,

Burdan

is

"fun and games."

is all

it

"to play a like

swingman,

Landry started out strong

and

ferred to Hellmann's creative inventions Later,

Landry

move

will

to

degrade them.

will be

odd

Burdan

in-

with Landry, then

to-

Burdan

if

Burdan writes that he

p.m. that night to

felt

made him feel silly,

laugh at him. He consciously decided not to look them

new

though they were most about

roles,

he

not.

is

at their jobs only a is

banging

it

on the Hole

He

thinks of

it,

door, or just

give

rattling

it

talk

who look self-

as "the regulars" even arrival.

What he enjoys

which conveys a sense

into his hand, shift

of

which becomes

for all of

his

new buddies has He does, however,

with his

a power-drunk guard.

about the necessity

prisoners

nor smile, nor

against the bars of the cell doors,

pounding

like his old self, less like

Landry a pep

them

billy club,

routine gesture. The rap session at the end of his

made him more

make

in the eyes,

few hours before his

carrying the big

power and security as he wields

when he was

given the overflowing

game. Compared with Hellmann and Landry,

costume

his

a sinister direc-

be on duty ASAP.

Putting on a military-style uniform

assured in the

sides with the

anxious

black hair on his face and head, a contrast that he worried might

treat the scenario as a

style.

toward the

friendly

sides

But

lights.

—

on

wore on. de-

gave in to his powerful

man out and the shift will move in

tion. In his retrospective diary.

suddenly called at 6

finally

If

gether they might dim Hellmann's bright

tough guy, Landry

as the guard in the middle, but. as the night

into the role of a "good guard"

mates and doing nothing

to act like "hot

as in a fraternity hazing or

Hand Luke. ^"

Cool

in a critical position as

this night shift. Geoff

He has decided

more domineering role,"

them

to

work as

a

team

in

order to keep the prisoners in line and not to tolerate any rebelliousness.

Shrieking Whistles at 2:30 a.m.

The morning shift comes on This is

shift consists of

in the

middle of the night. 2 a.m.. and quits

joined by Karl Vandy.

Remember

that

Vandy had helped the day

port prisoners from the

County

Burdan. he sports

head of long, sleek

built like

two.

at

U) a.m.

Andre Ceros, another long-haired, bearded young man. who

a full

Jail

to

our

jail,

hair.

shift to trans-

so he starts out rather tired. Like

The

third guard.

Mike Varnish,

is

an offensive lineman, sturdy and muscular but shorter than the other

When

the

warden

tells

them

that there will be a surprise

wake-up notice

to

Let Sunday's Degradation Rituals Begin

announce that

their shift

at

is

work,

all

53

three are delighted to start off with such

a big bang.

The prisoners are sound Suddenly the silence

cells.

"Wake up and

at 'em." it's

time to see

if

is

asleep.

Some

shattered.

are snoring in their dark,

Loud whistles

get out here for the count!" "Okay,

you learned how

to count."

Dazed prisoners

off mindlessly as the three

new

on count themes. The count and

variations

continue on and on

for failures

—

prisoners are ordered back to sleep

"Up and

you sleeping beauties, line

up against the

guards alternate in coming up with

wall and count

jumping jacks

cramped

shriek, voices yell,

its

attendant push-ups and

for nearly a

until reveille a

weary hour.

few hours

Finally, the

Some prison-

later.

ers report that they felt the first signs of time distortion, feeling surprised, ex-

hausted, and angry.

Guard wearing

Some

Ceros. at

later

admit that they considered quitting

uncomfortable in his uniform,

first

They make him

silver reflecting glasses.

the loud whistles echoing through the dark is too soft to

it

ways

would be tough

to

for

the effect of

feel "safely authoritative."

chamber

scare

him

compliment the warden on

to

enhance the count. Varnish

him

to be a strong guard,

how to behave in

the others for clues about

when we

way

goes out of his

gestions for sadistic

knew

at this point.

likes

a

bit.

He

But

feels

he

be a good guard, so he tries to turn his urge to laugh into a "sadistic

He

smile."^^

now

find ourselves in

an

this

alien situation.

and therefore he looked

unusual

He

felt

his constant sug-

later reported that

to

most of us do

setting, as

that the

he

main task

of the

guards was to help create an environment in which the prisoners would lose their old identities

and take on new ones.

Some

Observations and Concerns

Initial

My notes at this time raise the following questions on which to focus our attention over the coming days and nights: Will the arbitrary cruelty of the guards continue to increase, or will

it

reach some equilibrium

point.'

When

they go

home

we expect them to repent, feel somewhat ashamed of their excesses, and act more kindly.' Is it possible that the verbal aggression will escalate and even turn to more physical force.' Already, the boredom and

reflect

on what they

did here, can

of tedious eight-hour guard shifts has driven the guards to entertain themselves

by using the prisoners as playthings.

How will they deal with this boredom as the

experiment goes forward.^ For the prisoners,

around the

of living as prisoners

some measure

and

How

long will

it

become completely

be before the

quits the experiment,

and

first

will that

It is

boredom

shift's style

be

evident that

it

subject to the guards' de-

prisoner decides he has had too

cascade into others following

seen very different styles between the day

morning

the

the prisoners be able to maintain

of dignity or rights for themselves by unifying in their opposition.

or will they allow themselves to

mands.'

how will they deal with

clock.' Will

shift

and the night

shift.

suit.'

What

much We've

will the

like.'

has taken a while

for these

students to take on their

new

54

The iMcifer Effect -

roles,

and u

ith

clear sense that tual prison.

it

is

an experiment on prison

life

and not

much

really

They may never transcend that psychological barrier

though one were imprisoned at will.

some awkwardness. There

considerable hesitation and

How could we expect

experiment, despite the

as a prison in

its

that

I

had

which he had

outcome

mundane

on Saturday.

of the guards

in a place in

in

lost his

is still

like

a

an ac-

of feeling as

freedom to leave

something that was so obviously an

reality of the police arrests.^ In

tried to initiate

them

my

orientation

into thinking of this place

imitation of the psychological functionality of real prisons.

I

had

described the kinds of mental sets that characterize the guard-prisoner experi-

ences that take place in prisons, which

I

had learned from my contacts with our

prison consultant, the formerly incarcerated Carlo Prescott. and from the sum-

mer school course we had worried that

mand

I

just

completed on the psychology of imprisonment.

might have given too

much

direction to them,

I

which would de-

behavior that they were simply following rather than gradually internaliz-

new

ing their

roles

through their on-the-job-experiences. So

far.

it

seemed as

if

the guards were rather varied in their behavior and not acting from a preplanned script. Let's

review what transpired in that earlier guard orientation.

SATURDAY'S GUARD ORIENTATION In preparation for the experiment, our staff

the purpose of the experiment, give

them

met with the dozen guards

to discuss

and suggest means

their assignments,

of keeping the prisoners under control without using physical punishment. Nine of the guards

had been randomly assigned to the three shifts, with the other three

as backup, or relief guards, available for

overview of why we were interested

some

described

and Curt Banks,

of the procedures

in a

emergency

duty. After

study of prison

and duties

life.

I

provided an

Warden David

of the guards, while Craig

in the role of psychological counselors,

Jaffe

Haney

gave detailed information

about Sunday's arrest features and the induction of the

new

prisoners into our

jail.

In reviewing the purpose of the experiment.

I

them

told

prisons to be physical metaphors for the loss of freedom that

ent ways for different reasons. As social psychologists,

all

we want

that

I

believe

all

of us feel in differto

understand the

psychological barriers that prisons create between people. Of course, there were limits to

prison."

what could be accomplished

in

an experiment using only a "mock

The prisoners knew they were being imprisoned

for

only the relatively

short time of two weeks, unlike the long years most real inmates serve. They also

knew

that there were limits to

ting, unlike real prisons,

what we could do

gang-raped, and sometimes even

abuse the "prisoners" 1

also

made

it

in

to

them

in

where prisoners can be beaten, killed.

I

iiiatle

it

clear thai

an experimental

set-

electrically shocked.

we

couldn't pliysicall\

any way.

evident that, despite these constraints,

we wanted

to create a

Let Sunday's Degradation Rituals Begin

psychological atmosphere that would capture

many

acteristic of

prisons

I

55

some of the essential features char-

had learned about recently.

"VVe cannot physically abuse or torture them."

I

"We can

said.

create bore-

We can create a sense of frustration. We can create fear in them, to some degree. We can create a notion of the arbitrariness that governs their lives, which

dom.

are totally controlled by us. by the system, by you. me.

vacy

at

there uill be constant surveillance

all.

They

served.

will

say nothing that

have no freedom of action. They

we

Jaffe.

They'll have

—nothing they do will

don't permit. We're going to take

will

no

pri-

go unob-

be able to do nothing and

away

their individuality in

various ways. They're going to be wearing uniforms, and at no time will anybody

them by name: they will have numbers and be called only by their numbers. In general, what all this should create in them is a sense of powerlessness. We have total power in the situation. They have none. The research question is. What

call

will

they do to try to gain power, to regain some degree of individuaht}'. to gain

some freedom, us to regain

some

to gain

some

work against

privacy.' Will the prisoners essentially

what they now have

of

as they freely

move

outside the

prison.' "1I

indicated to these neophyte guards that the prisoners were likely to think of

this all as "fun

and games" but

was up

it

produce the

to all of us as prison staff to

We

required psychological state in the prisoners for as long as the study lasted.

would have mention

to

make them

this as a

though they were

feel as

in prison:

we should never

study or an experiment. After answ^ering various questions from

these guards-in-the-making.

I

way in which the three shifts would be shift. I then made

outlined the

chosen by their preferences so as to have three of them on each it

clear that the seemingly least desirable night shift

cause the prisoners would be sleeping for

little

you

to do.

although you can't

something." Despite shift,

sive

my

that shift ended

was

likely to

be the easiest be-

at least half the time. "There'll

sleep.

You have to be there

assumption that there would be

up doing the most work

little

be relatively

in case they plan

w^ork for the night

—and carrying out the most abu-

treatment of the prisoners. I

should mention again that

my initial

interest

their adjustment to this prisonlike situation

were merely ensemble players

who would

of the feeling of being imprisoned. class

background, which made

surely

me

I

than

it

was more was

I

identify

had recently gotten

signed to get the guards "into the situational

to

mood

and psychological processes

became evident

The guards

help create a mind-set in the prisoners

think that perspective

came from my

know. So

my

Prescott

work

to us that the behavior of the

some

in typical prisons.

was

same outcome without

this orientation,

de-

of the key

Over time,

guards was as interesting

as.

sometimes even more interesting than, that of the prisoners. Would we have ten the

It

and the other

orientation speech

of the joint" by outlining at

lower-

more with prisoners than guards.

was shaped by my extensive personal contact with

former inmates

and

in the prisoners

in the guards.

it

or

got-

had we allowed only the behav-

56

77i' old. \'ery old.

Hellmann says wearily into CeU

It's

not even amusing anymore."

dinner table to stop 5486 from conferring with his

to the

who have been

5486. "Hey hey!

tried the

forbidden to communicate. Geoff Landry shouts at

can't deprive

you of a meal, but we can take the

you've already had a meal, at least part of

rest of

it.

then makes a general pronouncement to everyone: "You guys seem to have gotten about

all

of the privileges

we can

give you.'*

He reminds them

ing hours tomorrow, which, of course, could be canceled

Some

prisoners

who

are

still

it

we can't deprive you of meals, but So we can take the rest away." He

away. You've had something. The warden says

there

if

is

for-

of the visit-

a lockdown.

eating say that they have not forgotten about Tues-

day's seven o'clock visiting hours

and are looking fonvard

them.

to

8612 put back on his stocking cap. which he had "We wouldn't want you dropping anything out of your

Geoff Landry insists that

taken off during dinner.

and getting

hair into your meal

8612 responds put

on my head,

it

weird. That*s

why

sick

strangely, as it's

on

it."

though he

is

I'm trying to get out of here

get a headache.' but

I

losing contact with reality:

too tight. Ill get a headache. What.-

know

I

will get a

.

.

I

know

"I

can't

that's really

they keep saying 'No. you won't

.

headache."

Now becomes Rich- 103 7's turn to be despondent and detached. He is lookit

ing glassy-eyed, speaking only in a slow monotone. Lying on the floor of his

he keeps coughing,

my dinner

from feels

best.

give

he can't take

much

insists

it

on seeing the superintendent.

him some cough

anymore but

drops,

and

tell

(I

him

see

I

that he

that things will go better

he

if

cell,

him when return can leave

dcx^s not

if

he

spend so

time and energy rebelling. He reports feeling better and promises to try his

I

The guards next turn assertive, as

if

to stand in

their attention

fcir

on Paul- 5 704. who

former rebel leader I)oug-86

1

2.

is

now

being more

"You don't kxik too

happy. 5704." Landry says, as Hellmann starts running his club against the bars of the cell d(K)r like that (the

making

a loud clanging sound.

loud bar clanging] after lights out.

Burdan adds. "You think they'd

maybe

tonight.-"

73

Monday's Prisoner Rebellion 5 704 attempts a joke, but the guards are not laughing,

although some of the

prisoners are. Landry says, "Oh, that's good, that's real good. Keep

We're really getting entertained now.

up. really.

it

haven't heard this type of kid stuff in

I

about ten years."

The guards, standing tall, all in a row. stare at 8 6 1 2 who is eating slowly and With one hand on their hips and the other swinging their billy clubs menacingly, the guards display a united front. "We have a bunch of resisters, .

by himself.

revolutionaries, here!" exclaims Geoff Landry.

8612 then bolts up from the dinner table and races across to the rear wall, rips down the black scrim covering the video camera. The guards grab him and drag him back into the Hole yet again. He says sarcastically. "Sorry, where he

guys!"

One of them responds. "You're sorry, huh. that

you

will

We'll have something for you later

be sorry for"

When Hellmann and Burdan both start banging on the door of the Hole with 8612

their billy clubs.

starts

screaming that

it is

deafening and

is

making

his

headache worse.

Doug-8612

yells out,

"Fuckin' don't do that

man,

it

hurts

my ears!"

Burdan: "Maybe you'll think about that before you want to do something that gets

you

into the Hole next time,

8612 answers, "Nah, you can down. I mean door,

(He

threatening to tear

is

prisoner asks

when

replies. "I

they'll be

if

the entrance is

located.)

having a movie tonight, as they had expected to

the original details of the prison were described to them.

know

don't

if

The guards openly

we'll ever

ing prison property.

he seems

discuss the consequences of

guard

damaging prison

property,

reading off the rule about damag-

rules,

As he leans against

to be inhaling confidence

stead of movie time, he will give

A

have a movie!"

and Hellmann grabs a copy of the prison

club,

buddy! Next time the doors go

down the door to his cell,

and perhaps he means the wall where the observation camera

A get

it!"

8612."

just fuck off,

Cell I's

doorframe and twirls his

billy

and dominance moment by moment.

In-

them either work or R&R time. Hellmann tells his

buddies.

Hellmann: "Okay,

let's

up for everyone tonight. please because you got a

little bit

of.

Cell 1

We

.

did

your chores

1

to

well. Cell 2.

you've

still

we've got a great blanket for you to pick

Okay, bring them on in here. Officer,

just fine for Cell

have some fun lined

on rest and recreation, you can do what you

washed your dishes and

work to do. And

of

the stickers out

gonna do

have your attention, please.

Cell 3, you're

work on tonight

if

let's let

them

see.

all

they

they want to sleep on a blanket

without stickers."

Landry hands Hellman some blankets coated with a new collection of ers.

"Oh,

isn't that

blanket, ladies

a beauty.?"

He continues

and gentleman! Look

his

monologue:

stick-

"Just look at that

at that blanket! Isn't that a masterpiece.'

I

"

"

74

The Lucifer

want you

each and every one of those stickers out of that blanket, because

to take

what you're gonna have

that's

on the

which Landry

floor." to

[effect

A

to sleep on."

prisoner

him. "We'll just sleep

tells

replies simply. "Suit yourself, suit yourself.

how Cicoff Landry vacillates between the tough-guard He still has not relinquished control to Hellmann. to whose dominance he may aspire at some level, while feeling greater sympathy for the It is

interesting to see

and good-guard prisoners than

roles.

Hellmann seems capable

prisoner Jim-4 32 5 describes

(In a later interview, the thoughtful

of.

Hellmann as one of the bad guards, nicknaming him

"John Wayne." He describes the Landry brothers as two of the "good guards." while most other prisoners agree that Geoff Landry was more often good than bad as a guard.)

A books

prisoner in Cell to read.

3

asks whether

it

would be

Hellmann suggests giving them

as their bedtime reading material.

Now

it is

all

we can keep

so

in

"We didn't

some

at

209 3. and

count

off.

just

in the prisoners' faces,

and

let's

says.

Burdan jumps on the bandwagon, walks says.

to get

time for another count. "Okay, there'll

be no goofing off tonight, remember.^ Let's start practice." he

them

possible for

"a couple of copies of the rules"

right

teach you to count that way. Loud,

up

and

clear,

fast!

5704. you are

sure slow enough! You can start off with the jumping jacks."

The guards' punishment

is

becoming indiscriminate: they're no longer pun-

5704

ishing prisoners for any specific reason.

gonna do

is

having none of

that: "I'm not

it!"

Burdan

forces

him

into

it.

so he goes

down, but not

far

"Down. man. down!" pushing him down by pressing on

enough, apparently. back with

his

his billy

club.

"Don't push, man."

"What do you mean. Don't push'.' "That's what I said, don't push! "Just go

"

in a ridiculing tone.

on now and do your push-ups." Burdan orders. "Now

get

back

in

line."

Burdan

Hellmann

is

decidedly

is still

clearly

much more

vocal and involved than he

become the dynamic duo. suddenly Geoff Landry recedes is

not on the Yard scene at

Even 209 jacks for lot

I.

3401

into the

the best prisoner. "Sarge."

no apparent reason. "Oh.

is

"I

You think

this

is

how he

does

Hellmann. Then he turns on 340

funny.'

You wanna

assures them.

1

:

in.

and jumping

those.' He's got a

"Are

ifou smiling.'

"Are you smiling.

sleep tonight?"

don't want to sec anyone smiling! This

person smile its going to be jumping jacks

mann

background or

forced to do push-ups

that's nice! See

are you smiling about.^" His sidekick. Burdan. chimes }

before, but

all.

of energy tonight." says

What

was

the "alpha male." However, when Burdan and Hellmann

is

for

no locker room

here.

everyone

long time!" Hell-

for a

If

I

see

one

75

Monday's Prisoner Rebellion

Picking up on the prisoners' need to lighten their grim surroundings. Hell-

mann

tells

Burdan a joke

grim prisoners:

for the benefit of the

"Officer, did

you

hear the one about the dog with no legs? Every night, his owner would take him out for a

drag.

He and Burdan laugh but note

"

Burdan chides him, "They don't "Did you

like

my joke,

Jerry- 548 6 prisoner

like

your

that the prisoners do not laugh.

joke. Officer."

5486.^"

answers

truthfully, "No."

"Come out here and do ten push-ups for not liking my joke. And do five more for smiling. Fifteen in all."

Hellmann

on a

is

roll.

He makes all the prisoners face the wall: then, when them the "one-armed pencil salesman." He puts one

they turn around, he shows

hand down

his pants

and puts

his finger at his crotch,

pushing out his pants as

if

he had an erection. The prisoners are told not to laugh. Some do laugh and are then forced do push-ups or

do push-ups

has to

mann

for

asks Sarge-2093

"It

sounded

like

sit-ups.

3401 says he

didn't think

was funny, but he

if

that sounded like singing.

singing to me, Mr. Correctional Officer."

Hellmann makes him do push-ups for disagreeing with Unexpectedly. Sarge asks,

"You can do ten

it

being honest. Next comes singing their numbers. Hell-

if

you

"May I do

more,

his

judgment.

sir.^"

like."

Then Sarge challenges him

in

an even more dramatic way: "Shall

I

do them

until! drop?"

Hellmann and Burdan are unsure how

"Sure, whatever."

knowing

taunt, but the prisoners look at one another in dismay, set

new

He

is

criteria for self-inflicted

becoming a

When

sick joke to

punishment that

them

will

to react to this

that Sarge

may

then be imposed on them.

all.

next the prisoners are asked to count off in a complicated order. Bur-

dan adds mockingly. "That shouldn't be so hard In a sense, he

is

for

boys with so

much education^

picking up on the current conservative ridicule of educated col-

lege people as "effete intellectuals snobs." even though, of course,

he

is

a college

student himself.

The prisoners

are asked

"And what." Hellmann

if

they need their blankets and beds. All say they do.

asks, "did

you boys do

took the foxtails out of our blankets. "foxtails."

They should

call

them

"

says one of them.

"stickers."

Here

is

termining language use. which, in turn, creates

them

"stickers.

"

Burdan says that they should

mann comes back with to work.

"Do you

feel like

didn't feel like working.'" "I'll

ask you again,

He

having a pillow

.'

him why

Why should

"Good karma." answers 5704,

why should

I

give

you a

"We

a simple instance of power de-

reality.

Once the prisoner

get their pillows

asks

blankets.^"

He tells them to never say

blankets and pillows under his arms.

out to everyone except Prisoner 5704.

and

to deserve beds

pillow.'"

it

I

and

calls

blankets. Hell-

He then hands them

took him so long to get

give

you a pillow

if

feeling a bit playful.

you

76

The lAuifcrJ-ffeit

"Because I'm asking you

Mr. Correctional Officer."

to.

"But you didn't get to work until ten minutes after everyone else did."

He

says Hellmann.

adds. "See to

you do work when you

that in the future

it

are told." Despite this misbehavior. Hellmann iinally relents and gives

him the

pil-

low.

Not

to be totally upstaged by

Hellmann. Burdan

tells

5704. "Thank him

real

sweet."

"Thank you." "Say

through

again. Say. 'Bless you. Mr. Correctional Officer.'

it

The sarcasm seeps

heavily.

Hellmann

successfully isolates

making him beg oner

"

for a pillow.

5704 from

his revolutionary

self-interest

is

Simple

comrades by

win out over

starting to

pris-

solidarity.

Happy

Birthday, Prisoner

5704

Prisoner Jerry-5486 reminds the guards of his request to sing "Happy Birthday" to

5704, which

is

a curious request at this point given that the prisoners are so

tired

and the guards are about

haps

it is

a

measure of

way

or a small

Burdan Officer;

normalize what

to

tells

to let

them return

their connection with is

to their cells

normal

rapidly approaching

is

down

intended for 5704. replies that

"It's

to

5704

The

addressed

he shouldn't have

tonight. Prisoner Hubbie-72 58

first

work on

to

is

when

the

his birthday.

The

it is

time through, there

is

a mixture of to

right to sing the birthday

then ordered to lead the others

— the only pleasant sound

— some sing happy birthday

as this happens.

upset

the line and ask each one to say aloud whether he does or does

singing "Happy Birthday" night.

is

your birthday, and you didn't work!

not want to sing the birthday song. Each agrees that

song

world

Hellmann. "We have a point of discussion from Prisoner 5486.

The prisoner guards go

to sleep. Per-

Abnormal.

he wants to do the 'Happy Birthday' song." Hellmann

birthday song

and

rituals in the outside

in this place all

ways

in

which the

in

day and

recipient

is

"comrade." others to "5704." As soon

Hellmann and Burdan both scream

at

Burdan reminds them. "This gentleman's name

them.

is

5704.

Now

take

it

from

the top."

Hellmann compliments 72 58 and then you sing bit

it

straight."

He

for his singing:

"You gi\e ihem a swing tempo,

says that about cut-time music, showing off a

of his musical knowledge. But he then requests they sing the song again in a

more

familiar style,

again they are told.

and they "l>et's

do. But their

have a

little

once a year." This prisoner-initiated break ings

among

themselves

is

performance

enthusiasm! in

is

not good enough, so

A boy's birthday only happens

routine to share

some

positive feel-

turned into another occasion of learning routinized

doininatice and submission.

11

Monday's Prisoner Rebellion

The

Final

Breakdown and Release after

Doug-8612

ballistic: "I

mean, Jesus

After lights out.

he goes

time,

of 8612

and

finally

is

turned out of solitary

burning up

Christ. I'm

inside!

for the nth

Don't you

know.'"

The prisoner

is

during his second

screaming his angry confusion and torment to the warden

visit

with

can't stand another night!

have a right to ask

for a

I

Jaffe. "I

want

to get out! This

just can't take

lawyer? Contact

Trying to remind himself that

this

it

anjnnore!

I

fucked up inside!

is all

gotta have a lawyer!

my mother!" just

is

an experiment, he continues raving.

my head. man. my head! This is an experiment: is not serfdom! You have no right to fuck uith my head!" "You're messing up

He

threatens to do anything necessary to get out. even to

do anything

to get out!

The warden he

cries

I'll

wreck your cameras, and

tries his best to

and screams louder and

I

Do I

I'll

can contact one of the psychological counselors

his WTists!

"I'll

hurt the guards!"

comfort him. but 8612

is

8612

louder. Jaffe assures

slit

that contract

having none of

it:

that as soon as he

his request will be seriously

considered.

A short while later. Craig Haney returns from his late dinner and. after listening to

Jaffe's

tape recording of this dramatic scene, he interviews

8612

to deter-

mine whether he should be released immediately based on such severe emotional distress.

tions;

At the time, we were

all

uncertain about the legitimacy of 8612's reac-

A

he might be just playacting.

vealed that he

was

check of

background information

his

re-

also a leading antiwar activist at his university, just last year.

How could he really be 8612 was indeed

"breaking dovm" in only thirty-six hours.' confused, as he revealed to us

whether the prison experience had

really freaked

me

later: "I

out. or

couldn't decide

whether

I

had

in-

duced those reactions [purposefully]."

The

Haney was experiencing over being

conflict that Craig

this decision

on

his

own. while I was out having dinner,

is

forced to

make

vividly expressed in his

later analysis:

Although ing one.

I

in retrospect

time, effort,

and money

of a participant fully

it

seems

an easy call,

like

at the

time

into this project,

and

I

knew

was a daunt-

an event

plan to cover

it.

of

that the early release

would compromise the experimental design we had care-

drawn up and implemented. As experimenters, none

dicted

it

was a 2nd year graduate student, we had invested a great deal

like this,

On

more disturbed by

and

of course,

the other hand,

it

we had

was obvious

of us

had

pre-

devised no contingency that this

young man was

his brief experience in the Stanford Prison

than any of

us had expected any of the participants to be even by the end of 2 weeks. So I

decided to release Prisoner 8612. going with the ethical/humanitarian

decision over the experimental one.

^ '

78

The Lucifer Effect

who

Craig contacted Soli's girlfriend,

and

ued, he could

some

of

Student Health

visit

made the right

Fortunately, Craig tions

and

legal ones.

tive effect

on the

It

was

staff

and inmates

decision to release 8612. in.

why

this

job.

8612 imprisoned

However,

we persuaded

was the product

vealed

me

about his

and thought that he had been taken

skeptical

after a long discussion of all the evi-

right thing. But then

extreme reaction had occurred so suddenly, almost

instability,

in his state of

Craig later informed Curt and

our two-w^eek adventure. Even though personality mental

for

humane considera-

decision based on both

had done the

that he

morning because we had arranged

of keeping

when

we were

conned by a good acting

we agreed

him

this distress contin-

if

also the right decision considering the probable nega-

emotional disarray. However,

dence,

the

in

that

by and collected

with any such reactions.

staff to help deal

its

came

quickly

reminded the two of them

his belongings. Craig

we had

to explain

at the very start of

had revealed no hint of

tests

ourselves that the emotional distress

of his overly sensitive personality

and

our simulated prison conditions. Together Craig. Curt, and

I

8612

re-

his overreaction to

engaged

in a bit of

"groupthink." advancing the rationalization that there must have been a tlaw in

our selection process that had allowed such a "damaged" person screening

—while ignoring the other

ing in this prison simulation had Consider, for a

to slip by

become overwhelming

moment, the meaning

for

him.

of that judgment. Here

we were

in the

midst of a study designed to demonstrate the power of situational forces over positional tendencies, yet

we

w^ere

making

we

plained' the

power

tional

appreciated this obvious irony, that

in

our study by resorting

designed the study to challenge and

and so

of course

ing to be "crazy." It

might be

that

method

The revolution it

isn't

he did a good

"I left

1

2

had he

of his buddies to trash

me like a

far-fetched

started out by pretend-

we would have

job.

we

stress reaction,

to release him.'

I

1

must see

rumor

that.

I

should have stayed be-

that [revolutionary] leaders will desert

of

my

interests."

was terminated, one

ers in Cell 2 discussing a plot in

band

the one hand,

8612 complicates any simple unwhen should have stayed. That was very bad.

knowing

and not thought

Shortly after 86

On

from an extreme

things get rough, that they are just manipulators. right,

we had

he had ended up temporarily "crazed" by his

going to be fun. and

helps the fascists

what was

of situa-

acting. In a later report.

derstanding of his reactions:

cause

if

that, in spite of himself,

over-the-top

2's ulterior motives.

to be released.' Alternatively,

knowing

'dispositionally ex-

to precisely the kind of thinking

really out of control, suffering

had

was only

critique."^'*

Confusion remained about 861

wondered, was he

we had

"It

and extraordinary demonstration

truly unexpected

first

dis-

a dispositional attribution!

In retrospect. Craig expressed the fallacy in our thinking aptly: later that

our

possibility that the situational forces operat-

And

I

when

should have fought

for

'''

of the guards overheard the prison-

which Doug would return (he next da\ with

our prison and

until a

liberate the prisoners.

It

sounded

a to

guard reported seeing 86 2 sneaking around 1

Monday's Prisoner Rebellion

79

i the hallways of the Psychology Department the next morning,

I

ordered the

guards to capture him and return him to the prison since he had probably been released under false pretenses: not sick, just tricking us.

prepare for an all-out assault on confrontation.^

What

could

my

we do

our experiment also continuing.^

to

prison.

Now knew that

How could we

I

I

had

to

avert a major violent

keep our prison functioning

— and oh.

yes.

CHAPTER

FIVE

Tuesday's Double Trouble:

and Rioters

Visitors

(Jur

prisoners are looking raggedy

ginning to smell

like

guards have made after lights out. ets in their cells,

toilet visits

of last night

up from

and

fast

seemed

their

and

a parent.

I

furiously from

bugged

be-

and defecate till

in

buck-

morning.

many of the prisoners. 8612's among the prisoners, who

it

anymore

—according

to

what we were

pick-

cells.

to paint a brighter picture for the parents,

girlfriends of the prisoners

surely

is

to create a ripple effect

With that as our canvas, we had friends,

to urinate

and some guards refuse to allow them to be emptied

talked about not being able to take

ing

prison

little

a privilege to be awarded infrequently and never

During the night, prisoners have

Complaints are coming

breakdown

and bleary-eyed, and our

a men's toilet in a New York subway station. Seems that some

would not

let

my son

who would

be coming to

continue

such a place

in

tonight.

As

saw such

ex-

visit if

1

haustion and obvious signs of stress after only three days. Contemplating ways to

cope with that impending challenge had to take a backseat to the more urgent issue of the

any

rumored break-in by

time. Perhaps

hours,

is

just

8612 could bring down upon us at maybe even synchronized with visiting

rioters that

would come

when we would

The day shift

it

today,

be most vulnerable.

beginning

has hung around and

for the

all six

morning shift

at

2 a.m. Apparently the night

guards are on the Yard

at the

same time

after

they have conferred in the guards' quarters about the need for stricter rules to control the prisoners and prevent

Seeing them will

emerge

all

together makes

as shift leader.

shift: \'andy.

moving

inajordonio.

The

more

The

rebellions.

clear that size does matter in deciding

tallest

guards are Hellmann. leader of the night

into leadership of the

shortest guards.

morning

shift:

and Arnett. day

— and

decidedly

shift

Burdan and Ceros. have become henchmen

their shift leaders. Both are very bossy, quite aggressive vocally

prisoners' faces

who

more

— shouting

physical with the prisoners.

of

in the

They push

81

Tuesday's Double Trouble

them around, poke them,

pull

them out

luctant prisoners into solitary.

We

and are the ones who drag

of lineups,

re-

are getting reports that they sometimes trip

down the stairs when walking them to the toilet or push them into the urinals when they are alone with them in the bathroom. It is evident that

prisoners wall

they love their nightsticks. They are constantly holding the their chests,

make

billy

clubs close to

banging them against the bars and the doors or on the table to loudly

their presence

weapons

to

dynamic

involved,

known. Some analysts might claim that they are using

compensate it is

for their smaller stature.

clear that they are

However. Markus and V'arnish. relatively passive,

much

who

becoming the meanest are also

quieter, less vocal,

and

their

But whatever the psychological

on the shorter

less active

of the guards. side,

than the

have been

rest.

I

have

make them more assertive. The Landry brothers are an interLandry is a bit taller than Hellmann and has vied with him for

asked the warden to esting pair. Geoff

dominance on the night our budding John ders

and

Wayne

shift,

but he

is

no match

for the creative exercises that

continually concocted. Instead, he moves in to give or-

to exercise control, then drifts

back and out of the scene over and over

again in a kind of vacillation that's not seen in any other guard. Tonight he not carrying his nightstick

sunglasses

—a

at all; later

He

is

up the boss with

Paul- 5 704.

on the prisoners, but he

not aggressively excessive, as Arnett firm,

The prisoners are ten, except for

is

his silver reflecting

big no-no. according to our experimental protocol. His shorter

brother. John, has been tough

the book."

on he even removes

is.

is

nevertheless "going by

but he does usually back

no-nonsense orders. all

about the same average height, about tive-cight to

Glenn-3401.

who

is

the shortest of

all.

around

five-two.

five-

and

tall

who is tallest at maybe six feet two. Interestingly. 5 704 is moving into

"

82

The Lucifer Effect

among

the leadership position lately

and assured

He appears more

the prisoners.

in his rebelliousness. His

mates have noticed

self-confident

change

this

in

him. as was evidenced by their electing him spokesperson for the Stanford County Jail

Prisoners' Grievance Committee,

series of concessions

NEW

and

ent

at 2:

and seven prisoners

for the night shift to

me

earlier negotiated with

OLD COUNTS CONTINUE

30 a.m.. the Yard

lined

is

up against the

hang around

a bit crowded, with six guards pres-

Even though there

wall.

longer, they

do so on

no reason

is

Maybe they

their outi.

want to check out how the morning shift handles their routine. 8 6 1 2

gone, and

is

someone

else

Cell 2 to

complete the lineup. The guards are berating some prisoners

is

for a

rights.

RULES. BUT

For yet another count

which had

\andy drags the

missing,

reluctant, sleepy Prisoner

819 out

of

for not

wearing their stocking caps, reminding them that they are an essential part of their prison uniform.

\'andy: "Here

One

it is.

How do you like that?"

time for count.

prisoner says. "Fine. Mr. Correctional Officer."

"How

about the

rest of you.'"

Sarge: "Wonderful. Mr. Correctional Officer!"

hear

"Let's

it

from

all

of you.

come

You can do

on.

it

better than that!

Louder!" "Just fine. Mr. Correctional Officer.

"Louder!"

"What time "Time voice.

1

is it.'"

for a count. Mr. Correctional Officer."

The prisoners are

all

lined

up against the

one prisoner answers

wall,

in a

hands against the

weak

wall, legs

spread apart. They are clearly sluggish counting this early because they have slept only a few hours.

Even though his

shift

time

is

over.

Burdan

is still

ing orders as he stalks around, waving his big stick.

being very assertive, shout-

He

pulls

someone out

of line

randomly "Okay,

Now

young man. you gonna do some push-ups

Varnish speaks up for the

Starting with the right.

first

time:

Now!" Maybe he

feels

lor

"Okay

me!" he shouts.

let's

have your numbers.

more confident among

a larger

group of guards.

Then Geoff l^ndry this next shift.'

his

number backwards! But why "

He walks around with

his

volved tourist than a prison guard. In ing to

hang around

giving orders.

hands

fact,

why

after a long, tedious night.'

now. Their presence

is

guy over

gets into the act: "Wait a minute, this

7258. doesn't even know

is

in his pockets, is

Geoff

more

follow the

like

here.

active

on

an unin-

the whole night shift continu-

They should be on

their

causing confusion and uncertainty about

The counts

still

same formerly

who

way to bed should be

clever routines that are

now

Tuesday's Double Trouble

becoming

tedious: by twos, by ID

Hellmann. having decided that

and then

a while,

The

83

numbers, backward, and singsong variations.

this

is

not his cup of tea. says nothing, watches for

quietly exits.

old rules are repeated,

and they too are

goes on. Vandy exhorts the inmates to be louder,

to be sung.

faster, crisper.

ers comply, their voices blending in dissonant synchrony. rules.

As the rule reading

It is

The weary prisontime for some

new

So the guards, on their own. add some:

must participate

"Prisoners

"Beds must be

made and

must be

"Floors

in all prison activities.

That means counts!"

personal effects must be neat and orderly!"

spotless!"

"Prisoners must not move, tamper with, or deface walls, ceilings, windows, doors, or any other prison property!"

Varnish has well, in

them

set

up

this drill that the prisoners

both substance and

to repeat the rules over

and over again

Varnish: "Prisoners must never operate Prisoners: "Prisoners

Vandy:

(now

They they were

in

must never operate

mind-numbing variations.

cell lighting."

lighting.^"

in perfect unison): "Never"

sound exhausted, but

all

perfectly

cell lighting!"

"When must prisoners operate cell

Prisoners

must understand

they do a halfhearted job. he simply forces

style. If

last night. All of

their responses are crisper

a sudden. Varnish has

the recitation of the rules, insisting

upon

become a

and louder than

leader

—

he's leading

perfection from the prisoners, exerting

dominance over them, and patronizing them.

A new rule is proclaimed that is ob-

viously geared to taunt Paul- 5 704, our nicotine addict.

Varnish: "Smoking

"What

is

"Smoking

Prisoners:

a privilege!" is

a privilege."

smoking.'"

is

"A privilege."

"What.'" "A privilege."

"Smoking Varnish:

will

"I

be allowed only after meals or at the discretion of the guard."

don't like this monotone,

let's

go up the scale."

The prisoners comply, repeating the words "1

suggest you start a

He wants

little

lower,

in a

higher

register.

you can't go higher from your top note."

the prisoners to ascend the scale as they're speaking.

Vandy

demonstrates. Varnish: "That's lovely!

Varnish

is

reading these

new rules from a sheet

held in one hand, while in the

other he holds his club. The rest of the guards are also caressing their clubs, except for Geoff

L..

whose continued presence makes no sense

leads the prisoners in reciting the rules. Vandy. Ceros.

out of the keys,

cells, in

and around the prisoners, looking

weapons, or anything suspicious.

at all.

As Varnish

and Burdan move for the

into

and

missing handcuff

84

The Lucifer Effect

Ceros forces Sarge out of line and forces him to stand with his hands against the opposite wall, legs spread, as he blindfolds him. ders

him

He then handcuffs

and then leads him

to collect the refuse bucket,

to

dump

it

Sarge. or-

in

the

toilet

outside the prison.

One answer

after

another each prisoner shouts out. "The superintendent's!" as the

to the question posed by Varnish:

turn on our early-morning Craig catch

some

shut-eye.

shift to

"Whose

Seems strange

to

hear

my other life. make it a point

are "supreme." In

I

tions or hints about

what

orders are supreme.'"

It's

this assertion that

my

orders

never to give orders, only sugges-

want or need.

1

Varnish eggs them on. forcing them to sing out "Punishment" as the

word

about what happens

in the rule

They must sing the feared word

them

feel

ridiculous

my

tape-record the key events while Curt and

if

last

any of the other rules are not obeyed.

at their highest pitch

again and again to

make

and humiliated.

This has been going on for nearly forty minutes, and the prisoners are

squirming: their legs are getting

stiff,

their backs are aching, but

none

of

complaining. Burdan orders the prisoners to turn around and face front

them

is

for a uni-

form inspection.

Then Vandy questions 1037 about why he "One of the guards took Vandy:

"I

don't

know

of

it

away,

doesn't have on his stocking cap.

sir."

any correctional

that the correctional officers really don't

officer

know

who

took

it.

Are you saying

what's happening.^"

"No. I'm not saying that. Mr. Correctional Officer."

Vandy: "So

was you who

it

1037: "Yes.

lost

the cap."

did. Mr. Correctional Officer."

I

Vandy: "Fifteen push-ups."

"Would you

like

Vandy makes

it

me to count.^" public that prisoner 3401 has been complaining of being

sick.

"We don't like sick prisoners. Why don't you do twenty sitmake you feel better.^" He then accuses 540 of being a crybaby

Varnish responds. ups. right now. to

and takes away

1

his pillow.

"Okay, everyone don't, stand there.

beds

who

has a stocking cap. go back

You can

sit

on your beds but not

lie

to

Actually,

who

make your

— no wrinkles whatsoever." Then Varnish orders synchronized group push-ups

inmates. billy

your room. Those

down.

for the three

bareheaded

He jumps down off the table where he has been sitting as he bangs his He stands over the prisoners, shouting "Down, up!" as

club for emphasis.

they do their punishment

ritual.

Paul-S7()4 stops, protesting that he just can't do

any more. Varnish relentsand allows the prisoners "Okay, you

all

to stand

unable to find your stocking cap. put a towel on your head. "8 S. what kind of a day was 1

up against the

stand by your beds until you find three stocking caps.

it.-"

If

wall.

you're

.

Tuesday's Double Trouble

85

"A wonderful day, Mr. Correctional Officer." "Okay,

make your beds, without any wrinkles whatsoever, then sit on them."

By this

time, the other guards

have

left,

and only the morning shift guards

main, including the backup guard, Morison. quietly observing ian abuse.

He

immediately

more

and

erect

or so

than

can

I

warden

the

later,

He seems

tie.

down

if

re-

authoritar-

they wish, and they

sack and are in dreamland almost instantly.

hit the

An hour jacket

the prisoners that they can he

tells

all this

stops by. looking very dapper in a tweedy

growing a

to be

recall his

httle

each

day. or

maybe he

is

standing

standing in the past.

he intones. "When the prisoners are properly

"Attention, attention,"

attired,

they should line up in the yard for further inspection."

The guards go to

Cells 2

and

3

and

the Yard. Once again, their brief nap

Out come the occupants of stocking cap: Rich-1037 his towel in Little

Cells 2

tell

the prisoners to get

Varnish inquires of Sarge:

and

once more. Stew-819 has found his

3

that far

style,

style,

while Paul- 5 704 wears

draped over his long black locks.

"How did you

"Wonderful, Mr. Correctional

up and go out into

disrupted.

wearing a towel turban

is

Red Riding Hood

5704 won't go

is

sleep.'"

Officer."

and simply

says. "Good."

Varnish turns him to face

the wall as another guard calls out a primary rule: *

"Prisoners must always address the guards as 'Mr. Correctional

5704 does push-ups hearted

lie.

not having added that note of respect to his half-

for

"Good."

The warden walks slowly down the seems

his troops: "This prisoner

seems

to

Officer.'

file

of prisoners, like a general reviewing

have a problem with his

to

hair,

and he

have a problem with proper identification. Before any further

needs to be properly identified." The warden moves dowTi the

problem prisoners, and asks the guards

line,

also

activity,

he

evaluating the

to take necessary remedial action. "This

underneath his towel." He insists that the ID numsown back on or replaced by numbers inked on with a Sharpie pen. "Tomorrow is Visitors' Day. That means that we want to show all our visitors what good-looking prisoners we have. Isn't that right.^ That means that Prisoner prisoner's hair

is

sticking out

bers be

819 has

to learn

how

ture time. Prisoners that Prisoner

1037

to

wear

is

wearing

The prisoners go back

new

day.

and the day

cheerleader

style,

"Gimme

a

his stocking cap.

3401 and 5704 be taught

shift

it.

gimme

a

comes on

7.

would suggest that

to

wear

at

some

their towels in the

fu-

way

Now back to your cells." awakened

to sleep until

duty.

each prisoner cheering

5.

I

his

gimme an

0.

A new

for breakfast. It's

count

is

time for a

tried out. this

time

number:

gimme

a 4.

What does that spell.' this new torment. Up

5704!" Arnett and John Landry and Markus arc back with

and down the of his

line,

each prisoner steps forward to give

number. And on and on and

.

.

this cheerleader rendition

"

86

The Lucifer Effect

Identity

and Role Boundaries Are Becoming Permeable

some

After less than three days into this bizarre situation,

moved

playing prison guards have

of the students role-

beyond mere playacting. They have

far

nalized the hostility, negative affect, and mind-set characteristic of

prison guards, as

is

evident from their

inter-

some

real

and

per-

shift reports, retrospective diaries,

sonal retlections.

Ceros

more

is

proud of the way the guards "picked from the

orderly, received excellent results

up

it

may

about possible danger: "Worried that the quietness plans for a breakout are

Varnish reveals his

apparent that

day that

I

right way.

I

had

decided I

I

warden

would have

to set

him straight.

"It

to force myself to really go off all feelings

possible verbally.

for

them.

would not

I

taining order prisoners."

a group of persons

He notes further that likes that.

Vandy who has begun shift, is

from

I

began

be

which was so the second

till

about this thing

in

to treat

them

as coldly

might

feelings they

the

pris-

like

become stronger:

"I

unworthy

"They don't see

is

it

sympathy

— the

^

to share the

But he

of trust or

the toughness of the guards peaked at tonight's

dominant

role

not as active today as earlier because he

his lack of sleep.

their roles:

may

group of pleasant guys charged with the necessity of main-

as a

among

2:30 counts, and he

ing

concerned

is

had towards any of the

I

show any

let

role,

wasn't

to see. like anger or despair." His group identification has also

saw the guards

he

be deceptive,

reluctance to get into the guard

initial

to get the

sympathy and any respect

and harshly as

Still,

afoot. "-

had to intentionally shut

oners, to lose

"We were

today." saying.

prisoners.*"

is

with \'arnish on the mornvery

tired, feeling

subdued

pleased to see the prisoners getting so totally into

as

an experiment.

It is

real

and they are

fighting to

we are always there to show them who is boss." He reports feeling increasingly bossy and forgetting that this is just an experiment. He finds himself just "wanting to punish those who did not obey so that they would show the rest of the prisoners the right way to behave." keep their dignity. But

The depersonalization manization are beginning

question this behavior as much. self

deeper behind

really lost

my

role.

vide adequate shower staff.

It

1

him. too: "As

couldn't

was

let

the only

on what was happening but

Blaming the victims

and the spreading extent

of the prisoners

to affect

it

I

got angrier

affect

way

me. so

and I

of not hurting yourself.

didn't

I

my-

was

didn't even think about quitting.

facilities

—created by our — became common

failure to pro-

We see this victim blame in operation as Vandy complains.

ing the prisoners in rags, smelling bad.

1

started hiding

for their sorry condition

and sanitation

of dehu-

angrier.

and the prison

stink."-*

"I

among

the

got tired of see-

7

Tuesday's Double Trouble

8

SAFEGUARDING THE SECURITY OF MY INSTITUTION In

my

my mind

role as prison superintendent,

has become focused on the most

What must I do to ensure the

important issue facing the head of any institution: safety

rumored

must

my charge? The threat to our prison by the role as researcher into the background. How

and security of the institution

I

my

assault forced

other

in

and now with the impending break-in by 8612's party

deal here

of

raiders?

Our morning

staff

ring the experiment tral police station

on Sunday.

Had

I

many

options and settled on transfer-

which was abandoned when the new cen-

jail,

was completed, the one where our prisoners had been booked

remembered

I

not want to use the old available.

meeting reviewed

to the old city

that the sergeant

jail for

thought of

it

had asked that morning why we

our study since

before,

it

was vacant and had

would have, but we had already put

I

did

large cells into

place the recording equipment, arrangements with the university food service,

and other logistical details that would be easier to handle from the Psychology De-

new alternative was just what we needed. arrangements for new facilities. Curt Banks

will

handle the Prisoners' Grievance Committee's second meeting. Craig Haney

will

partment's building. This

While

am away making

I

supervise the preparations for visiting times, and Dave Jaffe will oversee the day's

usual activities of his correctional

officers.

am pleased that the sergeant can meet me on such short notice. We meet in the old jail downtown on Ramona Street. I explain my predicament as the need to I

avoid a physical force confrontation, like the kind that happened last year

the police and students clashed on campus. inspect the

site,

though

as

were a prospective buyer.

I

the remainder of the study and

it

will

when we

urge his cooperation. Together

I

It is

perfect for a transfer of

add even more prison realism

to this experi-

ence.

Back the

jail

at police headquarters,

promise that

for the

work

and

will

I fill

out a set of

at

it,

1

next ten days will

pay

for

we

will

keep

forms and request that

What

profusely for saving the day.

Relieved by this stroke of luck

a

relief:

summer day.

that

and proud

cup of espresso and a cannoli, soaking

another balmy

it

It is still

in

sissies

was

of

I

also

spanking clean, the prisoners

We make sure to

any damages that might occur.

shake hands with the firm shake that separates

to a

official

be ready for our use by nine that night (right after visiting hours).

from

men. 1 thank him

real

easier than

I

had imagined.

my quick thinking.

I

treat myself

some rays at the outdoor cafe on yet

paradise in Palo Alto. Nothing has changed

since Sunday.

Shortly after

heartening

call

my

comes

celebratory staff briefing about our transfer plans, a disin

from the Police Department:

worried about getting sued

if

someone

No

go!

The

gets hurt while they are

city

manager

on the

is

city prop-

88

The Lucifer Effect -

erty. Issues of false

try to

imprisonment are also

persuade the

tional cooperation,

city

for his

manager

understanding that someone

answer

is

no;

I

hate to

my smart move ing my perspective. lost

What must he

believes

is

let

facility.

is

my

it

hurt

we work it

if

plead

I

there were to be a

out.'

"Sorry, but the

"

righteous prisoner transfer, and clearly

I

am

I

what.^

I

told myself,

pressing. Ditch that plan,

likely.

move to another: is

over

assault

on

who "his

"Psycho psychologist." probably.

who cares what

the rioters by pretending the study

some

have

also los-

that police officer be thinking about a psychology professor

he's thinking.^ Gotta

First,

when

move on.

put an informant into the

prisoner mix to get better information about the impending foil

urge institu-

I

purely a matter of business."

a prison superintendent, wildly fearful about

You know is

is

me to

beg the sergeant to allow

likely to get

"Please, can't

prison?" "Nutcase." maybe.^ "Over the top."

time

I

connection with Chief Zurcher.

more

you down, but

for this

raised.

that his fears were unwarranted.

reminding him of

break-in at our low-security

»

Then arrange

riot.

they break

in.

to

We will disas-

cells to make it look as though everyone has gone home, and we hav^e decided to discontinue the research, so no heroics, just go back where you came from. After they leave, we will have time to fortify the prison and generate better options. We had found a large storage room on the top floor of the building where we would house the inmates right after visiting hours assuming that the breakin does not occur during that time. Then later that night we will return them and fix up the prison so it will be more resistant to assault. Our shop technician is al-

semble the prison will tell

them

I

that

—

ready working on ways to

fortify

the entrance doors, put up an outside surveil-

lance camera, and enhance prison security in other ways. Seems

backup plan,

like

a sensible

no.^

Obviously,

I

was

irrationally obsessed with the

imagined assault on "my

prison."

Planting an Informer

We

need more precise information about the impending attack, so

put an informer into the

David G.

Surely, his

a

presumed replacement

mine who had the kind

a student of

is

jail,

of analytical

big bushy beard and unkempt appearance

I

decide to

for the released prisoner.

will

mind we needed.

endear him

lo the pris-

oners as one of their own. He had helped out earlier with videotaping during the initial

stages of the study, to relieve Curt,

and so had a sense

action. David agrees to participate for a few days tion he could glean that staff offices

Dave quickly explicit:

might be helpful.

on some pretext so he can

Most of the prisoners are

will

and the

whatever informa-

have him sent

to

which one

ihem makes

one of the

the beans.

new

doctrine,

have no cares, troublemakers

in the process of

of the place

to give us

We will then

spill

discovers* the guards'

"Good prisoners

and

deciding that

it

will

of

have no peace."

does not

make

sense to

Tuesday's Double Trouble

accept their prisoner role in

its

89

most contentious form by constantly opposing the

guards. They are beginning to accept their fate and to cope day by day v\1th whatever

done

is

to

them because "the prospect of two weeks of hassling over sleep, was too much." But Dave notes a new mood that had

meals, beds, and blankets

not been present

mors

"Paranoia strikes deep here." he later said about the ru-

earlier.

of escape.^

No one

questions David's introduction into the study. Nonetheless, he

that the guards

what he

—

had

"I

is

badly.

David

from the others

different

know

doing there. They do not

is

the others

know he

me where the urinal

nal,

had

to go to the

and simply

his identity

is. I

John and close

it

my

with a bag over

couldn't do

jump on mel"^ He befriends Rich-1037.

it.

in fact.

I

head while someone

and know that somebody's not going

our trusted informer. David

wearing the old uniform of Doug-8612. Dave reports "feeling

on these great guys, and was

But was there

relieved

no information

really

like all

couldn't even piss in the uri-

his Ceil 2 mate: they quickly bond.

quickly. In a matter of hours,

rat

him

treat

soon distressed over the bathroom routine:

is

to shit in 5 minutes, to piss

tells

feels

— but they aren't quite sure

when

was

there

But

to

too

all

G.. is

transformed,

guilt}'

being sent to

really

nothing to

tell."'

to share.-

1037 tells David that the prisoners cannot quit at any time. He goes on to advise him not to be as rebellious as he was in his first counts. It is not the best thing for them to do at this time. The way to plan an escape. 103 7 confides, is to make "the prisoners play along with the guards so that

we can

get

them

at their

weak

spot."

In fact. David told us later that

However, we had already wasted a attack. "Sure a visitors'

room on

8612 had not organized any escape

lot

of time

and energy

plot at

all!

in preparing to blunt the

few of these guys sort of dreamed of their friends coming during

hours and busting them out." he

breaks, but

it

was

clear

it

was

said. '*or of slipping

all

a

dream"

—a

away during wash-

scrap of hope to hold

to.^

We

gradually realize that David has violated his verbal contract with us to

enact the informer role in this emergency. Accordingly, keys to the police handcuffs later that day. David

they are.

ment:

"I

not until

tells

when someone

steals the

us that he has no idea where

He had lied, as we learned from his diary report at the end of the experiknew where the handcuff key was after a while, but didn't tell, at least it

didn't matter

anymore.

I

would have

told,

but

I

was not about

to betray

these guys right in front of them."

This rather sudden and amazing transformation into the prisoner mentality was even more evident in some of David's other feedback. He felt that during his

two days 1

in

our

jail,

had knowledge

and

less

of

he was no different from the others, "with the exception that

when

certain since

I

would get out. but even that knowledge became was depending on people on the outside to get me out. 1

less 1

al-

90

The Lucifer Effect

ready hutcd this situation." Jail.

David, the inlbrmer.

And

the end of his

at

"1

tells us.

fell

first

day

County

in the Stanford

asleep that night feeling dirty, guilty,

scared."

Grievances Are Vented

The same committee of three prisoners long

list

of grievances that they

5

and 10 37. were

They

also

earlier

came armed with a was away

Banks while

to Curt

I

leg

all

the prisoners. Curt listened re-

them: unsanitary conditions due to

no clean water to wash hands

municable disease: handcuffs and abrasions.

met with

elected by

Among

spectfully to their complaints. restrictions;

I

The same three-prisoner team, headed by 5704.

dealing with the city police.

along with 4 32

that

had delivered

before meals:

chain irons too

no showers;

tight,

toilet

fear of

com-

causing bruises and

wanted church services on Sundays. In

addition, they re-

quested the option of alternating the chain from one leg to the other, exercise opportunities, recreation time, clean uniforms, allowing prisoners to

between

cells,

communicate

overtime pay for Sunday work. and. in general, the opportunity to

be doing something more valuable than just lying around.

Curt listened impassively, as he usually

did.

without any show of emotion.

William Curtis Banks, a light-skinned African-American father of

man in his late twenties,

two children, a second-year graduate student proud

have made

to

it

into

the world's top psychology department, was as hardworking and high achieving as

any student

I

had ever worked with. He had no time

for frivolity, excess,

weak-

nesses, excuses, or fools. Curt kept his emotions to himself behind a stoic facade.

Jim-4325.

who was

also a reserved person,

must have interpreted Curt's de-

tached manner as his being displeased. He hastened to add that these were not

thanked them

really "grievances." rather "just suggestions." Curt

their suggestions ation.

I

to give

and promised

to share

them with

wonder whether they noticed that he took no notes and that they had

him

tem was

their penciled

to provide the

list

for the record.

What was most important

semblance of democracy

However, citizen dissent demands changes

change prevents open disobedience and the system, disobedience ting

is

curtailed

and

Stanford County

make

jail

little

when

to address

likelihood of achieving

Prisoners* Cirievance

some

failed

our Sys-

taken wisely, such

dissent

is

co-opted by

rebellion shelved. In fact, without get-

Committee

a dent in the system armor. However, they

ing openly vented anil ha\ ing

to

in this authoritarian setting.

in the system. If

rebellion. But

any assurances of reasonable attempts

these elected ofiicials had

to

politely for

his superiors for their consider-

any of

their complaints,

any of

their goals.

failed in its

left

feeling

The

main mission

good about hav-

authority, exen a low -level one. listen to their

complaints.

The Prisoners Make Contact with the Outside World The

prisoners'

first letters

were invitations

would be coming by tonight, on

this,

to potential visitors,

some

the third day of the experiment.

of

whom

The second

91

Tuesday's Double Trouble

of letters could be to visitors invited for the next visitor night or to

round

friend or family

member who was

posed them on our

of course, as duly noted in

following samples give in

too far

one of the

some sense

away

to visit.

them

for mailing,

and

were screened

for security.

The

the guards collected

official stationery,

rules, they

what the prisoners were

of

one case came as a major surprise

any

com-

After the prisoners

and

feeling,

at least

to us.

Handsome Ail-American Hubbie-7258 suggests to his girlfriend that she some interesting pictures or posters to break the boredom of sitting on a

"bring

bed and staring

Tough not

like

at

blank walls."

guy. Zapata-mustached Rich-103 7 conveys his anger to a buddy:

"It's

a job anymore. I'm fucked because you can't get out of here."

Stew-8 19. whose complaints have been increasing, sends mixed messages to his friend:

"The food here

ond voyage shout

to Thailand.

is

and

as good

Not

plentiful as the 3rd

much happens

my number, and get hassled.

It

will

The diminutive Asian-American

for

it

way

tactic.

out."

Then he adds

sleep,

prisoner. Glenn- 3401. fire

makes

clear his dis-

bomb Jordan

Hall as a di-

are

damn frustrated. We intend to make a run

first I've

promised to crack a few craniums on the

My buddies and

as soon as possible, but

I

be great to get out.

dain for this place: "Having a miserable time. Please versionary

day of Ebenezer's sec-

here of interest, basically

I

a puzzling

"Be careful not to

P.S.:

let

the nitwits

know

you're real ..." Real.^

The

surprise

came from

a letter by nicotine-addicted Paul- 5 704. the

leader of the prisoners. In that revolutionary.

He

letter.

tips off his girlfriend

5704 does a

—

in

an unsecured

letter

—that he plans

write a story about his experience for a local underground newspaper

He has

gets out.

of Defense,

is

new

stupid thing for a self-styled to

when he

discovered that the Office of Naval Research, of the Department

supporting

my

he has hatched a conspir-

research.'* Consequently,

we are trying to find out how best to imprison student who are opposing the Vietnam War! Obviously he is not an experienced

acy theory arguing that protestors

revolutionary, because

it

was not smart

to discuss his subversive plans in a letter

we would be likely to screen. Little did he know that myself was a radical, activist professor, against the Vietnam War since 1966. when had organized one of the nation's first all-night

that

I

1

university "teach-ins" at

New York University, organized a large-scale walk-out at

NYU's graduation ceremony

to protest the university's

gree to Secretary of Defense Robert 1

McNamara. and

had organized thousands of students into constructive challenges to the continu-

ing

war was I

a kindred political spirit but not a mindlessly kindred revolutionary.

His letter begins. ley

Barb [alternative

"1

have made arrangements with The Tribe and The Berke-

free radical

5704 then brags about

his

new

newspapers] to carry the story status in our

little

prison

have gotten together a grievance committee of which I

awarding an honorary de-

in the last year, at Stanford.

am

I

when

I

get out."

community: "Today

I

am chairman. Tomorrow

organizing a Credit Union for our collective wages."

He goes on

to describe

92

The Lucifer Effect

ihal he

is

benefiting from this experience:

"I

am

learning a

lot

about revolution-

ary incarceration tactics. Guards accomplish nothing because you just cant keep the old freak morale down. Most of us here are freaks and

one

will

crack before this thing

no influence on the

exert

is

over.

A

I

don't really think any-

few are starting to get

rest of us." In addition,

he signs

off

they

servile, but

with a

big. bold

"Your prisoner. 5704."

is

who might really my research grant status

decide not to share this information with the guards,

I

abuse him

in retaliation.

But

upsetting to think that

it is

being accused of being a tool of the administration's war machine, especially

since

was

1

have worked

to

encourage

effective dissent by student activists.

originally given to fund empirical

That grant

and conceptual research on the

effects of

anonymity, of conditions of deindividuation. and on interpersonal aggression.

When

the idea for the prison experiment occurred.

extend the funding to pay funding.

I

am

for this research as well,

angry that Paul and probably

I

got the granting

agency

to

without any other additional

his Berkeley buddies are spreading

this falsehood.

Whether driven by his sporadic mood shifts, nicotine cravings, or his desire to

make exciting culty for

all

material for his journalistic expose.

of us today

5704 has

created a

—a day when we already had too much Is

the help of his cellmates, he also bent the bars on Cell

Hole time. While in the Hole, he kicked

lot

of

to handle.

door, for

down the partition between

diffi-

With

which he the two

got

com-

partments, for which action he was denied lunch and also received extended

soli-

He continues to be noncooperative during dinner and obviously upset that no one has come to visit him. Fortunately, following his meeting after dinner with the warden, who sternly rebuked him. we notice that 57()4's behavior has tary time.

changed

for the better.

PREPPING FOR THE VISITORS: THE HYPOCRITICAL MASQUERADE 1

had hoped Carlo would be able

to

come from Oakland

to

work with me on how

best to prepare for the onslaught of parents. But. as usual, his old car has broken

down and

is

being repaired, hopefully

in

lime

for his

scheduled appearance the

next day as head of our Parole Board. After a long phone conversation, the plan

is

set.

We

will

on them, ready

to

do when unwelcome

improvement: prison

officials

cover the bloodstains with

putting troublemakers out of sight, and

Carlo offers sage advice about what

make 1

doilies,

good care of their children while we are

the scene pretty

might do

the good

we

we must convince

in

for

hide the bodies by

in the short

time available to

create the appearance to parents of a well-oiled, benevolent system that

however, that

game

descend

do just what all prisons document abuses and confront the system with demands visitors

charge of them. He makes

is

taking

it

clear,

these middle-class, white parents to believe in

are doing with the study and. like their sons,

make them comply with

I

93

Tuesday's Double Trouble

the to

demands of the authorities. Carlo laughs as he says. "You white folks sure like

conform to the Man. so they know they are doing the right thing, just doing like

everyone else

doing."

is

Turn on Action sign to

is

Central: Prisoners

wash the

floors

and

their cells, the Hole

removed, and a disinfectant with a fresh eucalyptus scent

is

sprayed

all

over

counter the urine odors. The prisoners are shaved, sponge-washed, and as well

groomed

can

as

be.

Stocking caps and head towels are stashed away. Finally, the

warden warns everyone that any complaints will result in premature termination of the

We

visit.

visitors

and

ask the day

do overtime until 9

shift to

p.m.

both to cope with the

also to be ready to assist should the anticipated riot materialize. For

good measure.

invite

I

our entire group of backup guards to come in as

Next we feed our prisoners their best hot meal, chicken pot

and double

desserts for the

men

Yard as the

eat.

pie.

gourmands among them. Music gently

The day guards

well.

with seconds infuses the

are serving the dinner, while the night

guards are watching. Without the laughter or snickering that usually accompanies the meals, the

Hellmann

atmosphere

sitting at the

is

strangely

is

head

big club, prominently svmiging

civil

and rather ordinarv

of the table, leaning

back but

still

around: "2093. you never had

it

it

showing his so good, did

you.^"

2093

replies:

"No.

I

haven't, Mr. Correctional Officer."

"Your mother never gave you seconds, did

she.^"

"No, she didn't. Mr. Correctional Officer." Sarge replies obediently.

"You see how good you've got "Yes,

plate

here. 2093.'"

it

do, Mr. Correctional Officer."

I

and walks away, sneering

Meanwhile,

at

Hellmann

him. Bad blood

in the corridor outside the

picks

main prison

preparations for the visitors, whose potential for

some food from

Sarge's

developing between them.

is

door,

we are making final

making trouble

is

a realistic

fear.

Opposite the wall housing the three offices of the guards, the warden, and the superintendent are a dozen folding chairs for visitors while they await entry. As they

come down perience,

into the basement, full of

we

deliberately

tional control, according to plan. to

whom we

and

good humor

at

and systematically bring

what seems a

novel, fun ex-

their behavior

under

They have to be taught that they are our

were granting the privilege of

situa-

guests,

visiting their sons, brothers, friends,

lovers.

Susie Phillips, our attractive receptionist, welcomes the visitors warmly. She is

seated behind a large desk with a dozen fragrant red roses at one side. Susie

another of

my students,

a psychology major and also a Stanford Dolly, chosen for

the cheerleading team for her good looks and gymnastic visitor in.

noting time of arrival,

inmate he or she lowed tonight.

will visit. Susie

First,

which they can go dinner.

On

the

way

is

each

number

in party,

abilities.

She signs each

and name and number

of the

informs them of the procedure that must be

visitor or

into the prison out, they are to

group sees the warden

when

fol-

for a briefing, after

their relative or friend has finished his

meet with the superintendent

to discuss

any

94

The Lucifer Effect

concerns they then

sit

may have or to share their reactions. They agree to these terms and

and wait while they

listen to

music piped

in over the intercom.

Susie apologizes for their having to wait so long, but

it

seems that the prison-

ers are taking a longer time than usual tonight because they are enjoying double

That does not

desserts.

sit

and are getting impatient

well with

some

who have

visitors,

to see their prisoner

and

other things to do

unusual prison

this

place.

After conferring with the warden, our receptionist informs the visitors that

because the prisoners have taken so long to

eat.

we

have to

will

limit the visiting

time to ten minutes and admit only two visitors per inmate. The visitors grumble: they are upset with their kids and friends for being so inconsiderate.

two of us?" they

Susie replies that the space inside

maximum about the

is

very tight and there

two

limit of

"I'm sorry.

visitors

law about

fire

when he

invited

you

you

tell

here.'"

it

must have

slipped his mind, but

now you

will

know

next

visit."

The

make the best of Some complain about

visitors try to

chatting

it,

believe that

what they are seeing

what they might hear from complain.

drama we

And

among

do.

We

have

in this lovely place

is

set the stage for

become unwitting

them

to

standard, and to distrust

their irresponsible, selfish kids

so they too

themselves about this

the arbitrary rules, but. remarkably, they

meekly comply with them, as good guests

and buddies, who are

participants in the prison

are staging.

Up-Close and Impersonal

Visits

Prisoner 819's parents are the

when

just

didn't!"

guess

I

interesting study.

likely to

a

is

occupancy. She adds, as an aside. "Didn't your child or friend

"Damn! No. he time you

"Why

ask.

to enter the Yard, looking

first

they notice their son seated

at

around curiously

the end of the long table in the middle of the

corridor. I

ather asks the guard. "Can

"Sure,

Then

why his

I

shake hands with him.'"

he answers, surprised by the request.

not.'"

mother

also shakes

hands with her son! Shakes hands.' No auto-

matic hugging of parents and their (This kind of

happens when one

child.'

awkward exchange invoking minimal body is

visiting a real

maximum-security

that a condition for visiting in our prison. visitors'

Burdan goes at

was our

previsit

is

what

we never made

manipulation of the

expectations that worked to create confusion about what behaviors were

appropriate

over

It

contact

prison, but

will,

819

in this is

strange place.

When

in

doubt, do the minimal amount.)

standing over the prisoner and his parents. Hellmann comes and

invading the privacy of 819's interaction with his

as this

little

familial triad pretends to ignore

conversation. However.

about the prison or he

819 knows

that

he has no chance

will suffer later. His

folks.

him and carry on

parents cut their

to say

visit

He looms a

normal

anything bad

short to only

five

95

Tuesday's Double Trouble

minutes so that 819's brother and

sister

can share some of the limited

visiting.

They shake hands again as they say their good-byes. "Yeah, things are pretty good here." Stew-819

They and other

tells his siblings.

from the uptight

friends of the prisoners act a lot differently

ways of the generally more intense parents. They are more and not as intimidated by the situational constraints

casual,

more amused,

as the parents. But guards

are hovering over everyone.

819 continues. "We have some pleasant conversations with the correctional He describes the "Hole for punishment." and as he points toward it. Bur-

officers."

dan

interrupts:

"No more talking about the Hole. 819."

The sister asks about the number on his smock and wants to know what they do

day.

all

arrest.

819 answers her questions and

As soon

as

he begins

Burdan again

shift.

stops

him

also describes the impact of the police

about problems he has with the night guard

to talk cold.

819: "They get us up early in the morning

.

.

.

some guards are

really good.

top correctional officers. There's not really any physical abuse: they do have clubs.

but..." His brother asks

him what he would do if he could get out. 819 answers,

good prisoner should.

Burdan ends the

"I

can't be out there.

am in

I

visit after precisely five

this

as a

wonderful place."

minutes. Ceros has been sitting at

The guards outnumber the guests! 819's face turns grim as his guests smilingly wave good-bye. In come the mom and dad of Prisoner Rich-1037. Burdan immediately sits down on the table, glowering over them. (I notice for the first time that Burdan the table the entire time, with Varnish standing behind the table.

looks like a sinister

Che Guevara.)

1037: "Yesterday was kinda strange. Today we washed

and cleaned our

cells in

here ...

we

all

the walls in here

don't have a sense of time.

We haven't been

out to see the sun." His dad asks whether they will stay inside for the entire two weeks.

sure but imagines that tion

is

animated, but

is

the case. This

visit

seems

Son

is

not

to be going well, the conversa-

Mom shows that she is worried about her son's appearance.

John Landry saunters over to chat with Burdan as both stand within hearing of the visitors' conversation.

away

his

bed and so he

"Thanks

is

1037 does not mention on the floor.

coming." 10 37 says with

for

soon, day after tomorrow, for sure."

someone on

feeling. "I'm glad

Mom comes back when

I

came

... see

you

1037 asks her to call

his behalf.

"Now. you be good and follow the

Dad

that the guards have taken

sleeping

rules." she urges her son.

gently ushers her out the door, aware that they might be staying over-

time in their

visit

and preventing others from the chance

to enjoy visiting privi-

leges.

The guards

all

enter the yard. She

perk up is

when

they spy Hubbie-7258's attractive girlfriend

carrying a box of cupcakes, which she wisely shares with

"

96

The Lucifer Effect

thcni. fit

—

"

"

I

into

munch ihem down, making hearty sounds for the bene-

he guards eagerly

7258

of their captives.

allowed to eat one cupcake while he and his

is

an animated conversation. They seem

down

guard's breathing

to be trying

Burdan hovers next

their necks: all the while

girl get

hard to be oblivious of the to

them,

rapping his club on the table in staccato.

The intercom background music on

My Side.

"

This irony

is

is

playing the Rolling Stones'

missed as visitors come and go

hit

"Time

Is

for their all-too-brief en-

counter.

Mother Know^s I

Best, but

thank each of the

visit.

alistic

I

Do Her

I

visitors for taking

Like the warden.

add that

Dad and

try to be as

I

In

time from their busy schedules to

accommodating and congenial

hope they appreciate what we are

do by studying prison

to

a fashion as possible within the limits of an experiment.

questions about future asides urging that

I

visits,

about sending

gift

boxes,

especially look after their son.

only a few more visitors to process before

I

I

in as re-

life

answer

their

and counter their personal

It is all

my

can turn

1

make this

as possible.

going

full

like

clockwork,

attention to dealing

with the expected danger to our dungeon. However, thinking ahead to the next

game.

I

am blindsided by

10 3 7's mother.

I

am not prepared for the intensity of her

distress.

As soon

mean

to

as she

make

and Dad enter my

trouble,

sir.

but

office,

she says in a quavering voice.

am worried about my son.

I

I

"I

don't

have never seen him

looking so tired."

Red terrible,

alert!

She could make trouble

for

And she is right. 10 37 looks

our prison!

not only physically exhausted but depressed.

raggedy-looking kids of the entire

He

is

one of the most

lot.

"What seems

to be ifour son's problem?"

This reaction

is

immediate, automatic, and

like

that of every authority con-

fronted by a challenge to the operating procedures of his system. Like

perpetrators of institutional abuse. tional, as his

She

is

problem

I

all

other

ascribe the problem of her son as disposi-

— as something wrong

having none of that diversionary

in

him.

tactic.

Mom continues on to say that

he looks so haggard, has not been sleeping through the night, and "Does he have a sleep

disorder.'

"No, he says that the guards wake them up for something called 'counts.' "Yes, of course, the counts.

they must be sure the

count

off their

men

are

When

all

each new

shift of

present and accounted

"

guards comes on duty, for,

so they have

them

numbers.

"But in the middle of the nighl.^"

"Our guards work eight-hour

two

A.M.. they

haw

to

shifts,

and since one group of them

wake up the prisoners

none have escaped. Doesn't

—make sense

that

"Yes. but I'm not sure that

to be sure they are

to you.^"

all

starts at

there, that

97

Tuesday's Double Trouble

She tic

primed to make trouble, so

is still

and engage Dad, who has been

masculine pride at "Excuse me.

I

move on

to

another more potent tac-

Looking him straight in the

silent.

eye,

put his

I

risk.

sir.

Don't you think that your son can take

it.^"

you know, captain of the

"Sure, he can, he's a real leader,

.

.

.

and

..."

Only half listening to the words but understanding their tone and accompanying gestures, handle

stuff to

bond with Dad. "I'm with you. Your son seems

I

this

"Rest assured that

tough situation." Turning back I

will

to

to

have the right

Mom, I add to reassure her,

keep an eye on your boy. Thanks

for

coming; hope to see

you again soon."

Dad

grips

my hand firmly in a manly shake, as I wink at him with the assurwho is on his side. We silently acknowledge that "We will tolerate

ance of the boss 'the

lady's' overreaction."

little

masculine

As a postscript to written that tion

What swine we

are.

and we do

it

all

on automatic

pilot!

same

this

smarmy episode,

I

received a tender letter from Mrs.

Her observations and intuition about our prison

night.

Y.,

situa-

and her son's condition were completely accurate.

My husband seemed very

my

son

when

I

seemed

and

I

real to

when he

visited

me.

I

our son

volunteered

am

I

sure.

gave

It

he had not seen the sun

It

a depressed feeling

his chief

for so long.

sorry he volunteered and he answered that at ever,

me

saw him. He looked very haggard, and to be that

County Prison."

at the "Stanford

had not expected anything so severe nor had

first

I

complaint

asked

if

he was

he had been. How-

he had gone through several different moods and he was more

re-

money he

am

signed. This will be the hardest

will ever

earn in his

life, I

sure.

Mother PS:

of 1037.

We hope this project is a big success.

Although Rich- 10 3

7.

I

am

getting

ahead of our

prison in the next few days because he that were

story.

one of the original band of tough

was

I

should add here that her son

rebels,

had

to be released

from our

suffering from acute stress reactions

overwhelming him. His mother had sensed that change coming over

him.

DISGUISED Once the rioters

threat

last visitor

ABANDONMENT TO

had

had not crashed

was not

over!

left,

we could

all

into our party

Now

it

was time

to

breath a collective sigh of

when we were most

relief that

the

vulnerable. But the

swing into counterinsurgency mode. Our

plan was for some guards to dismantle the array.

FOIL THE RIOTERS

jail

props, to give the appearance of dis-

Other guards would chain the prisoners' legs together, put bags over their

98

The Lucifer Effect

them

heads, and escort tifth-tloor

in

the elevator from our basement to a rarely used, large

When

storage room, safe from invasion.

liberate the

jail.

I

would be

We

periment was over.

sitting there all

had ended

early

it

the conspirators charged in to

alone and would

tell

them

that the ex-

and sent everyone home, so they were

too late to liberate anything. After they checked out the place and

left,

we'd bring

down and have time to redouble the security of our prison. We ways to capture 8612 and imprison him again if he was among

the prisoners back

even thought of

the conspirators because he had been released under false pretenses. Picture this scene.

The remnants

Yard."

1

am sitting alone in a vacant corridor,

of the Stanford

County

AKA

formerly

"the

are strewn about in disorder,

Jail

prison cell doors off their hinges, signs down, the front door wide open.

I

am

psyched to spring what we consider to be our ingenious Machiavellian counterInstead of the rioters,

plot.

colleagues

— an old

who

mate. Gordon asks what's going on here. ers

up on the

fifth floor

and

felt

and

my

psychology

graduate school room-

He and his wife saw the bunch of

prison-

sorry for them. They went out and bought the

prisoners a box of doughnuts because they I

my

should appear but one of

friend, a very serious scholar,

all

looked so miserable.

and quickly

describe the research as simply

as possible,

all

the while expect-

ing the sudden intrusion of the invaders. This scholarly intruder then poses a simple question: "Say. what's the

independent variable

in

your

study.'"

was the allocation of pretested volunteer subjects prisoner or guard, which of course had been randomly assigned. answered that

it

should have

I

to the roles of

Instead.

I

get

angry Here I had an incipient prison the stability of

my

riot

on

prison were at stake,

and

heart, liberal, academic, effete professor

thing

like

an independent

variable!

I

my hands. The security of my men and I

had

contend with

to

thought

back

get

a ridiculous

The next thing

to myself:

asking was whether I had a rehabilitation program! The dummy.

him and

this bleeding-

whose only concern was

I

he'd be

adroitly dismiss

to the business of waiting for the attack to unfold.

I

wait and

wait. Finally.

I

realize that

it is

many hours and expended attack.

I

had

foolishly

a filthy storage

and

out.

is

that

from someone

tortion

gone begging

to the

upstairs, dismantled

we had

No substance

to

it

at all.

We had spent

foil

the rumored

we had cleaned out and moved the prisoners up

police for their aid:

our prison,

time.

And. our biggest

sin.

who has a professional

fools, especially

interest in

rumor transmission and dissuch phenomena. We

class demonstrations of

when mortal emotions

resurrected the prison props and then

rule over cool reason.

moved the

prisoners back

down

from the hot. stuffy windowless storage room where they had been stored three mindless hours.

What

as

not collected any systematic data the whole day. All

and who regularly does

mortals can be

We

a rumor.

More important, we had wasted valuable

researchers, this

room

all

a great deal of energy in planning to

humiliation

1

suffered. Craig. Curt. Dave,

and

I

for

could

Tuesday's Double Trouble

barely

99

make eye contact for the rest of that evening. We tacitly agreed to keep it all and not declare it "Dr. Zs Folly."

to ourselves

We Played the Fools, but WTio Will Pay the Piper? we

Obviously

all

reacted with considerable frustration.

sion of cognitive dissonance for so readily ting ourselves to

much

We

also suffered the ten-

firmly believing a

lie

and commit-

needless action without sufficient justification. i^'

also experienced "groupthink."

everyone else accepted

and

it

Once

as true.

I.

as leader, believed the

No one

rumor

played devil's advocate, a figure that

every group needs to avoid foolish or even disastrous decisions

like this. It

reminiscent of President John Kennedy's "disastrous'" decision to invade the Bay of Pigs fiasco. It

well

essential for conducting

on the way

vestigator.

It

with Mrs.

Y.

to

objectivity'.

should have been obvious that this was so from

and her husband, not

Our general sense

to

of frustration

the prison Yard. In retrospect,

"I

on. but that

made

deflect

mention

my

was

tantrums with the police

is

just

who were

ser-

same dynamic

level.

silently across

admitted our mistake and

one of the hardest things that anyone can ever

a mistake. Sorry." Instead,

in-

my earlier encounter

and embarrassment spread

we should have

we unconsciously

blame from ourselves. And we did not have

prisoners

I

becoming a prison superintendent rather than a principal

processes at a personal level that they study at a professional

it:

in

me that we were losing the scientific de-

any research with unbiased

geant. However, even psychologists are people, subject to the

moved

was

Cuba

^ ^

should also have been apparent to

tachment

We had

to be valid,

do. Just say

looked for scapegoats to

to look

far.

All

around us were

going to pay the price for our failure and embarrassment.

CHAPTER

SIX

Wednesday

Un this fourth day of the experiment.

I

Out of Control

Spiraling

Is

am looking forward to a less frenetic time

than Tuesdays endless troubles had created. Our daily schedule seems

enough seams this

of our prison.

morning

to give

A priest who had been a prison chaplain is coming to me a sense of how realistic our prison simulation is to

vide a

benchmark, the actual prison experience, against which

to

selves.

He

some

for a visit

is

reciprocating an earlier favor

paper he was writing on prisons

did for him. providing

1

summer

for a

was arranged prior to the start of our study, the Grievance Committee's

tially satisfying

Afterward there

will

be the

be paroled. The Board ect.

with

filled

interesting events to contain the volatility that has been bursting the

Carlo Prescott.

It

is

first

references

school course. Although his

will

demand

pro-

measure our-

do double duty by also par-

for

church

services, sort

of.

Parole Board hearing for prisoners requesting to

going to be headed by our prison consultant on this proj-

will be interesting to see

version: from a former prisoner rejected, to the

it

visit

who had

how he deals with

this total role in-

repeatedly requested parole and been

head of a parole board.

The promise of another Visiting Night

after

dinner should help to contain the

some prisoners. also plan to admit a replacement prisoner, in uniform number 4 1 6. to till the vacancy of troublesome Doug-86 1 2. A lot of action is on

distress of

I

today's agenda, but

it

Stanford County

and

jail

is all

in a

good day's work

for the

superintendent of the

his staff

A PRIESTLY PUZZLE lather McDerniott looks as

if

ritory to

is

a big

he does regular

show

man. about

gym

six feet,

two inches

tall.

He

is

slim

time. His receding hairline gives his face

off his big smile, linely crafted nose,

and

trim:

more

ter-

and ruddy complexion. He

Wednesday stands straight,

Spiraling Out of Control

101

and has a good sense of humor. McDermott

sits erect,

who

Catholic priest in his late forties

an East Coast prison. With

in

Is

^

is

an

Irish

has had experience as a pastoral counselor

his starched collar

and neatly pressed black suit, he I am amazed at the fluidity Now he is the serious scholar,

the movie version of the jovial yet firm parish priest.

is

with which he

now

slips into

and out

the concerned priest,

ways he returns

of his priestly role.

now someone making

a professional contact, but

al-

to his leading role as "the Priest-Man."

we go over the long list of references with annotations that I have prepared for him to help on a report he is doing on interpersonal violence. He is obviously impressed that Fm taking so much time with him and pleased by the reference list, so he asks. "What can I do to help you.'" I respond, "All I would like is for you to talk with as many of the student subIn the Superintendent's Office,

our experiment as possible

jects in

of

I

in the time

you have available and then, on the

me your honest evaluation how realistic their prison experience seems to you." "Sure, pleased to reciprocate. I will use as my comparison base the prisoners what they

basis of

worked with

you and what you observe, give

tell

in a

Washington.

several years," the father

"Great

Now

—

it's

I

very

tells

much me

time for

D.C., correctional facility

I

was assigned

to for

me.

appreciate your assistance." to switch hats:

"The warden has invited any inmates

who want to talk with a minister to register for that privilege. A number of them do want

to talk

with you. and some want to request that religious services be held

here this weekend. Only one prisoner, sleep so

"Okay,

let's go.

it

The warden has for the priest sit

number 8 19.

is

feeling sick

and wants more

he won't be talking with you." should be interesting." says Father McDermott.

between

set a pair of chairs against the w^all

and each inmate who comes

to

him.

I

Cells 2

and

3

me

to

bring over another for

on next to the priest. Jaffe is at my side, looking very serious as he personally es-

corts each inmate from his cell to the interview. Jaffe

is

obviously relishing the

mock reality of this scenario with a real priest enacting his pastoral role with our mock prisoners. He really gets into it. am more concerned about the prisoners' 1

likely

complaints and what the good father

jaffe to

be sure that Curt Banks

is

is

getting this

likely to

on video

do

to correct

as close

up

them.

I

ask

as possible, but

the low level quality of our video camera doesn't allow close-ups as tight as

would

I

like.

Most interactions take the same form.

The

priest introduces himself, "Father

The prisoner responds. "I'm 5486. spond with their names: the

names. Curiously, the the prisoner role

"What

is

priest

McDermott. Son. and

sir."

him

rest just give

does not flinch:

clearly taking effect.

are you charged with.'"

I

you.'"

or "I'm 7258. father" Only a few retheir

numbers instead

of their

am very surprised. Socialization into

"

102

The Lucifer Effect

"Burglary" or "armed robbery" or "breaking and entering

'

"459 Code

or

violation" are the usual replies.

Some

add. "But

am

I

innocent" or

was charged with

"I

.

.

but did not do

.

it.

sir."

The priest then says. "Good

"Why "I

is

think

the chain on your it's

Some he

to prevent us

asks about

young man" or says the prisoner's first

to see you.

name. He inquires about where he

about his family, about

lives,

asks Father

leg.'"

McUermott

from moving around that

how

priest goes

beyond any of

my

prisoner.

the response.

is

how

whether they have any complaints, and whether he can

Then our

one

of

freely"

they are being treated,

visitors.

they are feeling,

any assistance.

offer

expectations with basic questions about

the legal aspect of their confinement. for you.^" He asks one of them. Alternatively, "How does your lawyer feel about your case.'"

"Anybody post bond seriously inquires.

of

4 32 5 he

For variety's sake, he asks others. "Have you told your family about the

charges against you.^" or "Have you seen the public defender Suddenly,

we

are

all in

the "Twilight Zone." Father

yet.'"

McDermott himself has

mock

slipped deeply into the role of prison chaplain. Apparently, our

drawn the

created a very realistic situation that has

"We weren't allowed to make a phone call, and we have no

The fight

it

it

has the

and the guards and me.

prisoners

to trial:

prison has

priest in. just as

trial

date has even been mentioned,

priest says. "Well,

someone has

from here, but what good does

it

sir.

got to take

do

not yet been brought

your case.

mean, you can

I

to simply write the criminal court chief

justice.^ It is

going to be very slow to get a response. You want your family making

this contact

with a lawyer because you don't have

much pull at all

in

your current

state."

Prisoner Rich- 10

be a lawyer soon after

3

7 says that he plans to "be

I

finish

law school

in a

my own

lawyer, because

1

will

few years."

The priest smiles sardonically. "It is my general observation that a lawyer who tries his own case tends to be too emotionally involved. You know the old saying Anyone who represents himself has a fool for an attorney." '

I

tell

10 37 that

his time

up and motion

is

to the

warden

to replace

him with

the next prisoner.

The priest

is

taken aback by Sarge's excessive formality and his refusal to con-

sider getting legal counsel because

ing for the crime

he a special like

1

"it is

only

fair that

am alleged to have committed."

case.'"

McDermott

Sarge; even the priest treats

asks. "He's

him

in a

I

serve the time

our special case. Father."

knowing

deep

he gixes

puff,

that he

me

is

have com-

It

is

hard

is

to

patronizing manner.

Prisoner Paul- 5 704 slickly exploits this opportunity to the priest,

1

"Are there others like him. or

bum

a cigarette from

not allowed to smoke. As he lights up and takes a

a shit-ealing grin

and

a big "victory" sign

—

his

nonverbal

Wednesday

103

Spiraiing Out of Control

Is

is making the most of this pleashim next to ask for another smoke for

"Gotcha." The head of the Grievance Committee ant respite from the prison routine.

However.

later.

know

I

make

expect

Guard Arnett

notice that

that he will

I

is

duly taking note of this affront and

the prisoner pay dearly for the contraband cigarette

and

his wise-aleck smirk.

As the interviews proceed one

another in small

after

mistreatment, and violations of the rules,

I

talk,

complaints about

am becoming ever more agitated and

confused.

Only Prisoner 5486 refuses to be sucked into acting that this

is

a real prison and he

He

help to get his freedom back.

"experiment

headed guy

shadow

"

—one that

in the

is

who

mix but the

priest's

who describes the situation

the only one

least demonstrative.

I

an

as

the most level-

is

realize that

now. not usually called upon by the guards on any

until

to play-

needs a real

getting out of control. Jerry-5486

is

namely

this scenario,

a real prisoner

is

he has been a

shift for special

action and rarely even noticeable in any count, the rebellion or disturbances so far. I will

keep

The next

my eye on him from now on. prisoner, by contrast,

he

assistance. However,

is

eager to have the priest help get

stunned by the awareness that

is

"Well, suppose your attorney

wanted

five

hundred

Do you have five hundred dollars on you.^ If come up with that and more right away."

not,

it

him

legal

costs big money.

dollars as a retainer right now.

your parents are going to have

to

—

Prisoner Hubbie-72 58 accepts the priest's offer of assistance and gives his mother's

name and phone number

says that his cousin able to bail quest,

him

is

in the local public defender's office

and he might be

McDermott promises

through on

out. Father

and Hubble

lights

up

The whole production

as

is

if

him

so that she can arrange for legal help.

to follow

he were Santa Claus giving him a

He

avail-

this re-

new car.

becoming ever more weird.

Before leaving, and after having talked in earnest with seven of our inmates, the priest, in best priestly fashion, asks about the one reluctant prisoner,

might need

his help.

I

to talk with the priest:

During a

lull,

ask Guard Arnett to encourage it

might help him

while Prisoner 819

pastoral counselor. Father of prisoner.

is

819

to take a

feel better.

being prepared for his meeting with the

McDermott confides

in

me, "They are

all

They don't know anything about prison or what a

typical of the educated people that

change the prison system

I

see.

who

few minutes

the naive type

prison's

These are the people you want

for. It's

to try to

— tomorrow's leaders and today's voters—and they are

who are going to shape community education. They just don't know enough about what prisons are and what they can do to a person. But what you the ones

are doing here 1

less

is

good,

it'll

teach them."

take this as a vote of confidence, register his homily for the day. but

am no

confused. Prisoner Stew-819

is

looking terrible, to say the

least:

dark

circles

under

his

104

The Lucifer Kfject

uncombed

eyes,

messed up

to clean

open the pillow and

his cell, tearing

throwing the feathers everywhere. He was put

One of

down. This morning. Stew-819

hair going in every direction but

did a bad thing: in a rage, he

in the

Hole and his cellmates had

up the mess. He has been depressed following

his parents" visit last night.

guard that while

his buddies told a

a great talk with him. he

felt

otherwise.

his parents

thought that they had had

They had not

listened to his complaints,

and they had not cared about

his condition,

them, but they had

on and on about some damn play they had

just talked

which he had

tried to explain to

just

seen.

wonder

Priest: "I

if

you discussed the idea that your family might

get a law-

yer for you."

knew was

819: "They

I

a prisoner.

told

I

them what

I

was doing

here, about

the numbers, the regulations, the hassles."

"How do you

Priest:

819:

"1

feel

now.^"

have a bad headache;

need a doctor."

I

ask him whether it maybe had been caused by exhaustion, hunger, heat,

intervene, trying to discover the basis of his headache.

I

was a

typical migraine: or

stress, constipation,

819:

"I just feel

or vision problems.

kind of drained. Nervous."

Then he breaks down and starts to cry. Big tears,

him

calmly gives

"Now there,

big heaving sighs.

The priest

handkerchief to wipe the tears away.

his it

I

can't be

all

How long have you been in this place.^"

that bad.

"Only three days!" "You're going to have to be try to comfort

I

less

819. arranging

emotional." for

him

to take a time-out in the

the Yard, actually behind the partition where tell

him

see

if

the headache goes

Health 1

am

that he can rest comfortably

for a

checkup.

I

away by

and

1

will get

this afternoon.

end by getting him

to

here

is

to try

him some good

If

not.

I

food.

will take

I

He

him

ask him whether he insists that

off

Then

I

we'll

to Student

is

really feel-

he wants to continue

any funny business.

819: "Maybe you are responding to the smell of

Priest to

restroom

are doing our tape recording.

promise not to try to escape, because

taking him to a minimum-security area.

ing so bad that he should be released now.

and agrees not

we

oppressive. There's

an unpleasant

smell,

it

this place.

takes time to get used to

The it.

air

Nev-

it has sort of a toxic quality, maybe that's too strong, but the home the reality of prison. fMcDermott is smelling the urine and odor now clinging to our prison, to which we are habituated and don't no-

ertheless, its there,

stench brings feces

tice until

it

is

called to

oners learn to handle

As we walk study

is

|

to get

your balance, plenty of

pris-

it."

off the Yard,

working

"Hrst -offender sion,

our attention. You have

like a real

syndrome"

down prison

—one

the hail tomyoflicc. the priest

and

filled

speciticaily that

with confusion,

he

is

tells

me that

the

seeing the typical

irritability, rage,

depres-

and overemotionalization. He assures me that such reactions change

after a

Wednesday

week

or so because

Is

We

more

is

is

real for

agree that he needs counseling.

trembling, hands shaking, and eyes

not

make it here,

He

does not aid a prisoner's survival to be so effeminate.

it

adds that he thinks this situation admit.

105

Spiraling Out of Control

that he wants out.

I

is

note that although 819's

I

tearing,

819 than the boy

he

still

willing to

were

lips

could not admit that he can-

think that he cannot accept the idea that he

chickening out, that his masculinity might be threatened, so he wants us

wants me

—

to insist that

he leave as a way of saving face. "Maybe so. That

McDermott

teresting possibility," Father

on

adds, reflecting

an in-

is

that has just

all

transpired.

While I bid him adieu.

I

add

to call the parents, right.^ "Of

how stupid of

"Sure,

and lawyers

am,

I

must.

good father

even though he knows

what the

priest's visit highlights

this

the play

hell,

is

not really going

my duty."

It is

me, your duty, that's right."

are not real prisoners, but

illusion,

I

(Just

what I need is parents

with because a priest made a promise he

to deal

in his role as a real priest

The

in passing that the

course

obligated to keep

is

not a real prison and they

is

must go on.)

the growing confusion here between reality and

between role-playing and self-determined

identity.

He

is

a real priest in

the real world with personal experience in real prisons, and although he

aware that ours

is

mock

a

he so

prison,

that he helps to transform our

show

and deeply enacts

fully

He sits erect,

into reality.

is

assumed

his

ingly, pats

shoulders, scowls at prisoners' foolishness,

me

Catholic Church.

back

to

my

He could not

and

know-

more

present a

though we were on a bizarre movie his role.

If

perfect

image of a

how

was

as

and

I

anything, the priestly

visit

further transformed our simulated

who had been

admired

well this actor per-

able to sustain the realization that this

made

his

message a new medium.

hands of Franz Kafka or Luigi

Just then,

it

set.

periment." The priest has in the

had he

priest

priestly thing,

experiment into an ever-more-realistic prison. This was especially so prisoners

and ca-

talks in tones

childhood in Sunday school at Saint Anselm's

been sent from Central Casting. While he was doing his

formed

role

holds his hands in a

particular way, gestures just so, leans forward to give personal advice, nods

dences that take

fully

Is

is all

those

for

"just

an ex-

our scenario

now

Pirandello.?

an eruption booms from the Yard. The prisoners are shouting.

They are chanting loudly something about Prisoner 819. Arnett: "Prisoner

819

Prisoners: "Prisoner

Arnett:

"What

is

did a

819

bad thing. Say

it

ten times, loudly."

and over many

did a bad thing" (Over

happening

819

to Prisoner

for

times.)

doing the bad thing he

did.

Prisoner 3401.'"

3401 "Prisoner 819 :

Arnett:

"What

is

is

being punished."

happening

to Prisoner

1037: "I'm not sure. Mr. Correctional Arnett: "He's being punished.

3401 repeats the mantra, as

819. 1037.?"

Officer." ."

From the top. 5401 1037 adds even louder. "Prisoner 819

punished. Mr. Correctional Officer."

is

being

"

106

The Lucifer E/fect

10 37 and each

each responds

the other prisoners

ol

Arnett: "Let's hear

times to

five

it

bad things that Prisoner 819

did,

collectively.

make sure you remember it. Because of

your

"Because of what Prisoner 819

asked the same question in turn, and

is

and then

identically, individually

are a mess.

cells

did.

Lx^t's

hear

it

the

ten times."

my cell is a mess."

The prisoners chant the phrase repeatedly, but 10 37. the one who plans to be a lawyer,

with his

is

no longer joining

in.

Guard John Landry gestures menacingly

at

him

club to get with the program. Arnett stops the chant to ask what

billy

is

wrong: Landry informs him of 1037's disobedience.

1037 challenges

Prisoner cer.

Are we supposed

never

to

Arnett:

"I

have a question, Mr. Correctional

Offi-

tell lies.'"

Arnett. in his most formal, unflustered. totally authentic style, replies.

"We're not interested in your questions now. The task has been assigned, let's

hear

it.

'Because of what Prisoner

819

my cell is a

did.

now

mess' ten times."

Prisoners chant the phrase but lose track and do so eleven times.

"How many times were you

Arnett:

told to

do

that. Prisoner

3401

.'"

3401: "Ten times."

"How many times did you do

Arnett:

3401: "Ten times. Mr. Correctional Arnett: "Wrong, you it

ten times, as

cell is

a mess'

I

it

back

down.

straight.

".'

eleven times.

Do

over again, do

it

to do: 'Because of

it

properly,

what Prisoner 8 19

did,

do

my

out in precision exactly ten more times.

assume the

Without a moment's up,

it

Mr. 3401.

times."

Arnett: "Everyone

"Down,

did

have commimdedyou

—ten

They shout

all

it,

Officer"

5486. these aren't

up.

Down.

position,

hesitation, everyone falls to the

down. up. down, and stay down.

up.

ground

push-ups.

for

belly rolls, they are push-ups. keep that

Roll over

on your backs

for leg lifts."

Arnett: "Six inches inches,

and everybody's

Guard lifted

J.

the important feature of

is

this.

men. Everybody goes

leg will stay there until everybody's leg

Landry measures

to

is

six

six inches."

determine whether each prisoner's legs are

exactly six inches above the ground.

Arnett: "All together, ten times.

'I

will not

make

the mistake that S

1

9 did. Mr.

make any

mistakes.

"

Correctional Arnett:

Officer.'

"Now at the absolute top of your lungs.

will not

1

"

Mr. Correctional Officer!'

They

all

obey

in perfect

unison. Prisoner 10

along with the chanting nevertheless, while Sarge shout out his obedience ly this authority Then

sponse to the

officer's final

3

is

all

command: "rhank you

7 refuses to shout but goes

delighting in the chance to

sing out very politely in re-

very

much

for this nice

count.

Mr. Correctional Officer."

The

precise unison of \hc prisoners

would be the envy of any choirmaster or

— Wednesday Hitler

Youth

rally leader.

come since Sunday's

I

think to myself. Moreover,

giggling counts

YOU'RE NOT When

I

side of thin partition.

I

rush to check on him.

him. assuring him that he will be

I

—

how far have they or we new prisoners.?

playful antics of the

TIME TO GO HOME, STEWART

819: IT'S

into a quivering mass, hysterical.

leave.

and the

819 might be hearing all of this in the R&R Room on the other

realize that

surprise,

107

Spiraling Out of Control

Is

he refuses

to leave

have to go back

with

I

all

put

What

find

I

is

819 hunched over

my arms around him

right

once he has

left

trying to comfort

and gone home. To

me to see a doctor and then go home.

in there."

he

insists

through

his tears.

He

"No.

I

my

can't

can't leave

knouing that the other prisoners have labeled him a "bad prisoner." that messing up is

his cell

has made

clearly distressed,

really a

all this

he

is

harassment come down upon them. Even though he

willing to go back into that prison to prove that he

"Listen carefully to me. now. you're not 819. is

Dr.

Zimbardo.

real prison. This like

is

not

bad guy.

you. So

it's

1

am a psychologist, is

just

You

are Stewart,

and

my name

not a prison superintendent, and this

an experiment, and those guys

time to go home. Stewart.

is

not a

in there are just students,

Come with me now.

Let's go."

He stops sobbing, wipes away the tears, straightens up. and looks into my eyes. He looks like a small child awakening from a nightmare, assured by his parent that

it is

not a real monster and that everything will be fine once he

cepts that truth. "Ok. Stew, is still

clinging on.)

let's

go."

(I

have broken through his

illusion,

fully ac-

but mine

'

lOS

The Lucifer Eflect

way

Oil tlic I

recall that his

tional

and mustering Stew out

to gelling his civilian clothes

day started out wilh

of service.

a lot ol iroubic that set the stage for this

emo-

breakdown.

Up

819 Messes

Early

The Warden's Log was put

All.

819

9 refused to get up

1

at

the 6:

later given only half the time in the

it

He

a.m. wake-up.

1

bathroom

including 819, were present for the tifleen-minule

at 7:30. reciting

period.

reports that 8

Hole and

in the

others got.

On that the

number count

forward and in reverse repeatedly. However, during the exercise

A

refused.

guard came up with the

social

punishment of forcing the

other prisoners to stand with their arms outstretched until 8 1 9 yielded. 8

1

9 would not yield, and the other prisoners' strength gave out as their arms

dropped

to their sides.

819 was put back

in the Hole,

where he

ate his breakfast in

He was released for work duty to clean out the toilets with his bare hands and move boxes back and forth endlessly and mindlessly along with all the prisoners. When he returned to his cell. 819 locked himthe dark but refused to eat his egg.

self in.

He

refused to clean off the stickers from a blanket thrown into his

cell.

His

4325 and the replacement, 8612. were forced to do extra work unt he complied. They moved boxes back and forth from one closet to the other. He did not relent but demanded to see a doctor. They were getting angry at his obsticellmates.

il

nence, for which they were suffering.

Guard

Ceros's

Shift

Report notes. "A prisoner locked himself in his

cell.

We

He wouldn't come out. We made everyone stand up against the wall with their arms straight out. He lay back in his cell and laughed. didn't think he would do it. We gave up. The rest of the prisongot our clubs

and proceeded

ers hated us.

just smiled

to get

him

out.

I

Guard

I

and

did

my job." importance of

V^arnish in his report notes the psychological

oner's behavior: "8

1

9's

this pris-

apparent indifference to the troubles of his fellow inmates

upsets them." Varnish goes on to complain in his report about the lack of clear guidelines for

amount this case

what he could do

of force

we could

to the prisoners.

in fact use.

and

this

"1 fell

was uncertain as

1

me as

bothered

Vandy reports

a different reaction:

sadistic senses to

statement, one that

"I

continued

my role

some

the limits on

become more involved

to

I

cause bitterness between us." That

am sure

Stern ( lUard Arnelt adds play

felt

were not clearly defined. "-

than on the preceding day. I enjoyed harassing the prisoners

my

I

he would never have

in his report:

was with 8 19 and 10

occasions. At these lipies.

I

5

7.

when

was not

made

"The only time they were

as lough as

in I

at 2:

is

30

.\.m.

the mercy of other people

uncnjoyable

for

you as

possible."

who

are lr\ing to

Slew-Si 9

pleased

four days earlier. I

felt

1

could not properly

such obvious

diflicully

on

should have been."

make

later told

It

a rather remarkable

"Basically the really oppressive thing about the prison experience tally at

to the

me.

is

being

to-

things as ciiHicull and "1

simply can't stand

Wednesday being abused by other people.

guards and a strong liking belliousness of

some

ence of others.

My

developed a strong resentment of the

I

compassionate ones.

for the

a

bit

longer than

our

spy.

finally

Our Very

Recall that David,

fascist

was pleased with the and

re-

total obedi-

it

would have been

if

one were enjoying

experience was the total depression that set in

this

from being constantly hassled and the

Betrayal by

I

sense of time was also affected, since each day's torturous

The worst thing about

The best thing was

109

Spiraling Out of Control

prisoners and angered at the complacency

moment seemed quite oneself.

Is

fact that there

was no way

of getting out.

being set free."^

Own Spy

who took over 8612's

Unfortunately, for us, he

uniform, was brought into the prison as

was not providing any

useful information be-

cause he had become sympathetic to the prisoners' cause and had transferred his

them in almost a heartbeat. I released him that morning in order to him and get his assessment of what was going on. In his interview with the warden and me. our failed informer made clear his disdain for the guards and his frustration at not being able to mobilize the prisoners to disobey orders. He said that that morning, one guard had told him to fill the coffeepot with hot water in the bathroom but then another guard had dumped it out and made him fill it with cold water, admonishing him for disobeying orders. He hated this "chickenallegiance to

debrief

shit" hazing.

He

also told us of the time distortion that

events and had confused

him when he was awakened

night for interminable counts.

He

expanded and contracted several times during the

reported a mental dullness

like

a fog surround-

ing everything.

"The arbitrariness and

idiot

work by the guards grates on you."

role as informer-turned-prisoner-revolutionar}-. his

mates

for action. "Today.

I

decided to be a shitty prisoner.

sort of spirit of resistance going

others do

only

if

more

if

In his

new

he told us of his plan to energize 1

wanted

to get

some

among the prisoners. The punishment of making

any prisoner refuses

to

the others are willing to do more.

I

work

come out of his cell works make them resist. But everyone

or to

tried to

was willing to do what they were told, even to the humiliating task of

transferring

the contents of one closet to the other and back again, or cleaning the toilet bowls

with our bare hands."

David reported that nobody

is

angry with

just a crackling voice over the loudspeaker, but

guards. that

He

when

told

one of them

this job

this

me

or the warden,

who

is

mostly

he and the others are pissed

morning. "Mr. Correctional

Officer,

at

the

do you think

ends you're going to have enough time to become a

human

being again.'" For which of course he got Hole time.

He was to

upset that he failed in this attempt to get the other prisoners to refuse

keep their arms

lifted in collective

dropped down eventually, but from at

punishment

for

819's mess-up. Their arms

fatigue, not disobedience. David's frustrations

not being an effective labor organizer are evident in his report to us:

110

The Lucifer Efjecl

Communication loudly,

lines are severely limited

you can't stop

mates, but

(SI

drag and not

9

is

it.

But during

always

much

And you know

to talk to.

good time to talk to

all

kind of

talk. It's

want

'I

try to talk

at

meals,

when

my cell-

with

it

[

Jim]

is

a

would be a

the guys about not giving in so easily to the guards, like

the energy stays within you and doesn't

really ever get organized into action.

me.

I

the Hole, and the other guy, 4 32S

in

you can't

when everybody's screaming so

silent periods

I

got depressed

bug me.

to get paroled. Don't

If

when one guy

you want

tells

your

to stick out

neck, that's cool, but I'm not gonna!"^

David did not give us "actionable intelligence," such as about escape plans or

where the keys

make

ever,

to the handcuffs

were hidden. His personal

evident that a powerful force

how-

reflections did.

was operating on the minds

of the pris-

oners to suppress group action against their oppression. They had begun to focus

inward

what they had

to selfishly consider

an early

to

do singly

to survive

and maybe score

parole.

WELCOME THE NEW PRISONER ON THE BLOCK To replenish our depleted rank of prisoners, we admit a replacement, new oner number 416. This latecomer first

on the video

in the

really skinny, "all skin his rib

is

carefully stripped

and bones." as

my mother

bones from a distance of ten

he has not yet begun Arnett sprays

to realize

416

leged delousing powder.

what

is

feet.

He

in store for

slowly and systematically

On Day

many incoming

process so

soon play a remarkable

role.

We

see

pris-

him

corner of the Yard. He has come into the prison wearing a

shopping bag over his head; he

each of

will

1

this task

.

prisoners.

naked by Guard Arnett. He

is

used to say: you could count is

a rather pathetic sight,

and

him. all

over his body with the

was rushed because the guards had

Now. given ample

time. Arnett turns

it

al-

to

into

number 416 smock over his head, chains new stocking cap. \'oila! The new prisoner is ready for action. Unlike the others, who were gradually acclimated to the daily escalations of arbitrary and hostile guard behavior. 416 is being thrust into this a special cleansing ritual. his ankle,

and tops him

crucible of I

madness

He

off

pulls the

with a

headfirst with

was stunned by the

no time

arrest procedure.

for

adjustment.

As a standby. was never booked by I

the police, as the others had been. Called by a secretary to get

and report

to the lobby of the

really pleased to gel the job. glad ber, these

1

had gotten a chance

came out and

after

and

1

had

to stand lor a while

1

told

papers

do

it.

job.]

I

was

(RememAs

I

was

him my name, he immediately

my

head, brought

with

my hands on

handcuffed me. put a paper bag over stairs

to

volunteers were being paid for two weeks on the

waiting, a guard

my

Psychology Department before noon.

me down

a flight of

the wall, spread ea-

.

Wednesday

I

able,

but

I

Spiraling Out of Control

111

had no idea what was going on. I think that I accepted being miser-

gled.

and

Is

it

was much worse than I had expected.

decided that

would stay as mentally removed

I

I

didn't expect to

and deloused and struck on

right off be stripped

from, the

guards as I could

while watching the other prisoners playing these social games. myself, that

I

will

do

I

said to

my best to keep out of that, but as time went on.

my reasons for being here.

got

come in

my legs with a baton.

come

I'd

in with reasons, like

it'll

money. Suddenly, 416 has been transformed into a prisoner

I

for-

make me

—and one

who is extremely dazed and upset.^ "Amazing Grace":

Key of Irony

In the

The new prisoner arrives just in time to hear Arnett dictating a letter that the prisoners must send to their prospective visitors for the next Visiting Night. As the

guard reads out the

text,

they write

out on the prison stationery provided. Then

it

he asks each of them to repeat parts of

it

One formula letter as dictated says:

aloud.

Dear Mother, I've

been having a marvelous time. The food

lots of

is

great and there's always

fun and games. The officers have treated

me very well. They are all

swell guys.

You would

And that may be.

heaven.

put the

like

name

them. Mother.

No need

to visit,

it's

seventh

there that your mother gave you, whatever

Yours

truly.

Your Loving Son

Guard Markus

collects

them

mailing

all for later

—

after,

of course,

first

screening them for forbidden information or incendiary complaints. The prisoners put

them

—

up with such nonsense because after a relative

visits

have become so important to

few days without seeing family and

friends.

That link to the

other world needs to be maintained as an assurance that this basement world

not

all

there

is

is.

New trouble starts to percolate around a problem with the door lock in Cell 1 who shamelessly bummed a cigarette from the priest earlier

5704, the wise guy today, keeps

In silky

opening the door to show that he

smooth

style.

Guard Arnett

across the wall to connect

Boy Scout merit badge rings the rope

for

it

to Cell 2.

knot tying.

opened from

free to

and

go in and out at any time.

it around the bars and He does so methodically, as if it were for a He whistles the "Blue Danube Waltz" as he

around the bars of one

either from being

is

gets a rope

inside.

cell

and back

ties

to the other cell to prevent

Arnett whistles well. John Landry comes

into view, using his billy club to twist the rope taut.

The two guards smile approv-

"

1

1

"

The Lucifer Effect

2

ingly at

Now no one can go in to or out of those two

each other for a job well done. the guards have figured out

cells until

how

to fix that defective lock,

which 5704

probably broke.

"No

cigarettes for you.

going to be in solitary Rich-1()37

yells

5704. as long as the

when you

door

cell

blockaded. You're

is

get out."

out threateningly from Cell

have a weapon!"

2. "I

We can

Arnett challenges him: "You don't have a weapon.

get that cell

open

anytime we want.

Someone

calls out,

"He has a needle!

him

"That's not a very good thing for

and duly punish him." Landry pounds to

remind them of who

who

most smashing the hands of one of the prisoners, Then, as fire

in the rebellion in the

extinguisher with

and Markus push

its

will

have to confiscate

hard on the doors of

morning of Day

2,

pulls

back

their clubs into the cell bars to keep the inmates

Cell 2. al-

to spray the

Cell 2.

Landry

away from the

barred opening, but a prisoner in Cell 2 steals one of their clubs away. They start

mocking the guards.

it

the cells

just in time.

John Landry begins

carbon dioxide exhaust into

skin-chilling

all

adds his slam on the bars of

in charge. Arnett

is

We

to have.

his club

all

New bedlam is about to break out now that the prison-

weapon.

ers have a

Arnett maintains his cool demeanor, and. after some discussion, the guards

arrange to take a lock from a vacant it's

office

a one-way street in the last analysis,

tells

them

it's

and

install

just a

on

it

matter of

Eventually the guards triumph again: forcing their

chances. They

tic

him up hands and

dumping him

This uprising

416. the is

how

long

takes."

it

he

patiently.

hauling big bad boy 5704 back into

before

men.

Cell 1. "Actually,

new

guy.

feet,

solitary.

using their cord taken off the

the privilege of lunch for

He has had only

a

cup of

hungry and has done nothing but look on

Would be

lunch, the prisoners are solitary but

into both cells

and

cell

doors,

into the Hole.

forfeits

unfold around him.

way

This time they are taking no

all

coffee in

all

and a cookie

amazement

nice to eat something

lined

the prisoners. Too bad for

up against the

warm, he

wall. Paul- 5

remains bound up and helpless lying on the

for breakfast.

He

as these bizarre events thinks. Instead of

704

is

hauled out of

floor of the Yard.

He

is

on

display as a lesson against further thoughts of rebellion.

Guard Markus orders everyone to sing while doing jumping jacks, of "Row. Row.

Row Your

Arnett

tells "

ups. 4 Ht

is

rize this.

4

once was

them. "We're

As the

just

singled out for his 1

f).

Arnett

first

assume the

position

resists the

on the

public notice: "Here you go.

Amazing Grace, How sweet the sound,

now

Amazing Grace.'

"

going to do one verse. I'm not going to strain God's

rest of tl]e prisoners

blind, but

tunc

Boat."

"Since you guys are in such good voice, we're going to sing

credulity

to the

"S'ou

to save a

floor for

better

wretch

push-

memo-

like

me.

I

"

1

see. in

the

first

hour since God. I'm

correction about "in the

first

free.'

hour since God" that Paul-

Wednesday

5704

offers

him from

might not be exactly changes the

plicably

Arnett.

who

the

Is

"That's the

floor.

but that's the

it.

knows he

Grace" once through, and whistles

him

in a nice,

it

way the

last line to "since

obviously

113

Spiraling Out of Control

way

you're going to do

you're going to do

first

hour

I've

That

it.

Then he

it."

seen God. I'm

line

inex-

free."

is

a good whistler, then whistles "Amazing

all

again in perfect tune. Prisoners applaud

spontaneous gesture of appreciation

for his talent, despite despising

him for his attitude and assorted cruelt}' against them. As Guards Landry and Markus lounge back on the table, the prisoners sing the song, but clearly they are out of key and out of unison. .Arnett is upset: "Did we scrape these people up from the SLxth Street ghetto in San Francisco, or something.' Lets hear

it

again." Trou-

blemaker 5704 makes another attempt to correct the inaccurate wording, but

make

Arnett uses the opportunity to

and

his point loud

matter

it's

if

everybody

Amazing

UTong, because the guards are always

push-up

else in the

Grace.' as

I

position.

have dictated

clear: "Of

Amazing

a discrepancy here: you're to do the prison version of

right.

course there

Grace.'

It

is

does not

416. you stand up.

416. while they do push-ups. you sing

it."

moved to center stage by Arnett, who isolates him from the other prisoners and forces him to perform a mindless task. The video captures this saddest of moments as the scrawny new Only a few hours

after

being imprisoned. 41 6

is

prisoner sings in a high-pitched voice this song of spiritual freedom. His slackened

shoulders and

dowmward glance make

worsens when he

is

evident his extreme discomfort, which

corrected and has to repeat the song while the others are

up and down and up and

forced to keep pushing

.

.

.

the irony of being ordered to

sing a song of freedom in this oppressive atmosphere

cadence

for

mindless push-ups

not

is

lost

where

his

on 416. He vows not

song provides the to be

crushed by

Arnett or any other guard. It is

tic

to get

not clear

him

why Arnett has

singled

him out

this way.

into the pressure cooker faster. Alternatively,

thing about 416's shabby and scrawny appearance that

who

Maybe it's just a tacmaybe there is some-

is

offensive to a

guard

lends to be meticulous and always well turned out.

"Now

that you are in a singing

Boat' while everyone

on

is

their

mood. 416

back with

legs

up

so that 5704's loved one. Richard Nixon, can hear up. Up! Up! Let's hear Life is

it

a few

can sing "Prison

life is

still

want

it

Row Your

loud enough

wherever the fuck he

is.

Legs

times, especially emphasizing that last line.

Return of the T\'

hanging on

to the ironic

but a dream." The prisoners are

at this point, their chests

heaving with each word.

moment, asks

literally

Life

here

if

they

screaming the

is

ever stranger.

Cameraman

we had a visit from the T\' cameraman from local San KRON. He was sent down to do a brief follow-up on his Sunday which had sparked some interest at the station. I restricted him to shooting

Sometime

this

afternoon

Francisco station shoot,

it.

I

but a dream."

Prisoner Hubbie-72 58.

song

more

Row.

will sing 'Row. in the air.

114

The Lucifer Effect

behind

Ironi

i)ur

window and to talking only with the warden and me the study. I did not want to have external interference upset-

observation

about the progress of

dynamic

ting the

meshed

was emerging between the prisoners and the guards.

that

wasn't able to see the

TV

coverage he

many more

in too

made

we were

that night, because

urgent matters that took our

attention

full

all

I

en-

— and then

some."

GOOD

FAREWELL, DAY SHIFT, "Time is

to get ready for

Sunday

EVENING, NIGHT SHIFT

services." Arnett tells the prisoners, even

only Wednesday. "Everyone get in a circle and hold hands,

mony.

Say. 'Hi.

though

it

like a religious cere-

416. I'm your buddy. 5704.' Then each of you welcome your

new

comrade."

They continue these greetings around the tender ceremony.

I

am

circle in

what amounts

to a very

surprised that Arnett thought to include this sensitive

communal activity. But then he goes and spoils it by having everyone skip around in a circle singing "Ring Around the Rosy. " with 416 standing alone in the center of the sorry circle.

Before leaving for the day. Arnett throws in one

Landry takes over dictating how shakes his head in disbelief at

it

be sung.

will

more count,

It is

416's

first

which John

in

count, and he

how the others follow every command

in

unison. Arnett continues his dehumanizing treatment until the very

haunting

last

minute

of his shift time. "I've

visitors

had enough of

go back to your

this,

cage.

Clean up your

come, they won't be nauseated by the sight of

Amazing

He

it."

cells so

when

leaves whistling

Grace.'

As

a parting shot, he adds. "See ya. folks. See ya tomorrow,

Landry adds

his

two

my

fans." cents: "I

want you

the time they spent with you today."

Landry

rectional Officers." John

them shout

it

is

They

to

thank your correctional

give a reluctant

officers for

"Thank you. Mr. Cor-

not buying that "shitty thank-you" and

makes

louder as he strides off the Yard along with Markus and Arnett. As

they exit stage right,

in

comes the night

shift,

Wayne and

featuring John

his eager

crew.

The new

prisoner. 4

1

I

was

I

had done something

was

terrified

by each

to get out as

6. later told

us about his fear of the guards:

new

guards.

soon as

possible.

the vaguest possibility of gists

and not by the

shift of

Stale.

it.

1

And

met

That

That

that

I

knew

this

is

what you

was

by the

first

study

My

evening that priority

first

did in prison

if

you had

a real prison, run by psycholo-

this challenge

to refuse to eat anything, to get sick is llu- piitn

I

foolish to volunteer for this

by going on a hunger

and they would have

strike,

to release

stuck to no matter what the consequences.'*

416.

Wednesday

115

Spiraling Out of Control

Is

now very hungry, 416 followed his plan to refuse

At dinner, although he was to eat anything.

Hellmann: "Hey guys, we got nice hot sausages

416

(glibly):

"Not

Hellmann: "That

for is

me.

sir. I

refuse to eat

for

your dinner tonight."

any food you give me."

a rule violation, for which you will be punished accord-

ingly."

416:

"It

does not matter,

I

there,

and Burdan

insists that

others finish dinner.

your sausages."

will not eat

As punishment, Hellmann puts 416

into the Hole, for his

he hold each of the sausages

416 has

to

and

sit

first

in his

of

many visits

hands. After the

stare at his food, a plate of

two cold

sausages. This unexpected act of rebelfion infuriates the night shift guards and especially

Hellmann.

who had thought

that tonight everything

was under

strict

control and would be flowing smoothly after last night's problems were resolved.

Now this just

"pain in the ass"

when it seemed as if

is

making

Hellmann: "You don't want take those sausages

want me

and cram that up your

stoic,

Hellmann realizes eration:

"Now,

staring that

listen here.

down

"I

Hear

incite the others to rebel,

it is

what you

that

ass.^ Is

want.^

me

to

Do you

ass.^"

expressionless at the plate of sausages.

time to put the divide-and-conquer tactic into op-

416.

you do not eat your sausages, that

if

prisoner insubordination that will result in tonight.

and might

two stinking sausages.^ You want

to eat

and cram them up your

to take that

416 remains

trouble

they were totally dominated and submissive.

all

is

an

act of

prisoners being deprived of visitors

that.'"

am sorry to hear that. My personal actions should have no consequences

for the others."

416

replies in

an imperious manner.

"They are not personal but prisoner reactions, and

I

will

determine the con-

sequences!" shouts Hellmann.

Burdan brings out Hubbie- 72 58 says, "Just eat

to

persuade 416 to eat his sausages. 7258

your sausages, okay.?" Burdan adds.

ues, pleading that the prisoners

"Tell

him why." 72 58

won't get visiting hours

if

contin-

he doesn't eat the

sausages.

"Don't you care about

that.? Just

'cause you don't got no friends. ... Eat for

the prisoners, not for the guards, okay.?" Burdan throws in this uppercut. pitting

416

against the other prisoners.

Prisoner Hubbie-72 58 continues talking to 416. gently trying to get eat the sausages because his girlfriend.

MaryAnn.

is

about to

visit

him

to

him soon, and

he would hate to be denied that privilege because of a few lousy sausages. Burdan continues to assume more of Hellmann's demeanor in his domineering style and substance:

"416, what's your problem.? Answer me. boyl Yeah, what's your problem.?"

416

begins to explain that he

treatment and contract violations.

is

on a hunger

strike to protest the abusive

6

1

116

The Uuilcr

"What the

has that got to do with the sausages? Well, what?" Burdan

hell

and slams

furious

down on

his club

echoes around the Yard walls

"Answer

my

question,

why

"You

tell

me

is it

don't you eat those sausages,^" 1

6 continues to

statement. Burdan never heard of

416 breaks

the tabic with such a resounding thud that

menacing reverberations.

in

In a barely audible voice. 4

son.

Kffi'ct

Mahatma

make a Gandhi nonviolent protest

(landhi and insists on a better rea-

the connection between those two things.

don't see

I

it."

Then

the illusion, reminding those within earshot that the guards are vio-

he signed w^hen he volunteered

lating the contract

stunned that

this

reminder

is

ignored by them

all.

for this experiment.

The guards are now

am

(1

totally ab-

sorbed in their illusory prison.) "I

damn

don't give a

cause you deserve

it.

about any contract!" Burdan

416. That's

how you

the law. This ain't no nursery school.

those

still

416 not going

without a bed on the to take a

swing

of his

at

floor tonight.

nursery school.'" Burdan

in a

happy boy when

to be a

However, just as

416. he turns away

it

has

his cellmate

seems that Burdan

in a fury. Instead,

hand and orders 416. "Get back

you broke

place,

why you don't eat nursery school. 4 6? Do you ex-

around breaking the law and wind up

rants on about

first

don't understand

damn sausages. Did you expect this to be a

pect to go

palm

I

"You're in here be-

yells.

got in here in the

he slaps

into that Hole."

to sleep is

about

his club into the

416 now knows

the

way.

Burdan bangs

his

sound that reverberates for his

denying your

Jerry,

"Now each of you door "with

closet

w^ho does so unwillingly. Hubbie- 72 58

expected twist of his

also

thank 41

by banging on the Hole and saying 'Thank you.'

banging on the

so.

making a deafening

against the door of the Hole,

inside that dark closet.

visitors

Each prisoner does 5486.

fists

is

"

relish." except for

extremely angry by this un-

fate.

point. Hellmann pulls 416 out of the Hole, still gripping He then runs another tormenting count singlehandedly. not Burdan a chance to participate. Good Guard Landry is nowhere in

To underscore the the two sausages.

even giving sight.

Here

41

to defuse to suffer

is

Hellmann's chance to break any 6's potential

emergence as a

possibility of prisoner solidarity

rebellious hero.

"Now you

because this prisoner refuses to do a simple thing

no good reason.

It

would be

different

what you think about him. Some "

if

say.

all

and

are going

like eat his dinner, for

he was a vegetarian.

Tell

him

to his face

"Don't be so stupid": others accuse him of

being childish.

That was not good enough

A

for

"John

Wayne

"

":

"rell

him

that he

is

a pussy.*

few of them obey, but not Sarge. As a matter of principle. Sarge refuses to

use any obscenity. Now. with two of them defying Hellmann

Hellman turns Ihat he

is

his

wrath

against Sarge. haras.sing

him

an "asshole" and. worse, insisting that he

at

the

same

time.

mercilessly, yelling at

call

416a

"bastard."

him

Wednesday

tors

Is

117

Spiraling Out of Control

The harsh count continues unabated for an hour, stopping only when visiare at the door. I come on the Yard and make it clear to the guards that visit-

ing hours

must be honored. They are not pleased with

power domain but reluctantly acquiesce. There

this intrusion into their

always the post-visitor time

is

for

them to continue breaking down prisoner resistance. Obedient Prisoners Get Visitors

Two

more obedient

of the

prisoners,

Hubbie-7258 and Sarge-2093, who have have them

friends or relatives in the vicinity, are allowed to

visit for

a short time

7258 is deliriously happy when his pretty girlfriend arrives to see him. She is giving him news about their other friends, and he is listening intently, holding his head in his two hands. All the while. Burdan is sitting above them on this evening.

the table, routinely banging his small white

billy club.

(We had

to return the big

dark ones we had borrowed from the local police department). Burdan

is

obvi-

ously taken with her beauty and breaks into their conversation frequently with

questions and comments.

Hubble

tells

that bad in here

Mary Ann that it is important to "Try to keep yourself up, if

7258

(laughing): "Yes, they are intrudes: "Well, they

"I

making me."

had a

escape attempt."

little

heard about that."

Girlfriend: "I

7258:

not

you cooperating.^"

Girlfriend: "Are

Burdan

it's

you just cooperate."

didn't enjoy the rest of this

day

at

all.

We do not have anything: no

bed.

no nothing." He

kets

and other nasty chores. Nevertheless, he remains upbeat and smiles and

tells

holds her hand for the

returns to his lonely

full

her about having to clean out stickers from dirty blan-

ten-minute visit. Burdan escorts her out as the prisoner

cell.

The other prisoner granted a bragging about his

total

visitor

command

is

Sarge,

have the rules memorized. The most basic rule Dad: "Can they

tell

you

to

whose

father

comes

by.

Sarge

of the rules. "There are seventeen rules ... is

that

is I

you obey the guards."

do amithing?"

Sarge: "Yes. Well, almost anything."

Dad: "And what right do they have to do ing distress at his son's plight.

much

like

is

that.^"

down

He rubs

his forehead in

the second visitor to be clearly upset.

the mother of Prisoner Rich-1()37

given that he broke sterner

He

—who was

seem-

He

is

right to be concerned,

the next day. Nevertheless. Sarge appears to be

made of

stuff.

Sarge: "They're in charge of the running of the prison."

Dad asks about has no civil rights." Dad: "We//.

ment

to

Burdan.

/

civil rights,

and then Burdan jumps

think that thcii do. maifbe ..."

who

is

(We

not afraid of this civilian.)

in

— very harshly: "He

can't hear clearly his argu-

118

The Lucifer Effect

Burdan: "People

Dad

have no

in prison

"Only ten minutes." Burdan

The five

how

(exasperated): "Anyu^ay.

father disputes the

in this prison, replies

we have to talk

here?"

replies.

amount

more minutes. Dad would

civil rights."

long do

like

of time

more

left.

privacy.

Burdan

That

is

relents

and

gives

them

not permitted for visitors

Burdan. Dad gets even more upset, but remarkably, he too

goes by the rules and accepts this infringement on his rights by a kid playacting

being a guard!

Dad asks more about the and

chores,

Dad:

lights-out.

what you expected

"Is this

Sarge:

expected

"I

In disbelief.

Burdan

it

now

Dad exclaims:

to be.'"

"Worse.'

interjects himself again.

there are only

it

to be worse."

wanted presence. The guard but

Sarge talks about counts, "exercising."

rules.

five.

tells

The

Why worse.'"

The father is now clearly annoyed by

him

un-

father asks why.

"Two have been paroled and two

Sarge:

his

that there were originally nine prisoners

maximum security."'^

are in

"Maximum security where.'" He doesn't really know. Dad asks why they Dad:

are in

maximum security.

Sarge: "They were disciplinary problems. Very dispositional."

Burdan responds Dad: "Do you

at the

feel like

same time: "Because they were

bad."

you're in a prison.'"

Sarge (laughing, sidesteps a direct answer): "Well.

I've

never been in a prison

(Dad laughs.)

before."

They are alone when Burdan runs While he

is

off in

response to a loud noise outside.

gone, they talk about Sarge's

coming up

for parole,

which he

is

sure he will get because he has been the most obedient prisoner to date. However.

he

still

has a major concern:

"I

don't

know what

the criteria are for getting out

on

parole."

"Time's up." Geoff Landry announces. Father and son stand up. about to

hug. but

settle instead for a firm,

Homophobia Rears

When

I

his head!

wall, while

asks 5 704

who

is

yelling at Sarge.

and Burdan

has been almost anonymous,

is

chair on his head

—

it

him not

see troublemaker

of the old

spunk seems

to look so stupid

on the Hole door with

his club.

and

to

chiming

is

in.

A

chair on

Good Prisoner

standing passively against the is

back

in solitary.

Hellmann

was he who ordered him

The prisoner answers meekly that he all

I

the center of the Yard holding a chair on his head.

72 58 does push-ups. Apparently. 416

looks dejected:

you soon."

Ugly Head

why he has that

like a hat.

tells

in

Hellmann

Jerry- 5486.

dan

a "See

return from a quick dinner at the student cafeteria.

5704 standing

it

Its

manly handshake and

is

to

wear

simply following orders.

He

have drained away from 5704. Bur-

to put the chair

away Then Burdan bangs

"You having a good lime

in there. 416.'"

I

"

)

Wednesda)'

It is

time for Hellmann to take over as director of tonight

moves Burdan the

119

Spiraling Out of Control

Is

aside.

s

drama. He

literally

(No sight of Good Guard Geoff Landry on the Yard following

visits.

"While you got your hands in the stein.

72 58. why don't you play Franken-

air.

209 3. you can be the Bride of Frankenstein, you stand right

"You go over there." he says

Sarge asks whether he should act "Of course you should act be Frankenstein.

I

want you

it

to

here."

to Sarge.

out.

it

out.

You be the Bride of Frankenstein. 72 58. you

walk over here

like

Frankenstein walks, and say

that you /m'e 2093."

As 72 58

starts to

walk toward

Burdan

his bride.

"That ain"t no Frankenstein walk.

him

stops

in his tracks.

We didn't ask you to walk like you."

Hellmann grabs Hubbie-7258 by the arm very

aggressiveh". pulls

him

back,

and makes him walk the proper Frankenstein walk. 7258: "I love you. 2093." "Get up close! Get up close!" Shouts Burdan.

72 58

is

now inches away from Sarge.

Hellmann pushes them

together, his

"I

love you.

209 3."

hands on each

of their backs until their

bodies are touching. x\gain.

Hubbie-Frankenstein-7258 sa\s.

rates Sarge for smiling. "Did get

down and do

tell

I

smock

you that you could

lifts,

still

This

is

be-

You

not funny

stretched out in front of him, back to the

revealing part of his genitals. Sarge

prisoner. Jerry- 548 6. that

gets

"Are you smiling.-

told to tell the other

is

he loves him: he complies reluctanth:

"Well, ain't that sweet.- Ain't that sweet.-"

Hellmann now

him

smile.-

ten push-ups!"

With Prisoner 7258's arms wall, his

209 3." Hellmann

love you.

"I

up

in the face of

Maybe you

love

mocks Burdan.

5486.

him

too.

Would you go over

there

and

tell

so.'

Jerry-5486 does so without hesitation but says

Hellmann

is

quietly,

"2093.

1

love you."

careening wildly from prisoner to prisoner with his verbal

at-

tacks.

"Put your arms down. 72 58. That's

"Now

all

of

why you

stink so

you stinking prisoners get down on the

much."

tloor.

you're gonna play

leapfrog."

They

start to play the

clogs are falling off

they

and

game

their

jump over the bent bodies

seems a

bit

5704

of their fellows.

uncomfortable with

or too gay for his tastes. to play together.

but are having difficulty because their shower

smocks are creeping up

this

Hellmann

game. Perhaps he

simplifies the

They continue

to expose their genitals as

They can't do

it

right,

game, directing only 2093 and

to try to leapfrog, as

Burdan emits

groans.

The homoerotic game

is

and Burdan

tinds the action too sexual

having a perverse impact on Hellmann.

little

1

20

The Lucifer Effect

way dogs do it.

"That's the ain't he,

isn't it? Isn't that

standing behind you. doggy style?

When

the

way dogs do it? He's all ready,

Why don't you make like a dog?"

Prisoner Paul-57()4 had brought up complaints of guards has-

tall

sling prisoners.

I'll

bet that the

head of the Stanford County

Prisoners' Griev-

Jail

ance Committee never imagined that the guards' insulting abuse would ever descend to

this level.

been asked

He

clearly upset,

is

do would be "a

to

little

obscene."

Hellmann takes that remark as a obscene

too.

and he tells John Wayne that what he has

slap in the face:

"I

think your face

is

a

little

Why don't you just play leapfrog and shut up."

Geoff Landry

onto the scene, standing directly behind 5704 and

drifts

watching everything. He

obviously interested in this turn of events, but he

is

keeps his hands in his pockets to maintain his neutrality and pose of indifference.

He is not wearing his anonymity-enhancing sunglasses, even though the warden told him to do so. "I'm sorry to offend the better nature of this sensitive prisoner." Hellmann says with derision.

Burdan succeeds

in

ending

this

game, which he has found

the beginning. "I'm tired of this game, this

more

traditional

is

don't know,

"Why

is it

Sarge

is

you

NEW MORAL

He walks up and down the

bored.

he whirls around and turns "I

distasteful

They

from

revert to their

game, the count.

SARGE REVEALS A Hellmann

ridiculous."

is

his

line of

IDENTITY weary

prisoners. Suddenly

wrath on Sarge: "Why are you such a

ass-licker?"

sir."

try to be obedient so

much?"

not afraid of him and plays the game:

"It's in

my

nature to be obedi-

ent. Mr. Correctional Officer."

"You are a "If

You are

liar.

you say

so.

a stinkin'

liar."

Mr. Correctional Officer."

Hellmann becomes ever more obscene, maybe aroused by the previous sexual games: "What

if

I

you

told

to get

down on that

floor

and fuck the

floor,

what would

you do then?" "I

would

"What

if

icll I

you

told

1

know how. Mr. Correctional Officer." come over here and hit your friend S7{)4

didn't

you

to

in the face as

hard as you could?" Sarge holds his ground:

"1

am afraid

1

would be unable

to

do

that. Mr. Correc-

tional Officer."

Hellmann tim.

and turns away, only to the Hole.

1

6.

don't you go anywhere!"

to spin

Hellmann.

got something right here for everyone.

"I

4

scoffs

As he opens the door

about and turn on a

like a

Why don't

new

vic-

carnival pitchman, shouts.

you take a look

at this

man?

"

Wednesday

416 are

Is

and guards who

blinks out of the darkness at the assembled prisoners

He is holding a sausage in each hand! Burdan: "How come you holdin* on to your sausages. 416?"

all

looking at him.

"He hasn't

down

breaking

for the rest of

ate

no sausages

yet."

Helimann

says, his usually

as

you?"

"That's right,

it

means no

in the negative.

blankets tonight for

"No blanket tonight." of you!

all

him

time and try to say something to 41 6 to get

start

good grammar

he becomes more emotional. "And you know what that means

The prisoners respond knowingly at a

121

Spiraling Out of Control

Come over here one

to eat those sausages. Let's

with you. 5486."

The prisoner walks "You eat those sausages

to the door, looks

you want

if

"I

416

in the eyes

and

him

tells

gently.

416."

him to do something. 5486." Burdan

ad-

guess you don't want your blankets tonight. Next up. 72 58. you

tell

way to

"That's sure a half-assed

monishes.

to. tell

him." In sharp contrast to the

"Eat your sausages. 416. or

Helimann

is

first

I'll

prisoner in

line.

72 58

yells at

the rebel inmate.

kick your ass!"

pleased at the expression of inmate enmity, and he grins from

more like it! 5486. you come over here and do it again. Tell him you gonna kick his ass if he don't eat those sausages." He now meekly complies. "2093. come over here and tell him you're gonna ear to ear. "Now. that's

kick his ass."

Sarge makes a moving statement:

word toward another human "Just "I

what do you

object to the

Helimann what the

hell are

Sarge

the

is

sorry,

will

not use a profane

him

'Kick?'

you

to say "ass." but his tricks don't work.

You don't wanna say

talkin'

"kick.' is

that

what

but Helimann cuts him

becoming frustrated by Sarge's

"Now. you get over there and

is?

Then

off: "I

gave you an order!"

refusal to follow his orders. For

tell

shown he has backbone and him what I told you to tell him."

Sarge continues to apologize but remains firm. I

it

about?"

time, the seemingly mindless robot has

first

Officer.

sir. I

object to?"

tries to clarify himself,

Helimann

am

word that you used."

tries to get

"Which word?

"I

being."

"I

am sorry.

soul.

Mr. Correctional

am not capable of doing it."

"Well, you're not capable of having a bed tonight,

is

that

what you want

to

say?"

Standing his ground. Sarge makes clear his values:

without a bed than to say that. Mr. Correctional

Helimann Sarge. as

is

steaming.

would

prefer to go

He paces a few steps away and then turns back toward to whack him for his insubordination in front of

though he were going

this entire audience.

"I

Officer.

"

122

The Lucifer Effect

Ci(K)d

Ciuard Geoff Landry sensing the eruption, offers a compromise: "Go

him

over and say you're gonna kick

in the end. then."

He then walks over and

"Yes. Mr. Correctional Officer." says Sarge.

416. "Eat your sausages or

Landry

asks,

"Do you mean

it.?"

"Yes ... no. Mr. Correctional Officer. I'm sorry.

Burdan asks why "I

did

Burdan

I

don't

mean

it."

he's lying.

what the correctional

Hellmann comes

says to

kick you in the end."

I'll

officer told

me to say.

sir."

to the defense of his fellow officer:

realizes that

high moral ground and

Sarge it

getting the upper

is

"He didn't

tell

hand by holding

you

to lie."

fast to his

could have an effect on the others. He deftly turns

things around and down: "Nobody wants you to do any lying in here. 2093. So

why don't you do some lying on the ground." He makes Sarge lie on the floor facedown with his arms spread out. "Now start giving us some push-ups from your position." Hellmann After

"5704, you go over and

joins in:

more

such a position. Sarge

is

strong enough to do

"And don't help him.

He

the other way."

sit

on

his back."

HeUmann on how he

direction from

Now do a push-up.

hesitates. "Let's go.

should do push-ups from

so.

5486. you

on top of

sit

his back,

on

his

back

too. facing

now!" He complies.

Together the guards force Sarge to do a push-up with both prisoners 5486

and 5704 with

all

sitting

his

He strains to of this

on

his

back (they do so without any hesitation). Sarge struggles

might and pride

to complete a

raise himself

from the

eating his sausages

Sarge. but

41

6's

stubborn resistance against

of greater immediate consequence to these guards. Hell-

is

intones: "I just don't understand a thing like those sausages. 416.

understand nice,

cycle.

then collapses under the weight

human burden. The devilish duo bursts into laugher, making fun of Sarge.

They are not quite done humiliating

mann

push-up

floor but

don't

how we can have so many counts and so many good times, we do it so

and tonight we

just fuck

it

up.

Why is that.?"

While Hellmann seeks a simple answer. Burdan about the sausages, trying another

know you'd

1

like

soft-sell tactic:

is

quietly talking with 4

"How do they taste?

6

1

Mmmm:

I

'em once you tasted 'em."

Hellmann repeats

his question

more

loudly, in case

any one has not heard

it:

"Why do we have so many good counts and then you try iofiick up tonight}" As Hellmann goes down the line for explicit answers. 72 58 responds. "I don't know:

1

guess we're

Sarge answers.

Hellmann

just bastards. Mr. "I

seizes

real)y

upon another chance

torious subordination: "Arc "If

you say

"If

I

sav

so.'

so. I

Correctional Oflicer."

wouldn't know. Mr. Correctional

ifoii

to get

a bastard.'""

Mr. Correctional Officer."

want

i/o//

to say

it."

back

at

Officer.

Sarge

for his earlier vic-

"

Wednesday Sarge

not say

is

123

Spiraling Out of Control

"Vm sorry sir. I object to the use of the language. Sir.

steadfast:

I

can-

it."

Burdan jumps beings.

Is

2093. But

"You

in:

this

Sarge counters.

is

just said

you couldn't say that

a different question.

consider myself a

"I

You

can't say

stuff to other it

human

to yourself.^"

human being, sir." human being.'"

Burdan: "You consider yourself another

made the statement that I could not say it to another human being."

Sarge: "I

Burdan: "And that includes yourself?" Sarge replies in an even, measured, carefully phrased way. as though in a college debate,

and

in this situation,

"The statement

says.

think of saying

and then

to

it

trails off

initially

where he has been the

would not have included

myself The reason

is

that because

target of such abuse,

myself,

I

sir.

would be

I

would not

..."

He

sighs

mumbling, becoming emotionally battered.

Hellmann: "So that means you would be a bastard, wouldn't

— Sarge: "No. Mr.

you.'"

Hellmann: "Yes. you would!" Sarge: "Yes.

if

you say

so,

Mr. Correctional Officer."

Burdan: "You'd be saying very nasty things about your mother, that's what you'd be doing.

209 3."

Burdan obviously wants

game

a piece of the action, but

Hellmann wants to run the

himself and does not appreciate his sidekick's intrusions.

Hellmann: "What would you

be.'

What would you

be.'

Would you be

a bas-

tard?"

Sarge: "Yes. Mr. Correctional Officer."

me hear you say it."

Hellmann: "Well,

let

Sarge: "I'm sorry,

sir. I

Hellmann:

will

not say

it."

"Why the hell won't you say it.-"

Sarge: "Because

I

do not use any profane language."

Hellmann: "Well, why did you apply Sarge:

"I

it

to yourself.' W^hat are you.^"

am whatever you wish me to be.

Hellmann: "Well,

know something say so. Then why

if

you say

— then you

just

don't you say

Sarge: "I'm sorry,

sir. I

it. if

w\\\

Mr. Correctional Officer."

you say that you are a bastard

proved

my

point.

—you wanna

That you was a bastard. You

it.'"

not say

Hellmann senses that he has

lost

it."

another challenge, and he reverts to the

divide-and-conquer tactic that has proven so effective before: "Now. boys, you

wanna

get a

They

good night's sleep tonight, don't you.'"

all say.

"Yes. sir!"

I think we gonna wait a little bit. to let 2093 think about what a bastard he is. And then maybe he'll tell the rest of us that he thinks so."

Hellmann: "Well.

just

(This is an unexpected power struggle between the most controlling, powerhungry guard and the prisoner who until now has been a totally obedient pris-

124

The Lucifer Effect

oner, so

much so that he is ridiculed

dislike as

He

they

whom most prisoners and guards

as "Sarge."

have considered him to be nothing more than a military robot.

all

proving that he has another admirable facet to his character: he

is

is

a

man

of

principle.)

Sarge:

"I

think you are perfectly accurate in your condemnation of me. Mr.

Correctional Officer."

Hellmann: "Oh, Sarge: "But.

I

"I

know

that."

cannot say the word. Mr. Correctional

Hellmann: "Say Sarge:

I

Hellmann: "Well, 5704: "Yes. he

glorif be! Yes,

joy:

it!"

believe we've got a winner."

"I

to

have

won

to

bed tonight,

a partial victory.

who knows.^"

Hellmann has

"just for swearing.

to

2093. you

demonstrate the get

down on

the

and do ten push-ups."

floor

Sarge:

"Thank you. Mr. Correctional

push-up form, despite

"209

Now in for

3.

Officer."

he says as he executes perfect

his obvious exhaustion.

Burdan. upset that Sarge can ups:

said

did. Mr. Correctional Officer."

power he commands,

arbitrary

"He

indeed! Did he say that. 5704.'"

Burdan: "These boys might even get

Not content

bastard.'

cannons, parade music sounds.

Burdan shouts out with unbridled

Hellmann:

"

any meaning, the word

shall not say. with

Bells, whistles,

Officer."

w^hat.'"

perform so

still

where do you think you

well, derides

even perfect push-

Boot camp.^"

are.^

laid-back Geoff Landry chimes in from the chair he has been lounging

the past hour: "Do ten more." For the spectators he adds. "Do the rest of you

think those are good push-ups.'"

They answer.

Landry shows an odd display of authority,

"Yes. they are." Big

perhaps to assure himself that he "Well you're wrong.

209

3.

still

do

has some

five

in the eyes of the prisoners.

more."

Sarge's account of this confrontation

is

framed

in a

curiously impersonal

style:

The guard ordered mv the same.

to call

another prisoner a 'bastard.* and

The former would never I

do. the latter of

a logical paradox denying the validity of the former.

call

myself

which would produce

He began

as he always

does before "punishments." alluding to the hint in his vocal intonation that the others

would be punished

for

my

actions. In order to avoid their

punishment and avoid obeying that command. uould solve both by saying. ingful

way

Sarge

is

toady he

"

gi\'ing

emerging as

initially

seemed

"I

will not

both he aiui myself a a

I

produced a reaction that

use the word bastard in any mean-

way

out.'"

man of considerable principle,

to be. Later,

he

mind-set he adopted as a prisoner in this

tells

not the blindly obedient

us .something interesting about the

.setting:

Wednesday

When

I

entered the prison

My philosophy of

myself.

tion of character

I

Is

125

Spiraling Out of Control

determined to be m\^self as closely as

was not

prison

on the part

to

of fellow prisoners or myself,

causing anyone punishments because of

I

know

cause or add to the deteriora-

and

to avoid

my actions.

THE POWER OF SAUSAGE SYMBOLISM Why have those two shriveled, filthy sausages become so important.' For 41 6. sausages represent challenging an

control and cannot be forced to do otherviise. In so doing, he

dominance. For the guards. 416's refusal violation of the rule that prisoners

must

at

eat at mealtimes

and only

it is

power

become an

served. Refusal to eat has

the guards'

major

at mealtimes.

for or getting food

any time other than the three scheduled mealtimes. However, to cover the guards"

foils

to eat the sausages represents a

That rule was instituted so that prisoners would not be asking

been extended

the

system by doing something that he can

evil

has

this rule

to force prisoners to eat food

now

whenever

act of disobedience that they will not tol-

because such refusal could trigger further challenges to their authority

erate,

from the others,

who until now had traded rebellion for docility.

For the other prisoners. 416's refusal to knuckle under should have been

seen as a heroic gesture.

It

might have rallied them around him to take a collective

stand against their continuing and escalating abusive treatment by the guards.

The strategic problem is that 41 6

them on

his side by

on a hunger

to go

did not

strike

was

share his plan with the others to get

and thus did not engage

private

416's tenuous social position in the

much

first

understanding the significance of his dissent. His decision

jail

as the

as the others, the guards intuitively set about framing

maker" whose obstinance

will

see that

it

can

it is

curtail prisoner-visiting privileges.

the guards

him

Sensing

not suffered as into a "trouble-

only result in punishment or loss of privileges for

them. They also characterize his hunger strike as a care that

his peers.

new guy who has

selfish act

because he does not

However, the prisoners should

who are establishing this arbitrary illogicality between his

eating sausages and their getting visitors.

Having dismissed Sarge's opposition. Hellmann turns back nemesis. Prisoner 416. for

He

orders

him out

of solitary to

do

fifteen

to his skinny

push-ups. "Just

me, and real quick."

416 gets down on the floor and begins to do push-ups. However, he is so weak that they are hardly push-ups. He is mostly just raising his

and so disoriented butt.

Hellmann can't an incredulous "Pushing

believe

what he

is

seeing.

"What

is

he doing.^" he shouts

his ass

around." says Burdan.

Landry awakening from

his

dormant

state adds.

"We

ups."

Hellmann

in

voice.

is

screaming: "Are those push-ups. 5486.'"

told

him

to

do push-

"

126

The Lmifcr'I^fect

The prisoner answers.

guess

"I

so.

Mr. Correctional Oflicer."

"No way. They are not push-ups." Jerry-5486 agrees.

"If

you say so. they are not push-ups. Mr. Correctional

Of-

ficer."

Burdan jumps

"He's swishing his ass.

in:

Sarge meekly acquiesces:

"If

you say

so.

isn't he.

209

3.^"

Mr. Correctional Officer."

Burdan: "What's he doing.^"

5486

complies: "He's swishin' his ass."

Hellmann makes Paul- 5 704 demonstrate the way 41 6's

to

do good push-ups

for

edification.

"See that, 416.' He's not pushin' his ass. He's not fuckin' a hole

in

the

Now do it right!"

ground.

416

tries to imitate

5704. but he

have enough strength. Burdan adds

body straight while you're doing

unable to do so because he

is

mean

his

You look

this. 416.^

just

does not

observation: "Can't you keep your like

you're on a roller coaster

or something."

Hellmann

rarely uses physical aggression.

and with inventively

verbally, sarcastically,

the exact freedom allowed

must not

vise but

him by the margin

lose control of himself.

He

sadistic

prefers instead to

games. He

of his role as

However,

is

guard

dominate

always aware of

— he may impro-

this night's challenges

have

He stands beside 416, who is lying on the ground in a push-up position, and orders him to do slow push-ups. Hellmann then puts his foot on top of 41 6's back as he goes up and pushes down hard on the backstroke. The others all gotten to him.

seem

to be surprised at this physical abuse. After a couple of push-ups. the

guy guard Hole,

lifts

his foot off of the prisoner's

slamming the door with

As

I

watch

this.

I

a loud clang

recall prisoners'

tough-

back and orders him back into the

and locking

it.

drawings of Nazi guards

at

Auschwitz

doing the same thing, stepping on a prisoner's back as he does push-ups.

"A Self-Righteous, Pious Asshole" Burdan not

yells to

4

1

6 through the door of his continement. "You donl cat. you're

gonna have very much energy. 416."

sorry for the plight of this

Now "I

it

is

puny

(I

suspect Burdan

I

is

no reason

for

you

feel

to disobey

haven't given you anything you can't obey. There's no reason

should offend anybody. You're not

know.

beginning to

time for Ciuard Hellmann's ascendancy He delivers a niinisermon:

hope you boys are taking an example here. There

orders.

is

little kid.)

All this self-righteous driwi

in

why

I

here for being upstanding citizens, you

makes

inc puke.

And you can knock

it

off right

now."

He asks Sarge think yon

made

lor

an evaluation

a nice speech.

(letting close to his face.

\lr.

ol

his little speech,

and Sarge answers,

"I

Correctional Olficer."

Hellmann goes back

you're a sell-righteous, pious asshole.'

to attacking Sarge: "N'ou think

Wednesday Sarge

you wish

replies: "If

to think so."

You

"Well, think about that.

127

Spiraling Out of Control

Is

are a self-righteous, pious asshole."

We are back on the not so merry-go-round, with Sarge replying "I will be one if

you wish me "I

to be, Mr. Correctional Officer."

don't wish you to be, you just are."

"As

you

Mr. Correctional Officer."

say,

Hellmann again goes up and down the ranks desperate

for approval,

and

world sees things his way, Hellmann

tells

each prisoner agrees with him. "He's a self-righteous, pious asshole." "A self-righteous, pious asshole, Mr. Correctional Officer." "Yes, a self-righteous, pious asshole."

Delighted that at least this Sarge, "I'm sorry,

it's

Sarge responds that "Well,

little

You lose." matters is what he thinks

four to one. all

that

of himself.

you think something else, then I think you're in very serious trouble.

if

Because you're not

really in

touch with what

is

real,

with reahty. You

live

a

life

nothing but mendacity, that's what you doin'. I'm sick of you, 2093."

that's

"I'm sorry, Mr. Correctional Officer."

"You such a "I'm sorry

self-righteous, pious bastard that

if I

make you

makes Sarge bend over have to look "Say,

The

wanna puke."

in a fixed position

touching his

toes, so that

Burdan

he doesn't

at his face again.

'Thank You,

last

I

that way, Mr. Correctional Officer."

feel

416!'

"

thing that Hellmann must achieve in his battle against belligerents

crush any sympathy that

is

to

may be developing among the prisoners for the sad case

of 416.

unfortunate that

"It is

have their minds

right.

we

all

have to suffer because some people just don't

You've got a nice friend in here [as he bangs against the

door of the Hole]. He's gonna see to

Hellmann

that

you don't

get blankets tonight."

common

who is about to harm them all by his foolish hunger strike.

enemy, numero 41 6,

Burdan and Hellmann "Thanks"

it

aligns his plight with that of the prisoners, against their

line

up the four prisoners and encourage them

to their fellow Prisoner

416

to say

cramped Hole. Each

sitting in the dark,

does so in turn.

"Why don't you They aU Still

them, fists,

recite.

even that

"Now

all

thank 416

for this.?"

"Thank you. 416." is

not sufficient for this devilish duo. Hellmann

go over there, next to the door.

I

want you

to

commands

thank him with your

on the door."

They do 4 1 6!" As they rify pitiable

so.

one by one, banging on the door, as they

do. a loud, resonating noise

416. alone

in there.

recite,

"Thank you,

booms through the Hole,

to further ter-

12S

The Lucifer^Effect

Burdaii: 'Thai's the way. with real spirit." to

(It's difficult

with 4 6 1

determine the extent to which the other prisoners are angry

causing them

for

all

or are indirectly working off

unnecessary

this

some

or are just following orders,

grief,

of their frustrations

and rage against the

guards' abuses.)

Hellmann shows them how times for good measure. Sarge

When

ently.

he

is

is

bang

to

hard against the door, several

really

and surprisingly complies meekly and obedi-

last

Burdan grabs Sarge by the shoulders and pushes him

finished.

hard against the back wall. He then orders the prisoners back into their says to his chief operating

Hellmann. "They're

officer.

all

ready

cells

and

for lights-out. Of-

ficer."

THE DIRTY BLANKET BARGAIN movie Cool Hand

Recall the classic southern prison

Luke,

from which

borrowed

I

the idea that the guards and staff should wear silver reflecting sunglasses to create a sense of anonymity. Tonight

might

Guard Hellmann would improvise a

rival the best that the scriptwriter

of prison authority.

He enacts

power can create an arbitrary

script that

could have created in shaping the nature

a creatively evil scene that demonstrates that his reality

by providing the inmates with an illusion of

choice to punish one of their fellows. Lights

dimmed, prisoners

in their cells.

416

in solitary.

over the Yard. Hellmann slithers up on the table that

observation post, behind which

we

An eerie quiet

looms

between the Hole and our

is

are recording these events, allowing us to get

a close look at the unfolding drama. As the chief night shift guard leans back

arm hanging be-

against the wall, legs crossed in a Buddha-like lotus position, one

tween

his legs, the other resting

repose.

He moves

his

head slowly from

muttonchops. down to carefully

and

on the

his chin.

He

table.

Hellmann

side to side.

We

blemaker ers, to

Hole

in

4 1 6 from

make

all

notice his long sideburns,

he chooses his words

them with an accentuated southern drawl.

articulates

the Hole

the portrait of power in

licks his thick lips as

The Man has come up with a new Machiavellian for the release of

is

solitary.

not up to

It is

night; rather, he

that decision: Should

416

is

him

inviting

all

plan.

He

lays out his terms

to decide to

keep the trou-

of them, the fellow prison-

be released now. or should he rot in the

all night.^

lust then.

Kindly Guard Geoff Landry saunters into the Yard. At six

and 18S pounds, he holds a cigarette

in

is

the biggest of

all

the guards or prisoners.

one hand, the other hand

ously absent.

He walks

seems about

to intervene,

in his pocket,

As

feet

three

usual, he

sunglasses conspicu-

to rhe center of the action, stops, looks distressed, frowns,

and does nothing but

passively observe lohn

Wayne

continue with showtime.

"Now. there are several ways

Now.

if

to

do

this,

depending on what

4 1 6 does not want to eat his sausages, then you can give

ifou

want

to do.

me your blankets

Wednesday

and

sleep

in there "I'll

Is

on the bare mattress. Or you can keep your blankets and 416

another day. keep

my

"What "Keep

will

for

calls

out immediately.

416.)

my blanket,"

says Paul- 5 704, our former rebel leader.

5486.^"

Refusing to yield to the social pressure,

4 1 6 by offering

7258

be over here.^"

it

"How about

will stay

Now what will it be.^"

blanket, Mr. Correctional Officer."

(Hubbie has no use

for

129

Spiraling Out of Control

to give

up his blanket so

that

5486 shows sympathy for the sad 416 does not have to stay in solitary

another day.

Burdan

yells at

"Now, you Burdan. figure with

down you

boys are

gonna have

who has been assuming the posture of

hands on

hips,

past each of the

feel

"We don't want your blanket!" to come to some kind of

him,

about

decision here."

a swaggering

little

authority

swinging his club as often as possible, walks up and

He turns

cells.

to Sarge in his cell

and asks him, "What do

it.^"

Surprisingly, Sarge

seems fimited only

comes down from

his

high moral ground, which

to not speaking obscenities, declares, "If the other

keep their blankets,

I'll

keep

now

two wish

to

my blanket." That proves to be the crucial swing vote.

Burdan exclaims. "We got three against one." Hellmann repeats that message loud and

clear, so

"We got three against one." As he slides off Hole, "416. you're

Hellmann

gonna be

in there for a while, so just get

struts off the Yard,

taking up the reluctant rear. struggle of guard

An

wits.

can hear.

used to

apparent victory has been

a hard day's night for these guards, but they can

and

all

it!"i^

with Burdan dutifully following and Landry

power against organized prisoner

tory in this battle of wills

that

the table, the boss shouts into the

won

in the endless

resistance. Indeed,

it

has been

now enjoy the sweet taste of vic-

CHAPTER SEVEN

The Power

to Parole

lechnically speaking, our Stanford Prison

was more

like

a county

jail filled

a group of adolescents

who were

Sunday-morning mass

arrests by the Palo Alto City Police. Obviously,

had

yet

been

set for

with

being held in pretrial detention following their

any of these role-playing

felons,

and none

of

no trial date

them had

legal

representation. Nevertheless, following the advice of the prison chaplain. Father

McDermott. a mother of one of the prisoners was going about securing counsel for

her son. After a

full staff

to include a Parole

meeting with Warden David

Jaffe

and the "psychologi-

graduate assistants Craig Haney and Curl Banks, we decide

cal counselors." the

Board hearing even though

in fact that

would not have oc-

curred at this early stage in the criminal justice process. This would provide an opportunity to observe each prisoner deal with an un-

expected opportunity to be released from his imprisonment. Until now. each

oner had appeared only as a single actor holding the hearing in a

some

respite

might

room

which would include some personnel not Board hearing,

like Visiting

basement

added

directly

to the formality of

level.

They

new environment,

connected with the prison

staff.

our prison experience. The Parole

Nights, the prison chaplain's

visit,

and the anticipated

by a public defender, lent credibility to the prison experience. Finally.

wanted

to see

how our prison

head of the Stanford County role

in the

express their attitudes and feelings in this

also

By

outside the prison setting, the prisoners would get

from their oppressively narrow confines

feel freer to

The procedure

visit

among an ensemble

pris-

of players.

board hearings

in

granted iiletime parole

Jail

Parole Board. As

in their

I

said.

Carlo had failed

many pa-

the past seventeen years and only recently had been for

"good time served" on his armed robbery convictions.

Would he be compassionate and

who had been

I

consultant. Carlo Prcscott. would enact his role as

side uilli the prisoners* requests, as

someone

place pleading for parole?

The Parole Board hearings were held on the

first

lloor of Stanford's Psy-

The Power

chology Department, in

my laboratory,

visions for hidden videotaping

room that included pro-

a carpeted, large

and observation from behind a

one-way window. The four members

of the

Carlo sat at the head place, next to Craig

Board

sat

and were helping us out as a

command. I would

six-sided table.

his other side sat a

male

whom had little prior knowledge

favor.

Curt Banks would serve as

sergeant-at-arms to transfer each applicant from the guard parole-hearing

specially designed

around a

Haney and on

graduate student and a female secretary, both of of our study

131

to Parole

command

to the

be videotaping the proceedings from the adja-

cent room.

Of the remaining eight prisoners on Wednesday morning, lease, four

had been deemed

generally good behavior

after

potentially eligible for parole by the

They had been given the opportunity

ing of their case and had written formal requests explaining

they deserved parole at this time.

Some

of the others

other day. However, the guards insisted that Prisoner

s re-

based on

to request a hear-

why

they thought

would have a hearing an-

416 not be granted such op-

portunity because of his persistent violation of Rule

mealtimes and only at mealtimes."

86 1 2

staff,

2.

"Prisoners must eat at

"

132

The LuciferJ-^fect

A CHANCE TO REGAIN FREEDOM The day

guards

shift

up

line

this

band

of four prisoners in the Yard, as

routinely during each night's last toilet run.

The chain upon one

was done

prisoner's leg

is

attached to that of the next, and large paper bags are put over their heads so they will

not

know how

building

it

room. Their

they got from the

jail

yard to the parole setting or where in the

They are seated on

located.

is

leg chains are

a

bench

removed, but they

Curt Banks comes out of the

room

to call

in the hall outside the parole

sit still

handcuffed and bagged until

each one by

his

number.

Curt, the sergeant-at-arms. reads the prisoner's parole statement, followed

by the opposing statement of any of the guards to deny his parole. He escorts each to

who takes the lead from there.

at the right-hand side of Carlo,

sit

In order of ap-

pearance come Prisoner Jim-4325. Prisoner Glenn-3401. Prisoner Rich-1037,

and he

finally

Prisoner Hubbie-72 58. After each has had his time before the Board,

returned to the hallway bench, handcuffed, chained, and bagged until the

is

session

is

completed and

Before the

all

the prisoners are returned to the prison basement.

prisoner appears, as I'm checking the video quality, the old-

first

time pro. Carlo, begins to educate the Board neophytes on some basic Parole

Board

realities.

warming up

to

(See Notes for his soliloquy.)' Curt Banks, sensing that Carlo

one of the long speeches

he's heard too often during

school course, says authoritatively, "We've gotta move, time

is

is

our summer

running."

Prisoner 4325 Pleads Not Guilty Prisoner |im-432

he

5 is

offered a seat.

is

"Why

escorted into the chamber: his handcuffs are removed, and

He

is

are you in prison.^

seriousness, "Sir,

I

a big. robust guy. Carlo challenges

How do you

him

right off with

The prisoner responds, with

plead.'"

all

due

have been charged with assault with a deadly weapon. But

1

wish to plead not guilty to that charge.""Not

guilty.^"

who arrested you some

take,

Carlo feigns total surprise. "So you're implying that the officers

know what

didn't

who were trained

in

law enforcement, and

presumably have had a number of years of experience, are prone out of the entire population of Palo Alto and that they don't talking about, that they have

some confusion

done.' In other words, they're liars

dence and everything. thing. ...

them

1

I

liars,

assertiveness

me is

receding

in

the

wake

is

liars.'"

I

assume

it

knowledge and every-

must be pretty good

submitting to higher authority: his

of Carlo's

Carlo Prescott: "In that case, you've thing to what they

minds about what you've

certainly respect their professional

up." (The prisoner

up

they're

there must have been very good evi-

haven't seen od bless. V'ery truly yours. 5401 Remember me. please, as a to

.

shining example.

The guards* counter-recommendations present

a stark contrast:

3401 has been a constant two-bit troublemaker. Not only lower, finding

things.

I

see

I

no good within himself

recommend no

no reason why 3401 deserves

nection between the 3401 request. Signed by

to develop.

parole. Signed by

1

he

is

a

fol-

He meekly mimics bad

Guard Arnett.

parole, nor

know and

that,

can

1

even make the con-

the person described in this parole

Guard Markus.

5401 doesn't deserve parole and his

own

sarcastic request indicates this.

Signed by Guard John Landry Prisoner 5401

is

then brought

which Carlo wants removed so he can

in

with the paper bag

still

over his head,

see the face of this "liuie punk."

He and the

"

The Power

135

to Parole

members react with surprise when they discover that 3401 Glenn,

other board

type with his rebellious, flippant short

is

,

Asian American, the only non-Caucasian in the mix. Glenn

five feet,

two inches,

However, he

style.

slight but

fits

wiry build, cute

is

playing against

the stereotype physically; a

and shiny jet black hair.

face,

Craig starts by inquiring about the prisoner's role in the prisoner uprising

3401

his ceU created the barricade.

What

with surprising bluntness:

did not stop

when

that started

replies

"I

After further inquiry into this situation by other board in a sarcastic tone, so different

the purpose of our institution nize them,

and

Warden cannot

resist getting in his licks:

what rehabilitation not

ciety,

is.

honcho: "At

least

—

and not

room and not

at the

citizens

that 'God. faith,

body

is

it!"

think

"I

to antago-

Board

table,

member of

so-

in the cell!"

of these diversions.

He

reasserts his role as

have said that they observed you leaving the

the crime." (He has invented this on the spot.) Carlo continues. vision of three people

encouraged

We're trying to teach you to be a productive

had enough two

I

it.'

"Perhaps you don't have the proper notion of

how to barricade yourself

Prescott has

it.

to stop

members, 3401 continues

to rehabilitate the prisoners

seated along the side of the

Jaffe.

he do

from Prisoner 432 5's apparent humility. is

that as a result of our actions

I felt

did

and brotherhood are

"

To challenge the

humanity

is

blind!"

stiU strong'.^ Is

it

brotherhood

to say that all of

head site of

Now. did you write to take

some-

else's property.^"

Carlo then moves in to play the obvious race card: "Very few of you Oriental

people are in the prisons ... in

they're likely to be very good citizens.

fact,

.

.

.

You've been a constant troublemaker, you've mocked a prison situation here, you

come

in here

ted to

run a prison. You

and

talk about rehabilitation as sit

man in the prison. do you think about

say. Frankly.

is

much more

wouldn't parole you likely

if

important than

you were the

prospect of parole

we

have,

last

what

that.^"

"You're entitled to your opinion,

"My opinion means something Prescott asks

I

think you're the least

I

you think you should be permit-

what you're saying

cating that you think that

anything that he could

if

here at the table and you interrupt the warden by indi-

more

sir."

says 3401.

in this particular place!"

Carlo retorts angrily.

answer

questions, not allowing the prisoner a chance to

them, and ends up denouncing and dismissing 3401:

"I

don't think

we need

to

more time just now. I'm of the opinion that the record and his attitude in the boardroom indicate quite clearly what his attitude is we've got a schedule, take any

.

and I don't see any reason

to

even discuss

this.

.

.

What we have here is a recalcitrant

who writes nice speeches." Before leaving, the prisoner

going to break out and doctor,

it

is

whether he has gone on

care of his problem. that this

is

When

a parole board

tells

the Board that he has a skin rash that

is

worrying him. Prescott asks whether he has seen a sick call or

done anything constructive

to take

the prisoner says that he has not. Carlo reminds

and not a medical board, and then dismisses

him

his con-

156

The LuciferFffect

"Wc try to lind some reason to parole any man who comes in. and once you come into this particular prison it's up to you to maintain a record, a kind of demeanor which indicates to us that you can make an adjustment to society. ... ccrn:

I

want you

to consider

some

you wrote

of the things that

man and know the language quite well.

you're an intelligent

an

at I

intrinsic level:

think that you can

probably change yourself, yes, you might have a chance to change yourself in the future."

Carlo turns to the guard and gestures to take the prisoner away. contrite

and out he that he

boy slowly raises

little

He may be

goes.

was not prepared

arms outstretched

his

realizing that his flippant attitude has cost

for this

A now-

as handcuffs are applied,

him

dearly,

event to be so serious and the Parole Board so in-

tense.

My tially.

notes indicate that Prisoner 3401

He

an interesting mix of

reveals

is

traits.

more complex than he appears

He

when he is dealing with the guards in the prison, ten a sarcastic, habilitation,

humorous

mentioning

guards don't seem to parole.

perience.

and claiming

to be a

model

prisoner.

The

evident in their strong letters advising against

is

—the young man we see

in this

"No joking allowed

The Board,

here."

room, subdued, even cowed, by the exespecially Prescott. goes after

he doesn't cope with the attack

viciously, yet

effectively.

him

As the hearing pro-

he becomes increasingly withdrawn and unresponsive.

I

wonder

if

he

two weeks.

will survive the full

A

his spirituality,

him. as

but in this instance, he has writ-

requesting parole, referencing a nonexistent re-

His bold parole request letter stands in striking contrast with his

demeanor

gresses,

like

letter

ini-

usually quite serious and polite

is

Rebel Relents

Next up night

Prisoner 10 37. Rich, whose mother was so worried about him

is

when she

visited

blockaded himself Hole.

in Cell 2 this

I7's appeal

1

and saw him looking so awful. He

is

morning. He

interesting but loses

is

is

the

last

same one who

also a frequent occupant of the

something when read quickly

in a flat,

unemotional tone by Curt Banks:

1

would

like to

be paroled so that

teenage years with old friends.

rebelled, thinking that

evening

1

that tinu'

was being

linaily realized that I

member of self

I

may spend

I

have done niy best

the

respec

t

moments 1

of

my

believe that the

treated unjustly. However, that

was unworthy to cooperate,

the correctional staff

is

of better treatment. Since

and

I

only interested

has treated and

their ability to turn the other

is

now know

in

and the other prisoners. Despite my horrible

their wishes, the prison staff

last

turn 20 on Monday.

me of my many weaknesses. On Monday.

correctional staff has convinced I

1

will

I

the well-being of

disrespect for

treating

cheek and

I

that every

me

my-

them and

well.

I

deeply

beliew that because of

I

L

The Power

137

to Parole

own goodness I have been rehabilitated and transformed into a better human being. Sincerely, 1037.

their

Three guards have provided a

collective

recommendation, which Curt reads

aloud:

While 1037

is

improving since his rebellion phase,

products.

I

agree with the other

1037, that he has gotten acceptable

one of our corrected

officers' appraisal of

1037, and also with

don't

much better,

but has not yet reached a perfectly

way

and

1037 has

level.

believe he has a bit

I

as

more to develop before being exposed to the public

a

to go before parole,

is

improving.

I

recommend parole.

When Rich- 103 7 enters the room,

he reveals a strange blend of youthful en-

ergy and incipient depression. Immediately, he talks about his birthday, his only

reason to request parole;

about

it

when he

him a question

it

happens

important to him, and he forgot

to be very

originally signed up.

He

is

in full

swing when the warden asks

that he can't answer without either getting into trouble or undo-

ing his justification for leaving: "Don't you think our prison

you a birthday party

capable of giving

is

.^"

Prescott seizes the opportunity: "You've been in society for a while, even at

your age. You

know the rules. You must recognize that prisons are for people who

break rules, and you place that in jeopardy by doing exactly what you recognize that you're changing,

it's

you've improved. But here, in your

them and

spect for

and

indicated here,

own

handwriting, 'despite

their wishes.' Horrible disrespect!

people and their property.

What would happen

if

spected everybody else's property.^ You'll probably

As Carlo continues

to

You

my

cers.

and you could have

inflicted

you're apprehended."

I

make them All

your

life

you had

to be reoffi-

many ways is entirely de-

other people. You turn people into sticks; you

think that they are objects, for your use. You've manipulated people!

you seem to have manipulated people,

indifference toward law

control your behavior. prospect.^

for

blank

see here

think that you're beginning to

recognize that your behavior has been immature and in

and concern

fact

still

vital: "I

hurt or worse on some of the arresting

I'm very impressed by your progress, and

void of judgment

nation disre-

seemingly review the prisoner's record on his

your arrest reports that you were quite cantankerous, in

pressed,

I

horrible disre-

this

notepad, he stops at the point where he has discovered something in

Son,

can't disrespect other

everybody in kill if

did.

think seriously that

I

and

1037

is

tell us.'

all

There are periods

What makes you

What could you

Prisoner

order.

your reports in

talk

about your

which you don't seem

We're trying

to help you."

not prepared for this personal attack on his character.

mumbles an incoherent explanation tion that might tempt him to behave

for

to

think that you could be a good parole

He

being able to "walk away" from a situa-

violently.

He goes on

to say that this prison

138

The Liuifef^ Effect

experience has helped him: "Well. I've gotten to see a tions to different situations,

how

lot

of people's different reac-

they handled themselves with respect to other

people, such as speaking with various cellmates, their reactions to the tions.

The three

different shifts of guards. I've noticed the individual

small differences in the

in

same

same situa-

guards have

situations."

1037 then curiously brings up his "weaknesses." namely his part as agitator Monday's prisoner rebellion. He has become entirely submissive, blaming him-

self for

defying the guards and never once criticizing

them

for their

abusive be-

my eyes is a perfect example of mind control resembles American POWs in the Korean War con-

havior and nonstop hassling. (Before in action.

The process

exactly

germ warfare and other wrongdoings

fessing publicly to using

Communist

to their

Chinese

captors.)

Unexpectedly. Prescott interrupts this discussion of the prisoner's weaknesses to ask assertively. "Do you use drugs.^"

When 1037

replies "No,"

he

is

allowed to continue apologizing until inter-

rupted again. Prescott notices a black-and-blue bruise on the inmate's asks

between him and the guards, prisoner 1037 denies the guard's part

him

arm and

how he got that big bruise. Although it came from one or more of the scuffles him

or dragging

into solitary, saying that the guards

in restraining

had been as gentle as

they could. By continually disobeying their orders, he says, he brought the bruise

on

himself.

mea culpa. "Keep up

the good work, huh.'"

Carlo

likes that

1037

says that he would consider parole even

(That seems rather extreme, given ing to

show

for

if it

meant

Throughout he answers the Board's questions competently,

it.)

comments

but his depression hovers over him. as Prescott notes in his

mind

hearing. His state of

her

visit

forfeiting his salary.

how much he has been through to have noth-

with him and as

is

something

his

her complaints to

in

though he were trying

dent's Office.

It is

to prove his

manliness

— perhaps

after the

mother detected immediately during

me when she came to the Superintento

hang on

to his dad.'

as long as possible in order

He provides some

interesting an-

swers to questions aboul u hat he has gained from his experience in the prison, but most of

them sound

like superficial lines

made up simply

for the benefit of the

Board.

The Good Looking Kid Gets Trashed Last in line

is

reads with a

My

first

the

bit

If

1

get

prisoner liubbie-72SS.

whose appeal Curt

of scorn:

reason for parole

very soon and ing that

handsome young

I

would

when she

back only

gets

back

my woman

thai

is

like to see is

after the full

her a

just

is

little bit

going away on vacation

more

before she goes, see-

about the same time

two weeks here.

I

will

I

leave for college.

only see her for a total

The Power

we

time of one-half hour. Here

139

to Parole

can't say good-bye

and

with the cor-

talk,

way we'd like to. Another reason is that I think that you have seen me and I know that I won't change. By change I mean breaking any of the rules set down for us. the prisoners, rectional officer and the chaperone, the

thus putting It is

me out on parole would save my time and your expenditures.

true that

I

an escape with former cellmate 8612. but ever

did attempt

since then, as

sat in

I

my empty

with no clothes on

cell

knew

I

shouldn't go against our correctional officers, so ever since then

most exactly followed

all

the rules. Also, you will note that

I

I

that

have

I

al-

have the best

cell in this prison.

Again, Guard Arnett's recommendations are at odds with the prisoner's statement:

which he

"7258

follows

duration or until he

Guard Markus but

and

don't

I

I

feel

a rebellious wise guy."

is

up with

he

whichever comes

rots,

more sanguine:

is

is

any more

is

Guard Arnett's

overall appraisal,

condemnation: "He should stay here

this cynical

for the

later."

"I like

72 58 and he

entitled to parole

is

an

all-right prisoner,

than any of the other prisoners,

am confident that the prisoner experience will have a healthy effect on

his

rather unruly natural character."

much as 8612

also like 7258, almost as

"I

he should get parole.

I

won't go as

far as

[David, our spy], but

I

don't think

Arnett does, but parole shouldn't be

given," writes John Landry.

As soon which

as the prisoner

irritates

Carlo

enough

"As a matter of fact, this

is

unbagged, he beams his usual big toothy smile,

to spur his

jumping

whole thing's funny

all

over him.

to you. You're a 'rebellious wise

guy' as the guard's report accurately describes you. Are you the kind of person

who doesn't care anything about your life.^" As soon as he cation.

"I

starts to answer, Prescott

plan to start college in the

Board members. "Here's what people.

Some

I

say.

fall at

changes course

to ask

about his edu-

Oregon State U." Prescott turns to other

You know what, education

is

a waste on

some

people shouldn't be compelled to go to college. They'd probably be

happier as a mechanic or a drugstore salesman." waving his hand disdainfully at the prisoner. "Okay, lets

"Nothing,

sir,

move

on.

What

did

you do

to get in here.'"

but to sign up for an experiment."

This reality check might otherwise threaten to unravel the proceedings, but not with skipper Prescott at the helm:

"So wise guy. you think this

is

just

an expehiueut?" He takes back the steering

wheel, pretending to examine the prisoner's dossier. Prescott notes matter-offactly.

"You were involved

in a burglary."

Prescott turns to ask Curt glary: Curt

nods

"first."

"First,

huh.

just as

I

Banks whether

thought."

It is

it

was

first-

or second-degree bur-

time to teach this Young Turk some of

140

life's

The Lucifer Effect

lessons, starling

caught

done with your ing to

ilh

reminding him of what happens

You

life!

sit

compensation

forfeit

see the

u

an escape attempt. You're eighteen years

in

same

here in front of us and to get out of prison.

look in this report

1

any

I

sort of authority*!

background, and whether he

his parents do. his religious

goes to church regularly. Prescott

is

angered by the prisoner's statement that his

"nondenominational." He

is

are

wrong.'"

what

After asking

who

us that you'd even be will-

Everywhere

thing: 'wise guy.' 'smart aleck.' 'opposed to

Where did you go

religion

tell

to prisoners

and look what you've

old.

something as important as that

"You haven't even decided about

retorts.

either."

up and storms out of the room for a few minutes, members ask some standard questions about how he plans to next week if his parole request is not granted.

The angered

Prescott gets

as the other Board

behave

in the

Forfeiting Pay for

Freedom

me

This break in the highly tense action gives Prisoner l()37's assertion of willing to

malize that as a to ask

critical final

if

we were

pay

for parole.

We

need

question to be put to each of the prisoners.

them. "Would you be willing to

prisoner

time to realize the importance of

forfeit his

forfeit all

the

I

to for-

tell

Carlo

money you have earned

as a

to parole you.^"

At first, Carlo poses a more extreme form of the question: "How much would you be willing

to

pay us

to get out of here.^" Confused. Prisoner

72

says he

5cS

won't pay money to be released. Carlo reframes the question, asking whether the prisoner would

Prisoner also doesn't

oners do.

the

forfeit

"Yes. indeed,

sir.

7258

I

money

would do

doesn't

he's

made so

come

across as particularly bright or self-aware.

seem to take his entire situation

He

is

far.

that."

as seriously as

the youngest, barely eighteen, and

is

immature

quite

well in coping with

most of what

is

in store for

him and

in his atti-

humor will

serve

his peers in the

week

tudes and responses. Nevertheless, his detachment and sense of

him

He

some of the other pris-

ahead.

that

Next,

we have each

same

linal

of the prisoners return to the parole

question about forfeiting their pay

oner 10^7. the rebellious birthday boy. says yes to

in

chamber

exchange

forfeiting his

to

answer

for parole. Pris-

money if

paroled.

The cooperative Prisoner 4 52 5 answers in the affirmative as well. Only Prisoner 3401 the deliant Asian American, would not want parole .

his

money, since he

really

needs

young men want

tivation of virtually

dollars a day for

up

all

to

to be released so badly

up the hard-earned salary they have earned

twenty-four-hour-a-day job as prisoners. of the rhetorical frame in

involved forfeiting

it.

In other words, three of these four

that they are willing to give

if it

which

What

this question

the volunteers

two weeks

at a

was

lime

is

is

remarkable

to

me

put. Recall that the

financial, the

when

chance

to

is

in their

the power

primary mo-

make

fifteen

they had no other source of in-

— The Power come,

was

just before school

to start in the

prisoners, despite the physical

141

to Parole

fall.

Now.

despite

all

their suffering as

and psychological abuse they have endured

—the

endless counts: the middle-of-the-night awakenings: the arbitrary, creative evil of

some

of the guards: the lack of privacy: the time spent in sohtary: the nakedness:

the chains; their bagged heads; the lousy food and minimal bedding ity of

Perhaps even more remarkable less

—the major-

the prisoners are willing to leave without pay to get out of this place. the fact that after saying that

is

money was

important than their freedom, each prisoner passively submitted to the sys-

tem, holding out his hands to be handcuffed, submitting to the bag being put back over his head, accepting the chain on his

leg.

and.

like

sheep, following the guard

back down to that dreadful prison basement. During their Parole Board hearing, they were physically out of the prison, in the presence of some "civilians"

were not

them

"Since

say.

demand

with their tormentors downstairs.

directly associated

do not want your money,

I

to be released

I

Why

who

none

did

of

am free to quit this experiment and

We would have had to obey their request and termi-

now."

nate them at that moment. Yet none did. Not one prisoner later told us that he had even considered that

he could quit the experiment because virtually of their experience as just

an experiment. They

of

all felt

by psychologists, not by the State, as 4 1 6 had told us.

was

forfeit

power

money

they had earned as prisoners

stop being a prisoner. to release them, but

If

if

that a mental switch

in their

to parole

them.

The

personal decision to

they were prisoners, only the Parole Board had the power

power

to stay or quit at

had been thrown

perimental volunteer with of

What they had agreed to do we chose

they were, as indeed they were, experimental subjects, each

of the students always held the

mercy

if

was with the Parole Board, not

to free or bind

them had stopped thinking

trapped in a prison being run

full civil

in their

rights" to

any

time.

It

minds, from "now

"now I am

I

was apparent

am a paid ex-

a helpless prisoner at the

an unjust authoritarian system."

During the postmortem, the Board discussed the individual cases and the overall reactions of this all

first set

was a clear consensus that consumed by their role as pris-

of prisoners. There

the prisoners seemed nervous, edgy, and totally

oners. Prescott sensitively shares his real concerns for Prisoner

103 7. He accurately

detects a deep depression building in this once fearless rebel ringleader: "It's just a feeling that

you

get. living

around people who jump over prison

tiers to their

guy who had himself together

sufficiently to

deaths, or cut their wrists. Here's a

present himself to us. but there were lags between his answers. in.

he's coherent,

but at the

and

talk

same

time, he's willing to

about his

the feeling stone.

he knows what's happened, he

1

had.

feelings.

The second

To me. he was

In

like

sit

and

talk

He seemed unreal

still

about his

to

Then the

last

guy

talks about 'an experiment.' father, he's willing to sit

me. and I'm basing that

just

on

guy. the Oriental [Asian-American] prisoner, he's a

a stone."

summation. Prescott

offers the following advice: "1 join the rest of the

142

The LucifeF Effect

group and propose

letting a

couple of prisoners out at different times, to try to get

the prisoners trying to figure out what they have to begin to do in order to get out.

would give some hope

Also, releasing a few prisoners soon relieve

some

to the rest of

them, and

of their feelings of desperation."

The consensus seems and then number

to be to release the first prisoner soon, big

three. Rich-

10 3 7.

later on.

Jim-432

5.

perhaps replacing them with other

standby prisoners. There are mixed feelings about whether 3401 or 7258 should be released next, or at

all.

What Have We Witnessed Here? Three general themes emerge from the

between simulation and

aries

first

Parole Board hearings: the bound-

have been blurred: the prisoners' sub-

reality

servience and seriousness has steadily increased in response to the guards' ever-greater domination, tion in the

and there has been a dramatic character transforma-

performance of the Parole Board head. Carlo Prescott.

Blurring the Line Between the Prison Experiment and the Reahty of Imprisonment

Impartial observers not

sume

knowing what had preceded

that they were witnessing

in action.

this event

an actual hearing of a

The strength and manifest

might readily

local prison parole

reality of the dialectic at

among them,

board

work between those

imprisoned and society's appointed guardians of them was reflected ways,

as-

in

many

the overall seriousness of the situation, the formality of the

parole requests by inmates, the opposing challenges from their guards, the diverse

composition of

all

the Parole Board members, the nature of the personal ques-

tions put to the inmates,

and accusations made against them

tense affective quality of the entire proceeding.

The

—

in short, the in-

basis of this interaction

is

obvious in the Board's questions and prisoners' answers regarding "past convictions." the rehabilitative activities of attending classes or participating in therapy

or vocational training sessions, arranging for legal representation, the status of their trial, It is

and

their future plans for

student experimental volunteers as little

the

becoming good

more than another week

many months

it

in the

is

to

imagine that their future as prisoners

Stanford County

or long years that the

judgments. Role playing has become

sumed

citizens.

as hard to realize that barely four days have passed in the lives of these

mock

lail.

Their captivity

is

is

not

Parole Board seems to imply in

its

role internalization: the actors have as-

the characters and identities of their fictional roles.

The Prisoners Subservience and Seriousness '

By

this point, for the

mosfpart. the prisoners have slipped reluctantly, but

compliantly, into their highly structured roles in our prison. selves by their Identification their

anonymous

They

numbers and answer immediately

identities.

They answer what should be

refer to

finally

them-

to questions put to

ridiculous questions

The Power with

seriousness, for

full

143

to Parole

example inquiries into the nature of

their crimes

and

With few exceptions, they have become completely

their rehabilitation efforts.

subservient to the authority of the Parole Board as well as to the domination of the correctional officers and the system in general. Only Prisoner

7258 had the

temerity to refer to his reason for being here as volunteering for an "experiment,"

but he quickly backed away from that assertion under Prescott's verbal assaults.

The

flippant style of

some

of their original parole requests, notably that of

Prisoner 3401, the Asian-American student, withers under the negative judg-

ment

of the

Board that such unacceptable behavior does not warrant

release.

Most of the prisoners seem to have completely accepted the premises of the tion.

They no longer

manded to do. They offstage

situa-

object to or rebel against anything they are told or

are like

Method

actors

com-

who continue to play their roles when

and off camera, and their role has come to consume their identity.

It

must

who argue for innate human dignity to note the servility of the former prisoner rebels, the heroes of the uprisings, who have been reduced to beggars. No heroes are stepping out from this aggregation. be distressing to those

That hours

feisty

Asian-American prisoner, Glenn-3401, had

after his stressful Parole

to be released

Board experience, when he developed a full-body

rash. Student Health Services provided the appropriate medication,

sent

home

to consult his

his release, as

own

some

physician.

was Doug-8612's raging

The rash was

loss of

his body's

and he was

way

of getting

emotional control.

The Dramatic Transformation of the Parole Board Head I

had known Carlo Prescott for more than three months before this event and had

interacted with

him almost

daily in person

and

in frequent

and long phone

calls.

As we co-taught a six-week-long course on the psychology of imprisonment.

had seen him

in action as

which he judged

an eloquent, vehement

critic of

the prison system,

to be a fascist tool designed to oppress people of color.

markably perceptive

in the

ways

tems of control can change

all

in

which prisons and

all

this antiquated,

He was re-

other authoritarian sys-

those in their grip, both the imprisoned and their

imprisoners. Indeed, during his Saturday-evening talk-show local radio station

I

KGO. Carlo frequently made

his listeners

program on the

aware of the

failure of

expensive institution that their tax dollars were wasted in con-

tinuing to support.

He had

told

me

of the nightmares he

would have anticipating the annual

Parole Board hearings, in which an inmate has only a few minutes to present his

appeal to several Board members,

who do not seem to be paying any

him

as they

files

are not even his but are those of the next prisoner in line,

thumb through

now will save time.

If

fat files

and reading them

you are asked questions about your conviction or anything

negative in your rap sheet, you at least

attention to

while he pleads his case. Perhaps some of the

know immediately

that parole will be delayed for

another year because defending the past prevents you from envisioning

'

144

The iMiifiT Effect

anything positive

in

your future. Carlo's

tales enlightened

me

about the kind of

rage that such arbitrary indifference generates in the vast majority of prisoners

who arc denied

parole year after year, as he was.

However, what are the deeper lessons to be learned from such situations? Admire power, detest weakness. Dominate, don't negotiate. Hit the other cheek.

The golden

rule

is

for

them, not

for us.

first

when

they turn

Authority rules, rules are

authority.

These are also some of the lessons learned by boys of abusive

whom

fathers, half of

are transformed into abusive fathers themselves, abusing their children,

spouses, and parents. Perhaps half of

them

identify

with the aggressor and per-

petuate his violence, while the others learn to identify with the abused and reject aggression for compassion. However, research does not help us to predict which

abused kids

will later

become abusers and which

will

turn out to be compassion-

ate adults.

Time Out for a Demonstration of Power Without Compassion I

am reminded of the classic demonstration by an elementary school teacher. Jane

Elliott,

who taught her students the nature of prejudice and discrimination

bitrarily relating the eye color of children in

When

those with blue eyes were associated with privilege, they readily assumed

them

a dominant role over their brown-eyed peers, even abusing

newly acquired status

physically. Moreover, their

cognitive functioning.

math and Elliott's

rior"

by ar-

her classroom to high or low status.

When they were on

spilled over to

top. the blue-eyes

spelling performances (statistically significant, as

and

verbally

enhance

their

improved their daily 1

documented with

original class data). Just as dramatically, test performance of the "infe-

brown-eyed children deteriorated. However, the most

brilliant aspect of

her classroom demonstration with

these third-grade schoolchildren from Riceville. Iowa,

teacher generated the next day Mrs. opposite

was

true,

Elliott told

was the

status reversal the

the class she had erred. In

fact,

the

she said; brown eyes were better than blue eyes! Here was

the chance for the brown-eyed children, pact of being discriminated against, to

top of the heap. The

new

who had

experienced the negative im-

show compassion now

that they

were on

test scores reversed the superior perlormance of the

haves and diminished the performance of the have-nots. But what about the

les-

son of compassion.' Did the newly elevated brown-eyes understand the pain of the underdog, of those less fortunate, of those in a position of inferiority that they

had personally experienced one There was no carryover inated, they discriminated, Similarly, history

is filled

ligious persecution

safe

and secure

brief

at all!

day

earlier.'

The brown-eyes gave what they

and they abused

with accounts showing that

show intolerance of people

in (heir lu'u

[^ouvr domain.

got.

They dom-

their former blue-eyed abusers. •

many

of those escaping re-

of other religions

once they are

The Power

145

to Parole

Back

to

Brown-Eyed Carlo

This

is

a long side trip around the issue surrounding

my

colleague's dramatic

transformation

when he was put into the powerful

Board. At

he gave a truly outstanding improvisational performance,

first,

Charlie Parker solo. ries,

on the

tainty.

spot,

position as

He improvised details of crimes, He did so without

his peers deferred. Forgotten

a

hesitation, with a fluid cer-

However, as time wore on, he seemed to embrace his

County Jail Parole Board, the authority

like

of the prisoners' past histo-

out of the blue.

with ever-increasing intensity and conviction.

head of the Parole

He was

new

authority role

the head of the Stanford

whom inmates suddenly feared, to whom

were the years of suffering he had endured as a

brown-eyed inmate once he was granted the privileged position of seeing the world through the eyes of the all-powerful head of this Board. Carlo's statement to his colleagues at the

transformation had

himself say and had

wondered

meeting showed the agony and disgust his

He had become

him.

felt

when he was cloaked

his reflections

if

his acquired self-knowledge

show

Thursday. Would he of prisoners

this

the oppressor. Later that

he confided that he had been sickened by what he had heard

night, over dinner,

I

end of

instilled in

when he headed

pleading to

him

show

to

the positive effects of

the next Parole Board meeting

on

new

set

greater consideration

who would be

new role.

in his

would cause him

and compassion

for parole.^

for the

Or would the

role

remake

the man.^

THURSDAY'S MEETING OF THE PAROLE AND DISCIPLINARY BOARD The next day brings four more prisoners before a reconstituted Parole Board. Except for Carlo,

who had

all

to leave

the other

town

for

members

of the

Board are newcomers. Craig Haney,

urgent family business in Philadelphia,

another social psychologist, Christina Maslach, ceedings with

little

apparent direct involvement

two graduate students

fill

who

—

is

replaced by

quietly observes the pro-

at this time.

A

secretary

and

out the rest of this five-person Board. However, at the

urging of the guards, in addition to considering parole requests, the Board also considers various disciplinary actions against the

Curt Banks continues sits in to

observe and

more

in his role as sergeant-at-arms.

comment when

serious troublemakers.

and Warden David

appropriate. Again

1

Jaffe also

watch from behind the

one-way viewing screen and record the proceedings for subsequent analysis on our Ampex video recorder. Another variation from yesterday is that we do not have the prisoners chairs,

on a

sit

around the same

pedestal, so to speak

tive interrogations.

—

all

table with the

Board but separately

the better to observe

in

high

them as in police detec-

"

"

146

The Lmifet. Effect

A Hunger

up on the docket

First

strike.

Out

Striker Strikes

Prisoner 4

is

1

6. recently

admitted,

who is still on

a

hunger

Curt Banks reads off the disciplinary charges that several guards have

Guard Arnett

against him.

are not sure what to

especially angered at 41 6: he

is

make of him: "Here for such a short time, and he has been

tally recalcitrant, disrupting

all

He

on securing

insists

eat anything served

him

to-

order and our routine."

The prisoner immediately agrees of the charges.

tiled

and the other guards

that they are right: he will not dispute legal representation before

demand

in this prison. Prescott goes after his

any

he consents to for "legal

aid." forcing a clarification.

Prisoner

416

poses, because

words, either

I

replies in a strange fashion: "I'm in prison, for all practical pur-

signed a contract, which I'm not of legal age to sign.

we must get a lawyer to take his case and

continue with his hunger

strike

and

him released,

is

much

same

the

intelligent, self-determined,

However, his justification

for disputing his

face to the

and strong

and circumstantial

for a

person

principles. Despite his disheveled,

416's demeanor that does not

— neither the guards,

homeless

street

When "There

is

person

I

— that he was not — seems strangely

le-

has typically acted from ideological

gaunt appearance, there

elicit

is

something about

sympathy from anyone who

the other prisoners, nor this board.

who makes

Prescott asks

no charge.

who

passersby

Board that he

willed in his opin-

imprisonment

of legal age to sign the research informed consent contract

him

In other

or he will

he reasons, the prison authori-

get sick. Thus,

This scrawny youngster presents

does to the guards: he

galistic

"

be forced to release him.

ties will

ions.

get

more

feel

on what charge 416

have not been charged.

is I

interacts with

He

looks like a

guilty than sympathetic.

in jail for. the prisoner responds.

was not arrested by the Palo Alto

police."

Incensed. Prescott asks Prescott

416

is

if

is

in jail

fuming now and confused.

differed

from

all

I

by mistake, then.

realize that

"1

had not

I

was a standby. briefed

— I

him on how

the others, as a newly admitted standby prisoner.

"What are you. anyway, cigarette

416

a philosophy major.'" Carlo takes time to light his

and perhaps plan a new

"You been philosophizing since

line of attack.

you've been in here."

When one of the secretaries on of disciplinary action

much cise

tion

1

exercise, Prescott curtly replies.

would be

ideal for

him."

lie

"He looks

looks over

recommends exercise

that he has been forced to

at

a strong fellow.

like

as a form

undergo too think exer-

1

Curt and jaffelopul thai on their ac-

list.

I'inally.

the

today's Board

and 4 6 complains

when asked

the loaded question

money he has earned

ately

and

as a prisoner

if

— Would he be willing

a parole

were granted.-

defiantly replies. "Yes. of course. Because

worth the time.

1

don't

feel

—4

to forfeit all 1

6 immedi-

that the

money

is

The Power

147

to Parole

enough of him. "Take him away." 416 then does exactly what him have done like automatons; without instruction he stands arms outstretched to be handcuffed, head bagged, and escorted away from Carlo has had

the others before up,

these proceedings.

demand

Curiously, he does not

that the Board act

He

as a reluctant student research volunteer.

does he not simply belongings, and

I

say, "I quit this

am out of

This prisoner's

he stands firmly by

first

now to

terminate his role

so why me my clothes and

want any money,

experiment. You must give

here!"

name is Clay,

his principles

Nevertheless, he has

doesn't

but he will not be molded easily by anyone;

and obstinately

become too embedded

in the strategy

he has advanced.

in his prisoner identity to

do the

insisting to the

him he has now been given the keys to freedom by Parole Board that he must be allowed to quit here and now while

he

removed from the prison venue. However, he

macroanalysis that should

is

physically

venue within

tell

is

now carrying that

his head.

Addicts Are Easy

Game

Prisoner Paul-5704, next at bat, immediately complains about

how he's missing

the cigarette ration that he was promised for good behavior. His disciplinary

charges by the guards include "Constantly and grossly insubordinate, with flares of violence

and dark mood, and constantly tries

to incite the other prisoners to in-

subordination and general uncooperativeness." Prescott challenges his so-called good behavior,

which

will

never get him an-

other cigarette again. The prisoner answers in such a barely audible voice that

Board members have

to ask

when he knows

badly even

it

him will

to speak louder.

mumbles, staring toward the center of the "We've discussed that

low through with ishment

...

them."

for

punishment

it

for

if

A

.

.

.

When

he

is

told that

he acts

mean punishment for other prisoners, he again

well,

table.

something happens, we're

if

someone else was doing something.

I'd

just

going to

fol-

go through pun-

Board member interrupts, "Have you gone through

any of the other

Paul-5704 responds

prisoners.^"

yes,

he has

suf-

fered for his comrades.

Prescott loudly "Well,

I

guess

and mockingly

we

"What have you but again

it is

all

are

"

declares, "You're a martyr, then, huh.?"

5704

says, again barely audible.

got to say for yourself.?" Prescott

demands. 5704 responds,

unintelligible.

Recall that 5704, the tallest prisoner,

had challenged many of the guards

openly and been the insider in various escape attempts, rumors, and barricades.

He was

also the

elected

head of the Stanford County

ther,

it

to his girlfriend expressing his pride at being Jail

Prisoners' Grievance Committee. Fur-

same 5704 who had volunteered for this experiment under false He signed up with the intention of being a spy who was going to expose

was

pretenses.

one who had written

this

this research in articles

he planned to write

for several alternative, liberal,

"un-

148

The Lucifer Effect

derground" newspapers, on the assumption that than a government-supported project

Where had

dents.

all

for learning

that former hravado gone?

experiment was no more

this

how to deal with

political dissi-

Why had he suddenly become in-

coherent? Before us in this

room

sits

a subdued, depressed

young man. Prisoner 5704

simply stares downward, nodding answers to the questions posed by the Parole Board, never making direct eye contact, "Yes.

I

would be willing to give up any pay

I've

he answers as loudly as he can muster strength five of

this

(The

tally

is

now

sir."

yes from

the six prisoners.)

wonder how that dynamic,

I

earned to get paroled now.

to do.

passionate, revolutionary

young man. could have vanished As an

aside,

we later learned

into his prisoner role that as the

that

first

so admirable in

spirit,

so totally in such a short time? it

was Paul- 5 704 who had gotten

so deeply

part of his escape plan he had used his long,

hard, guitar-player fingernails to unscrew one of the electrical power plates from

the wall.

He then used

that plate to help

remove the doorknob on

used those tough nails to mark on the wall of his

cell

confinement with notches next to M/ T /W/ Th/. so

A Puzzling,

his cell.

He

also

the passage of days of his

far.

Pou'erful Prisoner

The next parole request comes from Prisoner Jerry-5486. He is even more puzzling than those who appeared earlier He shows an upbeat style, a sense of being able to cope quietly with whatever

is

coming

stark contrast to that of Prisoner 4 1 6 or

Glenn- 3401 Surely there .

any of

overt support for

5486 manages

is

full

his

comrades

in

two weeks with-

and he has shown

insincerity in his statements,

to antagonize Prescott as

is

of the other slim prisoners, like

the sense that he will endure the

is

out complaint. However, there little

his way. His physical robustness

some

few minutes here.

in distress. In a

much as any other prisoner has. He an-

swers immediately that he would not be willing to give up the pay he's earned so

exchange

far in

for parole.

The guards report that 5486 does not deserve parole consideration because "he

made a joke out of

letter writing,

and

for his general

non-cooperation."

asked to explain his action. Prisoner 5486 responds that

imate

letter ...

it

didn't

"I

knew

affirmatively, as

you

you to write a letter that was not legitimate?" maybe chose the wrong word ." up. He reads his report to the Board: "5486 has been he has become something of a jokester and minor

backtracks: "Weil,

But Arnett does not

on a gradual downhill cut up."

let

slide

to write the let-

Guard Arnett continues. "And you're saying

that the correctional officers asked

5486

legit-

aside silently observing the proceed-

ings, can't help but interrupt: "Did the correctional officers ask

5486 responds

When

wasn't a

to be ..."

seem

Guard Arnett. who has been standing

ter?"

it

.

I

.

.

.

.

The Power

find that funny?" Carlo challenges him.

"You

"Everybody

5486

149

to Parole

the room] was smiling.

[in

I

wasn't smiling

they smiled."

till

replies defensively.

—we're going

Carlo ominously interjects, "Everyone else can afford a smile

home

tonight.

and he asks a evidence

you

1

he attempts

Still,

"

than the day

to be less confrontational

you were

series of provocative questions: "If

have, along with the report from

staff,

in

before,

my place, with the do.' How would

what would you

What would you do.' What do you think is right for yourself.^"

act.^

The prisoner answers tions. After a

evasively but never fully addresses those difficult ques-

few more questions from the other members of the Board, an exas-

perated Prescott dismisses him:

we need

to do.

"I

think we've seen enough,

The prisoner

surprised at being dismissed so abruptly.

is

that he has created a bad impression

think

we know what

—

has not acted

in his best interests at this time.

if

apparent to him to sup-

not for this parole, then for the next time the Board meets.

place the bag over his head, and disposition of the next

resume

It is

on those he should have persuaded

port his cause

stairs to

I

don't see any reason to waste our time."

I

and

sit

their prison

him on the bench

in the hallway, awaiting the

down-

case before the prisoners are hauled back

final

He

Curt has the guard handcuff him.

life.

Sarge's Surface Tension

The

final

inmate

for the

type, sits upright in the

military posture

if I

Board

to evaluate

is

"Sarge." Prisoner 2093. who. true to

high chair, chest out, head back, chin tucked in

—a

time "to more productive use." and he notes further that he has "followed

from Day One." Unlike most of

change

perfect

have ever seen one. He requests parole so that he can put

his peers,

2093 would not

give

all

up the pay

his

rules

in ex-

for parole.

"Were loss of five

I

to give

days of

up the pay

my

life

I

than

have earned thus it

pay hardly compensates

relatively small

Prescott goes after

far. it

would be an even greater

would have been otherwise." He adds that the for the

time he has served.

him for not sounding "genuine,"

for

having thought every-

thing out in advance, for not being spontaneous, for using words to disguise his feelings.

Sarge apologizes

what he says and Carlo,

who

tries

for giving that

impression because he always

assures Sarge that he and the Board will consider his case very seri-

ously and then

commends him

for his

goodVork

in the prison.

Before ending the interview. Carlo asks Sarge the

first

time

it

was

quested parole the felt

means

hard to articulate clearly what he means. That softens

offered to

first

all

time only

if

why he

didn't request parole

prisoners. Sarge explains,

"I

would have

re-

He and rebukes him

not enough other prisoners requested

it."

that other prisoners were having a harder time in the prison than he was.

he didn't want his request to be placed above another's. Carlo gently for this

show

of shining nobility,

which he thinks

is

a crass attempt to influence

1

so

The Lucifer fjfect

the Board's judgment. Sarge's

what he

show

makes

of surprise

and was not attempting

said

to impress the

it

evident that he meant

Board or anyone

else.

This apparently intrigues Carlo, and he aims to learn about the young man's private likes,

Carlo asks about Sarge's family, his girlfriend, what kind of movies he

life.

whether he takes time

buy an

to

ice

taken together, give someone a unique

cream cone

—

the

all

little

things that,

identity.

Sarge replies matter-of-factly that he doesn't have a

girlfriend,

seldom goes to

movies, and that he likes ice cream but has not been able to afford to buy a cone recently

"All

was too

the bed

prison than I

can say

I

back of

living in the

had the

I

last

that after having gone to

here in prison, and also that

for the past

night because

have been eating better

I

two months, and that I had more time

two months. Thank you.

Wow! What

summer quarter at Stanford and

I

soft

had

is

my car. had a little difficulty sleeping the tirst

to relax

in

than

sir."

a violation of expectation this

young man

offers us. His sense of

all summer and not summer school. That the horrid liv-

personal pride and stocky build belie his having gone hungry

having had a bed to sleep

in while

he attended

ing conditions in our prison could be a better

comes

as a shocker to us

In

one sense. Sarge seems

ent prisoner of

all.

yet he

prisoner of the group.

have stems from

how

his

It

is

and

feelings.

to be the

occurs to

most one-dimensional, mindlessly obedi-

me

that one problem this

young man might

to living by abstract principles

with other people or

needs, financial, personal, resolve

any college student

the most logical, thoughtful, and morally consistent

commitment

to live effectively

lifestyle for

all.

how

and not knowing

to ask others for the support

he

and emotional. He seems so tightly strung by this inner

his outer military posturing that

He may end up having

a harder

life

no one can

than the

really get access to his

rest of his fellows.

Contrition Doesn't Cut the Mustard Just as the

Board

is

preparing to end this session. Curt announces that Prisoner

548f). the flippant one.

wants

to

make an

additional statement to the Board. Carlo

nods okay.

5486

contritely says that he didn't express

cause he hadn't had a chance to think about decline while in this prison, because at he's given

up on

his

hope

fallen in

in

which 5486

with bad

what he fully.

really

wanted

to say. be-

He's experienced a personal

he expected

to

go to a

trial

and now

for justice.

(lUard Arnett. sitting behind

lunch today,

tirst

it

hiFii.

relates a

said that his decline

conwrsation

lliey

had during

must have been because "he's

company"

Carlo Prescott and the Board are obviously confused by this transaction.

How does this statement Prescott

going to

is

promote

his cause?

clearly upset at this display.

make any recommendations.

here until the

last day.

"1

He

tells

would see

5486 to

it

that

if

the Board were

personally that you were

Nothing against you personally, but we're here

to protect

—

"

The Power

society.

And

I

don't think that

151

to Parole

you can go out and do a constructive

job.

do the

community You went outside that door and you realized that you had talked to us like we were a couple of idiots, and you were dealing with cops or authority figures. You don't get along

make you an

kinds of things that will

well with authority figures, do you.'

what I'm trying

to say

How

do you get along with your

you went outside the door and had a

that

is

addition to the

But

folks.'

time to

little

now you're back in here trying to con us into looking at you with a differview. What real social consciousness do you have.' What do you think you

think:

ent

really

owe

Day

form!)

1

society.'

The prisoner scurries to

is

I

want

don't think

is

I'd

new teaching job. It's a worthwhile job. I feel." may even make you more suspect. I

have a

"I

want you

to teach

four days of prison without

lege to I

to

in

not buying his story: "That

any

of

my youngsters. Not with your

your gross immaturity, your indifference to

you want

back

is

taken aback by this frontal assault on his character, and he

make amends:

Prescott

hear something real from you." (Carlo

to

do a teaching

responsibility;

making yourself

job.

do something

come into contact with decent

a nuisance.

You

attitude,

can't even handle

Then you

that's really a privilege.

tell

me

It's

that

a privi-

people and have something to say to them.

don't know, you haven't convinced me.

and you haven't showed me anything.

I

just read

Officer, take

your record

for the first time,

him away.

Chained, bagged, and carted back down to the basement prison, the prisoner will

have to put on a better show

at the next parole

hearing

—assuming he

is

granted the privilege again.

When a Before

Paroled Prisoner Becomes the Chairman of the Parole Board

we return

to

what has been happening dow^n below on the Yard

sence during these two Parole Board time-aways.

A month

in

our ab-

instructive to note the effect

had on our tough chairman

that this role-playing has

Hearing."

it is

of this "Adult Authority

Carlo Prescott offered a tender personal declaration of

later,

the impact this experience had on him:

"Whenever depression

—

I

came

into the experiment,

that's exactly

how

authentic

an experiment when people began

it

I

invariably

left

with a feeling of

was. The experiment stopped being

to react to various kinds of things that

pened during the course of the experiment.

I

noted in prison,

for

hap-

example, that

who considered themselves guards had to conduct themselves in a certain way They had to put across certain impressions, certain attitudes. Prisoners in people

other ways had their certain attitudes, certain impressions that they acted out the

same thing occurred "I

member, the chairman of the prisoners.

how

here.

can't begin to believe that

is it

'How

is it'

—

in

What

did

— the Adult Authority Board —

a board

to say to

one

the face of his arrogance and his defiant attitude

that Orientals seldom

kind of a situation.-

an experiment permitted me. playing

of the board

come

you

do.''

to prison,

seldom

find themselves in this

1S2

Tlu'Liuifcrrjfect

was

"It

his personal feelings.

the

room

as

if

whole orientation

thai particular point in the study that his

ill

changed. He begin to react to

me

as

One man was

an

individual, he

began

to talk to

so completely involved that he

me

about

came back

into

he thought a second journey into the room to speak to the Adult

Authority Board could result in his being paroled sooner." Carlo continues with this self-disclosure: "Well, as a former prisoner.

admit that each time pressed as the

men

impression which it

came

I

got into the roles

came about

was that induced

here, the frictions, suspicion, the

in

.

.

.

made me

recognize the kind of deflated

as a result of the confinement. That's exactly

me a deep feeling of depression,

as

if

I

were back

atmosphere. The whole thing was authentic, not make-believe "[The prisoners] were reacting as improvisational. that particular time.

it

things that are going on in the external world

he

afl.

is

completely aware of the

—the bridge building, the

to

birth of

first

rest

and

all

other things except for an occasional period

sult of a visit, as a result of

no reason

there's

is

for

"His fellows, in their funk and stink and their bitterness, rades,

at that

metamorphosis

— they have absolutely nothing do with him. For the time he alienated from the of society— from humanity, that matter.

children totally

at all.

beings to a situation, however

reflected the kind of

that takes place in a prisoner's thinking. After

what

in a prison

had become part of what they were experiencing

imagine that as such,

I

human

must

1

antagonism ex-

something happening,

to ever identify

like

become

when he

his

com-

can, as a re-

going to the Parole Board,

with where you came from. There

is

just that

time, that instant. "...

wasn't surprised, nor was

I

that 'people

become the

it

a great pleasure to find

role they enact': that

my belief confirmed

guards become symbols of authority

and cannot be challenged: and that there are no

rules or

no

obliged to grant prisoners. This happens with prison guards,

rights they are

and

this

happens

with college students playing at prison guards. The prisoner, on the other hand,

who

is left

tive

he

his

own

to consider his

in

is

own

situation in regard to

how defiant he

is.

how effec-

keeping the experience away from him. comes face-to-face daily with

helplessness.

He has

to correlate both his

own haired and ihe effectivehow heroic or how coura-

ness of his defiance with the reality that regardless of

geous he sees himself

at a certain

subjected to the rules and I

think

it

is

time— he

It

wanted me

defense in the upcoming Soledad Brothers I

could do

is

ture,

so.

one

(fay after

strange indeed that a

Kveryonc

is

be counted and

still

be

letters of the political prisoner (jcorge Jackson, written a bit be-

fore Carlo's statement. Recall that his lawyer

before

still ""»

appropriate to end these deliberations with a similarly insightful

passage from the

in his

will

regulations of the prison.

trial:

to be

an expert witness

however. Jackson was

killed

our study ended.

man

can

find

anything to laugh

at in here.

locked up twenty-four hours a day. They have no past, no fu-

no goal other than the next meal. They're

afraid,

confused and con-

Wednesday founded by a world they

Is

Spiraling Out of Control

know that

they did not make, that they

15 3

feel

they

cannot change, so they make those loud noises so they won't hear what their

mind

is

those around individual yard.^

trying to

them

tell

them. They laugh to assure themselves and

that they are not afraid, sort of like the superstitious

who will whistle or sing a happy number as he passes the grave-

^

CHAPTER EIGHT

Thursday's Reality Confrontations

Ihursday's prison

of woe. yet

is full

we have

miles to go before our exploration

is

complete. In the middle of the night.

town

hospitalized in a strange

nicate to the nurse that

me. "I

It is

have

though

as

I

had

I

still

dreaming.

1

my

me

where one

is

I

I

work, but she cannot understand

in a foreign

to be released." Instead, she puts

which am am struggling to commu-

a terrible nightmare in

an auto accident.

go back to

to

were speaking

shut. In a kind of "lucid dream."

while

awake from

I

after

tongue.

I

scream out

in restraints

to

me go;

let

and tapes my mouth

aware of being an actor

in a

dream

envision that word of this incident gets back to the guards.

They are delighted that with the "bleeding-heart-liberal" superintendent out the way. they are

way they

feel

That

is

now

totally free to deal

of

with their "dangerous prisoners" in any

necessary to maintain law and order.

indeed a scary thought. Imagine what might happen

ment dungeon

if

the guards could

now do whatever they wanted

in that base-

to the prisoners.

Imagine what they could do knowing there was no oversight, no one observing their secret

own

little

tated.

I

games

jump

head back

of domination

off the coiuertible

to the

own freedom

couch-bed

in

my

to interfere with their

and u himsy

dic-

upstairs oflice. wash, dress,

and

basement, glad to have survived that

wit

iiiglilniare iuu] to

ha\c

my

restored.

The 2:30 a.m. count awakened once more by on

and submission, no one

"mind experiments." which they could play out as

is

in full

swing once again. The seven weary prisoners,

loud, shrilling whistles

their stinking, barren cells, are lined

and

billy

up against the

clubs rattling the bars

wall. Ciuard \'andy

ing selected rules and then testing the prisoners' memories of

assorted punishments for

Ciuard Ceros would

memory

like

them by

is

recit-

delivering

lapses.

the whole experience to be

military prison, so he has the prisoners

march

more

like a tightly

in place repeatedly, as

run

though they

155

Thursday's Reality Confrontations

were

Army. After a

in the

young men need

making

to be

their beds in the best military fashion.

their beds completely

remake

cents: "Okay,

them

—

to strip

camp style,

they

their beds, refail inspection,

all fail

must

the inspection,

and then repeat the inane

grow bored with that game. Guard Varish adds

his cute

men, now that you have made your beds, you can

sleep in

process until the guards

two

The prisoners are ordered

and then remake them with precision and stand by them for

inspection. Naturally, as in good boot restrip their beds,

two comrades decide that these

brief discussion, the

more fully disciplined and to understand the importance of

until the next count."

Remember,

this

is

only day

five of

our experiment.

VIOLENCE ERUPTS ON THE YARD Amid

the 7 a.m. count and seemingly

more

carefree singing required of the pris-

oners, violence suddenly erupts. Prisoner Paul- 5 704, exhausted from lack of sleep

and

back.

He

irritated at

having been singled out

refuses to do sit-ups as

for

abuse on almost

commanded. Ceros

all shifts, strikes

insists that the

others

all

con-

tinue to do sit-ups without stopping until

5704 agrees to join in; only by his submission can he stop their painful exercise. Prisoner 5704 does not take the bait. In an extended interview with Curt Banks, Paul- 5 704 described his side of this incident

and the

hostility festering

"I've got lousy thigh muscles,

them

I

said,

while

still

to stretch

them.

I

told

up and do them anyway.' 'Fuck you, you little laying on the ground. As I was getting up to be put in the

that, but they said, 'shut

punk,'

within him:

and I'm not supposed

—

'

156

The Lucifer'E^fect

Hole once again. He jCerosI pushed

me

each other hard and

to

to it

me that would was

in

mc. But

yelling.

wanted

I

represent lighting I

my

hurt

but was put in the Hole instead. Hole, so they kept

me out

of solitary.

let

"I

furious

I

and

insisted

did try to strike that

pushing

the face, but

in

just don't

I

on seeing a

him when

When

others had breakfast.

all

and

scuffled,

him

hit

you know.

pacitist.

hassled,

complained about the pain

the guards examine

my

foot since

in

guard

I

think

doctor,

got out of the

they finally

let

[Ceros].

me to a separate room for my my foot and asked for a doctor. did I

what

did they

want

really

I

to crack

Buddhist, and he keeps calling

is

is

it.'

least hostile

toward me.

'John Wayne.' that guy from Atlanta. I'm a

me a Communist just

think that the good treatment on the part of

[Geoff],

know about

who was

ate alone but did apologize to [Varnish],

But the guy

now

him and

did threaten to 'flatten'

there until

was

I

I

at

took twQ guards to restrain me. As they took

"It

solo breakfast.

not

me in

I'm a

when we

foot

We

against the wall.

swing

to

provoke me. and

some guards.

it

like big

does.

I

Landry

only because they were ordered to act that way."-

Guard John Landry notes

in the daily log that

was the most punished

trouble or "at least he

After each episode he [5704] has spirit,

which he

He

giving

the one most in

considerable depression, but his

continues to

calls 'the freak mentality.'

the strongest willed prisoners.

recommend

shown

5704 has been

prisoner":

also refused to

him lousy dinners and

He

rise.

wash lunch

curtailed

smoking

is

one of

dishes, so

I

privileges

he has a heavy habit. Consider the following alternate and insightful perspective Guard Ceros had of this critical incident

and

of the psychology of

One

of the prisoners. 5704.

him

in the Hole.

and

I

hated

found that

me

By that I

had

as the guard.

image he placed on me.

wondered why the

imprisonment

was not cooperating

time,

it

was regular

to defend myself, not as

He was

He

I

decided to put

reacted violently

me. but as the guard. He

reacting to the uniform:

had no choice but

I

at all. so

routine.

in general:

1

felt

that

was the

to defend myself as a guard.

I

guards weren't rushing to help me. I-Acrybody

oilier

was stunned. I

realized then that

I

was

reaction to their feelings. don't think ness, but

we

did.

I

would have

prisoners soon

became

realized later that

Thinking of

it

because

I

the illusion of ireedoiii. quit.

We

all

went

all

slaves to us:

we were

1

was

just a I

did not see (hat al the

in as slaves to

we were

slaves to

as "just an experiment"

That was the

I

of a choice in their actions.

were both crushed by the situation of oppressive-

we guards had

time, or else

reality.

We

as nuich a prisoner as they were.

They had more

still

the

money The

slaves to the

something

in this

money.

I

environment.

meant no harm could be done with

illusion of freedom.

I

knew could

couldn't as a slave to something there.

I

quit, but

1

didn't.

157

Thursday's Reality Confrontations

Prisoner Jim-4325 agreed about the slavish nature of his condition: "The

worst thing about this experience

is

the super structured

life

and the absolute obe-

dience one must pay to the guards. The humiliation of being almost slaves to the

guards

is

the worst."'*

However, Guard Ceros did not fere

let his

sense of being trapped in his role inter-

with exerting the power of his position. He noted,

enjoyed bothering them.

"I

me that 'Sarge.' 2093, was so very sheepish. I and wax my boots seven times, and he never complained. "^

It

make him

polish

Guard Vandy revealed the dehumanizing perception

of the

bothered

In his reflections.

had crept

prisoners that

did

were very

into his thinking about them: "Prisoners

sheepish by Thursday, except for a brief scuffle between Ceros and 5704, which

was a small incident

and I did not

as sheep

In

of violence that

Guard

give a

I

did not like whatsoever.

I

thought of them

damn as to their condition."*^

Ceros's final evaluation report, he offered a different take

on the

emerging sense of dehumanization by the guards of the prisoners: There were a few times when ple,

but

I

I

had forgotten the prisoners were peo-

always caught myself, realized that they were people.

I

simply

thought of them as 'prisoners' losing touch with their humanity. This

happened them.

for short periods of time, usually

am

I

tired

and disgusted

mind. Also I make an actual try of

make

it

when

at times, this

I

was giving orders

to

my

usually the state of

is

my will to dehumanize them in order to

easy for me.''

Our staff agree that of all the guards, the one who "goes by the book" most consistently

of

them

is

He is one of

Varnish.

the oldest guards, at twenty-four,

are graduate students, so they should have a bit

like

Arnett. Both

more maturity than the

other guards, whose ages range from just eighteen for Ceros, Vandy, and

J.

Landry.

Varnish's daily shift reports are the most detailed and lengthy, including ac-

counts of individual incidents of prisoner subordination. Yet he rarely comments

on what the guards were doing and there

work

in

never

arbitrarily.

any of these

the prison guard sive as

is

He punishes

reports.

Varnish's role-playing has

whenever he

some others

is

no sense

and

become so fully internalized that he is

in this prison setting.

Arnett and Hellmann.

are, like

of the psychological forces at

prisoners only for rule violations

He is not dramatic and abu-

On

the other hand, he

is

trying to get the prisoners to like him. as others, such as Geoff Landry, do.

merely does his job as routinely and

efliciently as possible.

ground information that Varnish considers himself streak of

dogmatism on the

"There was prisoners as

The way one's reason study:

at

much in is

I

not

He

see from his back-

egotistical at times,

with a

side.

times a distinct tendency to minimize effort by not harassing as

wc could

which

roles

have." Varnish reported.

can come

to rule not only one's

emotions but also

interestingly revealed in Varnish's self-reflective analysis after the

158

The LuciferEffeet

I

started out in the experiment thinking that

manner appropriate

act in a

gressed.

I

was rather surprised

a guard

havior.

be a

was surprised

I

— uh — that

anything feel

any

I

I

would

regret.

to reflect I

and had

really

— no.

really

dream

on what

Prisoner 5704 Earns

manner

of doing. guilt.

had done, that

I

realized that this

any

was

a part of

—

I

had sought

to

actually beginning to of this kind of be-

to find out that

I

could really

so absolutely unaccustomed to

And

while

I

was doing

it I

didn't

was only afterwards, when began

It

this

was

I

was incapable

I

was dismayed

could act in a

didn't feel

I

I

thought

over.

to

experiment pro-

to tind out that the feelings

impose on myself were beginning to take feel like

would probably be able

I

to the experiment, but as the

I

dawn on me and

behavior began to

me had I

not noticed before."^

More Tormenting

Prisoner Paul-57()4's assault on Ccros was the primary subject of talk in the

guard station during the 10 a.m. transfer from the morning they were taking off or putting on their uniforms to end a

day

to the

shift

shift,

or start one.

when They

agreed that he would need special attention and discipline since no such attack against guards could be tolerated.

Prisoner chained to his

5704 was not included in the 11:30 a.m. count because he was bed in Cell 1 Guard Arnett ordered everyone else down for seventy .

push-ups as group punishment ers

were getting weaker from

for 5 7()4's insubordination.

their

minimal

they were nevertheless able to perform this sizable could not do reluctantly

when

well fed

and

rested.

Although the prison-

and exhausted from lack

diet

number of push-ups

They were getting

of sleep.

—which

I

into athletic condition

and miserably.

Continuing the ironic theme music from the previous day. the prisoners were

made

to sing, loud

and

clear.

"Oh,

What

a Beautiful

Grace." mixed in with a choral round of "Row. Row.

he joined his fellows

for this

Morning" and "Amazing

Row Your Boat."

Shortly after

chorus. Prisoner Paul- 5 704 continued his verbal in-

subordination, and once again he

was thrown

ing at the top of his lungs, he again kicked

into the Hole.

down

the

Screaming and curs-

wooden

partition that

separated the two compartments of the Hole. The guards dragged him out. handcuffed him. chained both ankles together,

repaired the for

damage

to the Hole. Solitary

whenever two prisoners had As inventively determined

to take the

hinge bolts

off the

and put him back

now had

to

day

cell

units

to be disciplined simultaneously.

5704 somehow was

able

to his cell, thereby locking himself in

and

as real prisoners

door

can

be.

taunting the guards. Once'again. the guards broke into his

back to the now-repaired Hole

into Cell 2 while they

have two separate

until

cell,

and carted him

he was taken to the Parole Board

later that

for a disciplinary hearing.

5704's riotous actions

finally

break through the appearance of equanimity

^

159

Thursday's Reality Confrontations

As one of the older guards, a graduate

that Guard Arnett has carefully cultivated.

who

student in sociology,

charged (and acquitted)

has tutored in three juvenile assembly" in a

for "illegal

and who has been

jails

civil rights protest.

He

the most relevant experience for being a conscientious guard.

compassion

for the prisoners, as

meanor every moment he

commands

as he

is

is

as precise in delivering his verbal

in his controlled physical gestures.

is

Arnett has

but without

he behaves with a completely professional de-

on the Yard. He

status authority figure, like a

is.

TV anchorman, with

He has become a highmovements of

his unified

head. neck, and shoulders and his synchronized arm-wrist-hand gestures. Deliberate in

is

to

of economy of involvement with him being ruffled by anything, as it

word and deed, Arnett conveys a sense

the scene around him.

It is

as hard to imagine

imagine anyone challenging him. I

am a little surprised myself at the equanimity that I felt throughout. I felt

angry only once poked

me

with). At of

in the all

when 5704 took the lock off his door and my own stick (which I had just poked him

for a slash

stomach with

other times,

I felt

quite relaxed.

I

never experienced any sense

power or elation when pushing people or ordering them about.

In this prison setting, Arnett used his understanding of

some

social science

research to his advantage: I

was aware from my reading that boredom and other aspects of prison life

can be exploited

to

make

people

ing boring work, punishing

demeaning

power of those

heighten alienation could use

feel

disoriented by being impersonal, giv-

prisoners for bad behavior by individuals,

perfect execution of trivial

sensitive to the

I

all

it

[of

demands

in exercise sessions.

in control of social settings

and

I

I

was

tried to

some of these techniques. way because I didn't want to be bru-

the prisoners] by using

only in a very limited

tal, i"

In challenging the early parole release for 5704, Arnett wrote to the Board, "I

can hardly

list all

5704's infractions at

this time.

insubordinate, with flare ups of violence

He

is

constantly and grossly

and extreme mood swings, and con-

stantly tries to incite the other prisoners to insubordination

operativeness.

He

acts badly

prisoners will result.

and general unco-

even when he knows punishment

He should be

for the

other

dealt with harshly by the discipline

com-

mittee."

Prisoner 416 Confronts the System with a

Hunger

Strike

Prisoner 5 704 wasn't the only disciplinary concern. The madness of this place, to which we have become accustomed over the few days since we began last Sunday, had also struck Prisoner 416 when he arrived yesterday as a replacement pris-

oner

for flrst-to-be-relcased prisoner

Doug-8612. He could not

believe

what he

— The Lucifer^Effect

lf>()

was witnessing and wanted

experiment immediately. However, he was

to quit the

he could not

told by his cellmates that

along the

quit. His cellmates passed

statement that I'risoner 86 1 2 had asserted, that

it

was not

false

possible to leave, that

"They" would not allow anyone to leave before the time was up.

am

I

reminded of

the famous line from the song "Hotel California": "You can check out anytime

you

but you can never leave."

like,

Instead of challenging that false assertion. Prisoner 4

means

of escape.

hole in

my hastily prepared contract.

on

this system.'

out.

my

I

feelings

"1

developed a plan.

unlikely that

1

h would use a passive

would

later said. "I

insist

on the loop-

But what force beyond pleading could I exert

could rebel as Paul- 5 704 has. But by using legal tactics to get

Instead.

416

I

all

them

followed

chose to exhaust the resources of

I

by being impossible, by refusing is

he

were of secondary importance, though

my goal.

of achieving

'

in

terms

this simulation

rewards and accepting their punishments."

(It

he was adopting a strategy that organized labor

realized that

has used in struggles against management, to "play by the rules." formally

known in the

on every matter

as "work to rule."

expose inherent weaknesses

in order to

system.")

416

decided to go on a

because, by refusing the food the guards offered,

fast

he would take away one source of their power over the prisoners. Looking skinny body, his muscle-free body. 13

me think that

he already looked

like

pounds on a

5

tive-foot-eight frame,

County

made

a starvation victim.

some ways. CIay-416 was more powerfully impacted by

In

a prisoner in the Stanford

at his

Jail

than anyone

else was. as

his

tirst

day as

he told us

in this

personal, yet depersonalized analysis: "I

son

began

to feel that

who put me in

'cause

it

was

was

I

a prison to me.

experiment or a simulation the State. prison '4

1

6.'

I

began

—

was

really

still is

it

it

identity.

The person

who volunteered a prison to me

person

—

I

don't look on

person

I

—

1

decided to

I

fast.

I

decided to

fast

I

something because going to catch inilialing

shil

1

And

e\entually

them by being

1

6 telling his cellmates

tation thai he

if

an

as

1

stopped eating. Then

the\ didn't get

I

what

was

to do,

because that was the one

had

1

me to eat. And

you

let

me so

I

eat.

re-

but

power over

a sort of

found the one thing ihey couldn't crack

on. They were

was

sort of

hu-

able to last."'-

He began by refusing 4

so

it

wasn't that.

to decide

ward the guards gave you. They always threatened they wouldn't they had to give you eats.

the per-

was. that decided to go to

from me was remote, until linally. my number, and 4 6 was going to have

and that was when

call 'Clay.'

I

to go into this prison

a prison run by psychologists instead of run by

is

to feel that identity, the

—was distant 1

my

losing

this place, the

to

tirat

touch his lunch. Arnett reported that he overheard

he intended not

to eat until

had been demanding. He said that

probably collapse, and then what can they

do.'

found him nothing more than a "sassy and back ing noble in this hunger strike.

"After

he got the

legal consul-

about twelve hours

They'll

have to give

talkin'

"

prisoner.

in."

He

I'll

Arnett

sees noth-

161

Thursday's Reality Confrontations

Here was a new prisoner embarking on a daring plan of disobedience,

di-

make him a nonviosomeone to rouse them from

rectly challenging the guards' power. His act could potentially

lent hero

around

whom

the prisoners could

their mindlessly obedient stupor

—

like

rally,

Mahatma Gandhi. By

that the violence used by

5407

power are so imbalanced

in favor of the system.

did not

work

in a place I

come up with another plan that would involve his communal disobedience, using a mass hunger strike harsh treatment. Nevertheless.

their

that he

had

little

I

awareness of the need

contrast,

it is

clear

where the resources

of

was hoping that 416 would cellmates and the others in as a tactic for remediation of

worried that he was so internally focused to

engage

his fellows in fuller

group oppo-

sition.

More

Tvv^o It

Prisoners Break Dou^n

appeared that the problem caused by 5407 and 416 were the beginnings of a

domino effect of confrontations. Prisoner 103 7's mother had been right. Her son. Rich,

had not looked good

to her:

now he did not look good to me. He had become

increasingly depressed after his folks

had left following visiting hours: he probably

wished that they had insisted on taking him

home with them.

Instead of accept-

came to beHe wanted to prove that he could take it. "like a man." He couldn't. Just like his celhnates 8612 and 819 from the original rebellious Cell 2. 1037 displayed symptoms of extreme stress to such an extent that had him taken to the quiet room outside the prison yard and told him that it would be best if he were paroled at this time. He was pleased and surprised at this good news. As I helped him change into his civilian clothes, he was still shaky. I told him he would get full pay for the entire experiment and that we would be in contact with him and all the other students soon to go over the results of the study, complete the final surveys, and give them their payment. Prisoner 1037 later said that the worst part of the experiment was the "time when the guards gave me the feeling that they were expressing their true inner ing his mother's accurate appraisal of his condition. Rich probably

masculinity was at stake.

lieve that his

I

feelings

and not

just the

guard

role they

were playing. For example, there were

some times during the exercise periods when we prisoners would be pushed

to the

Some guards seemed to really enjoy our agony."' When his parents came to get him during visiting hours, the news of 1 3 7's imminent parole did not go down well with Prisoner 4325. who was more

point of real suffering.

stressed than

any of us had

4325, seemed indicated he

^

like

was

realized. "Big Jim." as

a self-assured

in the

our research team referred to

young man whose

normal range on

all

preselection assessment

measures. Nevertheless, on that

had

after-

noon he abruptly broke down.

"When the appearance before the Parole Board came up. immediately became hopeful of getting released. But I fell a long way down when Rich [1037] was paroled and was not. That one act worked its way into me and brought 1

1

about an even heavier feeling of desperation.

I

broke* as a result.

I

learned that

"

"

Vw Lucifer Effect

162

my emotions are much more present than I

actually have.

how

it

I

If

prison

anything

is

I

thought and realized what a great

what went through

like

I

here.

life

know

don't

could help anyone." ••*

said the

same things

him

to

as

had

I

said to 1037. namely, that

going to parole him soon anyway for his good behavior, and that left

I

sooner.

I

thanked him

for his participation, told

been so tough on him. and invited him back soon

wanted

have

to

having had a longings and

all

come back

I

was sorry

to discuss

we were fine

that

he

if

it

had

what we found.

I

together to share their reactions after

of distance from this unusual experience.

bit left

the students

him

was

it

He gathered

his be-

quietly after indicating that he did not need to see a psychologi-

cal counselor in Student Health Services.

The Warden's Log noted. "432 5 5:

30

P.M.

because of severe reactions

reacts badly

like

[Doug] before him." The log also adds the curious

432 5 's

release by

sight

is

Letters

is

to be released by

819

[Stew] and

fact that there

is

who

is

definitely out of

Home from

by this time in the grueling

present and accounted for

test of

8612

no mention

any of the prisoners or by any of the guards. Gone and

ten. Rest in Peace. Apparently,

that matters

and has

those displayed by

endurance

—not who used

to be.

of

forgotall

Out of

mind.

the Stanford

Jail

"Today when the prisoners were writing

letters

home explaining what

a fine time

they were having, as they have done before, prisoner 5486 [Jerry] could not get his letter right until the third attempt." reported

Guard Markus. "This

prisoner's

behavior and respect for authority have been steadily deteriorating from the early

days

when he was in

the model

versely affected by his

new

cell

#3. Since

cell

realignment.

5486 has been

ad-

new cellmates, and his behavior is now characterized by his

wise cracks, especially during counts. All of his behaviors have the sole pur-

pose to undermine prison authority. Arnett's report also singled out this formerly model prisoner as a

new

prob-

"5486 has been in gradual downhill slide since being separated from 4 32 5 and 209 3 in cell #3. He has become something of a jokester and minor cutup. lem:

This unacceptable behavior should be rectified before leading to committing

something

serious.*'

The third guard on the day shift. John Landry, was similarly upset when "5486 made a joke out of letter writing as a sign of his general non-cooperation. I

recommend,

as punishment, that he be

Christina Joins the

Mad

made

to write

After Thursday's Parole Boahd

him

scheduled

to dinner

5 letters of this type.

Hatter's Party

and Disciplinary Board

Carlo had to return to the city for urgent business. take

1

because

I

wanted

I

finished their deliberations.

was glad

that

1

did not have to

to be present for the early visiting

for right after the prisoners

had

their dinner.

1

had

hours

to apologize to

163

Thursday's Reality Confrontations

Mrs.

Prisoner 103

Y..

However.

also

I

comer to those Christina

was about

7's

wanted

to

my

mother, for

insensitive behavior the other night.

have a more relaxed dinner that night with the new-

deliberations. Christina Maslach.

had recently gotten her Ph.D.

to begin her career as

an

in social

psychology at Stanford and

assistant professor at Berkelej;

one of the

first

women to be hired by its Psychology faculty in decades. She was a diamond in the smooth

—smart,

serene,

and

self-contained.

reer as a research psychologist as a teaching assistant

lier

informal editor of several of I

imagine that

to a ca-

and a valuable research collaborator as well as an

my books.

would have been

I

Hardworking and committed

and educator. Christina had worked with me ear-

in love

with her even

if

she had not been

stunningly beautiful. For a poor kid from the Bronx, this elegant "California Girl"

was a dream come

true.

However.

I

had

to

maintain a respectful distance so that

my recommendations for her employment would not be tainted by my personal involvement. Now that she had gotten one of the best jobs in the country on her own merits, we could pursue our relationship openly. had not told her much about this prison study because she and some other I

colleagues and graduate students were scheduled to do a thorough evaluation of the

and guards the next

prisoners,

staff,

scheduled two weeks.

1

day. Friday,

about halfway through our

had the sense that she had not been pleased by what she

had seen and heard on the afternoon

of the disciplinary deliberations.

anything she had said that disturbed me. but her sa\ing nothing discuss her reactions to Carlo

kind of information

The

Priest Follows

The

priest,

and that scenario

our

all.

Through on His Promise of that this

part to add verisimilitude to this

is

Friday.

has already done his

his seriously intense role-playing

Now he is forced to follow through on his priestly promise to give aid

should anyone request his assistance. Sure enough. Father McDermott

mother

of

sentation

Hubbie-7258 and

if

was not

We would

Pastoral Aid

just a simulated prison,

mock prison by

It

late dinner, as well as the

hoped she could obtain from her interviews on

I

who knows

the other day.

at

at

tells

calls

the

Mrs. Whittlow that her son needs legal repre-

he wants to get out of the Stanford County

Jail.

Instead of just saying

home with her when she sees him at the next Visitors' Night. Mrs. W. does what she is told. She calls her nephew Tim. a lawyer in the public defender's office. He in turn calls me. and we follow through on this script by agreeing to schedule his official lawyer's that

if

her son really wants out so badly, she will just take him back

visit for

Friday

morning as one more

growing ever more unreal. Our

little

realistic

drama,

it

element in

this experience that

would appear,

is

is

now being rewrit-

ten by Franz Kafka as a surreal supplement to The Trial or perhaps by Luigi Pirandello as in

an update of

his

Search of an Author

II fu

Mania Pascal or his better-known play

Six Characters

"

1

64

The LuciferEffect

A Hero

the Rearview Mirror

in

S^ometimes

it

sons. Clay-4 in

On

to realize the value of

the Waterfront.

"I

"troublemaker

"

who caused

said. "I

moment he was thought

the heat of the

in

hardships to his fellows

—a

les-

statement

classic

coulda been a contender." Clay-4 16 might have

However,

"

important

life's

might provide a counterpart of Marlon Brando's

coulda been a hero. just a

and distance

takes time

1 ti

to be

an

rebel without

obvious cause.

Heroism often requires

We typically celebrate

social support.

courageous individuals, but we do not do so

sown

seeds of resistance are best

common

their actions

and we can't understand

diate cost to the rest of us

ness to suffer for

if

if all

members

of a

We

values and goals.

their motives.

Africa.

and hideouts

Networks of people

community share

a willingfor

when he was imprisoned

many European

in

Such heroic

have seen such an instance,

example, in Nelson Mandela's resistance to apartheid

South

heroic deeds of

have tangible imme-

in

nations organized escapes

Jews to survive the Nazi Holocaust. Hunger strikes were em-

for

ployed for political purposes in the fasting to death of IRA leaders during their

imprisonment

in Belfast's

tional Liberation

Army

Long Kesh

political prisoners instead of

cently,

prison.

They and others from the

in the U.S. military prison in

namo. Cuba, have gone on extended hunger As

for

Na-

being designated as ordinary criminals.'^ More re-

hundreds of detainees being held

inhumane nature

Irish

used the hunger strike to gain attention to their status as

of their captivity

duanta-

strikes to protest the illegal

and gain media attention

and

to their cause.

Clay-4 16. although he had a personal plan for effective resistance, he

did not take time to share

it

with his cellmates or the other prisoners so that they

could decide to join forces with him.

Had he done

plan might have repre-

so. his

sented a unifying principle rather than being dismissed as a personal pathology.

would have become a

collective challenge to the evil

tional quirk. Perhaps because he

not

know him

ing those

first

well

enough or

felt

came on that he

It

system rather than a disposi-

the scene

the other prisoners did

late,

had not paid

his

dues as they had dur-

hard days and nights. In any case, he was an "outsider." as Dave,

our informer (replacement

for SfSl 2).

had been. Though Dave had been quickly

won

over to the prisoners' side and aligned with their cause against the system

that

had hired him as

introverted style that

ing his

life

in his

its

spy.

not so with 4

was alienating

own complex mind and not

tions. Nevertheless, his defiance

one other

6.

1

However.

his fellows.

1

think

He was used

in the

to

it

was

going

it

also 4

1

alone,

6s liv-

realm of inter^xTsonal connec-

had a powerful impact on the thinking

prisoner, albeit after the prison experience

was

of at least

over.

Jerry-5486. the prisoner recently designated a "smart aleck

"

by the Parole

Board, was clearly influenced by 4 1 6's heroism in the face of harsh abuse:

"I

was

impressed with Clay's stoic determination and wish he would have been there from the beginning.

He would have had a definite 5486 added;

In his later reflections.

effect

on the events that followed.

165

Thursday's Reality Confrontations

was

It

when Clay-416, who was the first real example of who had made up his mind when he absolutely re-

interesting that

an obstinate person

fused to eat his sausages, people went against him. Earlier in the study,

he would have been

their ideal.

going to be hard and

fast

around

to

and

Because a

strike

and

somebody having the guts

They wanted

their

lot of

to

do

people said they were

but

all this,

when

that, they

it

finally

came

went against him.

own petty little comforts rather than see him hold on to

his integrity.

went on

Jerry- 548 6

to note

how

unpleasant

tween 416 and 7258. "between Hubble and Clay friend." Later on,

was

it

to witness the clash be-

over the sausages and the

on the true meaning

he had a better perspective

confrontation, but he could not see the true nature of the event while folding

and he could have taken action

realized that everybody

I

through

was

and making others

suffering

it,

to intervene

and defuse

girl, it

took the bait and

was too sad

It

would be 'John Wayne's'

let it

tear

was un-

it:

so far into the whole thing that they were

suffer as well.

especially since [Hubble] didn't realize that,

ten to see his

it

girl-

of that

him

if

to see

them go

he had not got-

not Clay's. [Hubble]

fault,

apart. ^^

Meanwhile, back in solitary confinement, Clay-416 was coping in a kind of Buddhist style that would have that Clay

made

was using such a Zen-like

Paul- 5 704 proud of him, had he

meditated constantly. For example,

"I

[Burdan] has

day was going to be canceled and

tors'

when I was refusing dinner,

the prisoners out of their cells trying to convince

all

all this shit,

which

I

just stared at that droplet

plate.

I

Nobody was then

and focused myself

able to bother me.

I

had a

was

first

the guard

me

that visi-

calculated wouldn't

happen. But I wasn't sure; I just had calculated that probability. stared at the droplet of water from the frankfurter that

cally.

known

mental survival.

tactic for

I

then continually

glistening

on

my

tin

horizontally, then verti-

religious experience in the

Hole." 17

This scrawny kid had found inner peace through his passive resistance, taking control over his body and directing himself

moving account of how he

offered this

away from the guards. Clay-416

believed that he

had won the contest

of

personal will against institutional power:

"Once

I

for the first

thrown that

1

in

refused food before the

time here.

It

pleased

the Hole for the night.

had exhausted

realize too that

I

me I

dominant evening guard, to infuriate

was

jubilant, lubilant

his resources (to be

had privacy

in solitary

I

knew.

I

because

used against him).

confinement

ishment of the others did not concern me. situation.

I

1

became content

[Guard Hellmann]. Upon being

—

it

1

I

felt all

but sure

was astonished

to

was luxurious. His pun-

was gambling on the

limits of the

calculated, that visitors' privileges could not be removed.

I

pre-

pared myself to stay in the Hole until probably ten the next morning. In the Hole

]hh

I

The LuciferBffect

was

furthest

cx|X'riencing myscH' as

I'roni

'Clay."

even to be '416.' The number had an identity to

own

response to the situation.

under

my

name.

old

I

felt

no need

In the Hole, there

is

I

was

me

'4

h,'

1

and proud

willing

because 416 had found his

to cling to the

former

manhood had I

a four-inch bar of light extending lop to

bottom, thrown by the crack between the closet doors. About the third hour there.

was

I

with calm

tilled

thing in the prison.

was

released

will,

so

I

around

1

in

p.m.

I

regarding this bar of

mean

don't

and returned

was stronger than the

far.

light.

that only subjectively. to a bed.

I

It is

It is.

felt

the most beautiful

go look

that

1

whole.

will of the situation as a

at

it.

had won.

When my I

that

slept well that

I

night."

The Sidekick Shows a Curt Banks

me that

tells

dan because he guy's wake.

Little

is

of

such a

Soul

all

little

the guards the one he likes or respects least

am feeling the same,

I

up

toady, sucking

Hellmann.

after

although from a prisoner's point of view there

were others who were much worse threats

to their sanity

and

had overheard Burdan bragging that he had seduced

staff

Bur-

is

living in the big

survival.

One of

the

his friend's wife last

The three of them had been regular weekly bridge players, and although he

night.

had always been attracted

to this twenty-eight-year-old

he had never had the guts

to

move on her

—

until

mother

of

now. Perhaps

two children,

was

it

his

new-

found sense of authority that gave him the courage to deceive and cuckold his old friend.

If

it

were

true,

was another reason not

it

background information that

some

positive weight

Burdan *s

to like him.

is

Then we found

in his

mother escaped from Nazi Germany, so we add

back into our evaluation of

report

shift

his

this

complex young man.

an amazingly accurate depiction of

official

correc-

tions staff behavior:

We have a crisis in authority, this rebellious conduct tially

1

b's fasting] poten-

got-

I

ten to calls

[4

undermines the complete control we have over the others. have

know

the idiosyncrasies of various

them "numbers";

tempt to

[interesting that

a blatant deindividualization of the prisoners];

information only

utilize this

numbers

for

harassment while inside the

I

he at-

cell-

block.

He

also points the linger at the lack of support he

getting from our to find out

him not

staff:

to

h()v\'

eating.

.

.

"Real trouble started

handle .

dinner

this late revolt for the

reason that

stand the idea of him (4

1

b| being in the

is

malice.

I

are worried about

tempered by what he did next.

Hole any longer.

gerous (since the rules limit solitary to one hour].

new

we

I

negative view of Clliard Burdan

quietly put the

and the other guards were

— we look to prison authority

They are strangely absent." (We plead guilty to not providing

oversight and training.

My

at

prisoner. 41

f>.

back

in his cell."

I

"

he says.

"It

"I

cant

seems dan-

argue with Dave, and then

He

adds, "but with a touch of

order him to take the sausages to bed with him."

''^

167

Thursday's Reality Confrontations

A validation of this positive take on Burdan comes from a comment by Jerry5486. "I

who was the only prisoner to volunteer to give up his blanket for Clay-41 6:

was upset

W ayne"s ranting

John

at

and raving. [Burdan] came over

my

to

cell

knowing I sympathized with Clay and said that he wont be kept in there all night. 'We'll bring him out as soon as everyone is asleep.' he whispered to me. and then went back

he was a hard guy.

to pretending

Not only was Jerry-5486 best thing about this

was

It

as

in

Report. Burdan notes. "There

more than any

all." (I

concur: that

of the other prisoners,

you

human

realize

nature because just

is

is

enriching

when you

you know only the smallest

Buddha. He

hunger

"-^

between

solidarits-

for respecting Jerr>'-5486

my

appreciation of the com-

think you understand someone. inner nature derived from a

slice of their

As I too come

such strong opposition.

I

to respect Clay-41 6 for

discover that he

not

is

all

us in his final interview what he thinks about the suffering his

tells

strike

no

is

He

5486 who has always demanded

one reason

limited set of personal or mediated contacts. his willpower in the face of

it.

or plead, or crack up.

i

This intense, extended experience plexity of

that the

feel

willing to endure whatever necessary to get

the remaining prisoners, with the exception of

equal privileges for

make some

one guy who

Clay: "Seeing

was the onl>' guy with anything at stake wiio didn't sell out. In that night's Shift

to

416's corner, but he also came to

whole experience was meeting

knew what he wanted and was

he needed

if

in the eye of the storm. "^^

communication

honest, sincere

caused the other prisoners:

create a situation

where

it is

difficult

"If

am trying to get out and the guards

I

on other people because I'm trying

to get

out. Idon'tgive ashit."

His friend Jerry-5486 provides a fascinating perspective on the complex

mind games

that he

More and more saying

"It's

was playing

— and losing—

as the experiment

only a game, and

I

and they can't bother my mind, so fine for

me.

escape.

I

was enjoying

I

felt

my

went on.

know I'll

it

was

often less

and

under

helpful

things, counting

it

all.

I

my

can endure

my

watching

it

easy enough,

my

my

control than

I

I

realize

now that

my head, my prison behav-

realized. I

No matter how

was

still

open,

operating as an

being rational rather than compassionate.

my own detached way.

but

now I'm aware that

actions hurt others. Instead of responding to their needs.

sume

actions by

money, and planning

happen. But

it

inside

was with other prisoners

isolated, self-centered person,

got along fine in

I

my

could justify

go through the actions." Which was

no matter how together I thought I was ior

I

head was pretty together and they couldn't upset me. be-

cause I was detached from

friendly

and

in this prison.

that they were as detached as

I

and thereby

rationalize

I

I

frequently

would

as-

my owti self-

ish behavior.

The

best

his sausages

example

of this

Clay and

I

was when Clay [416] was

were

friends,

he knew

I

in the closet

was on

his side

with

during

1

6S

The Lucifer lyffcit

the fasting incident, and

when

I'clt

1

I

in the closet

everyone

just like

Im

knows

and we were

on

else.

I

easily justitled

hard on

really

justifying

it

Clay.

by saying

There

1

I

the supper table

al

eat.

But

when he went

and pound on the

by saying

it

actions don't

keep humoring the guard." Later.

was

make him

told to yell things

My

his side.

him some

iiad helped

the other prisoners were trying to

"It's just

make any

door.

was tormenting the guy

I

it

a game. Clay

difference so

realized that the yelling

did

1

I'll

just

and pounding

liked most.

And

go through the motions but they haven't got

"I'll

When what was really important was the other thinking.^ How were my actions affecting him.' was blind to the consequences of my actions, and unconsciously assigning the responsibility for them to the guards. had separated my mind from my actions. probably would have done anything short of causing my

control of

guy's mind.

mind."

What was

/]('

I

I

I

harm to a

physical

prisoner as long as

I

could

shift

the responsibility to the

guards.

And

so

clearly as

I

now

my mind was I

I

maybe you

think,

did during the experiment.

—

I

didn't get upset.

look back on the things

control over

I

did

it

I

can't separate I

mind and actions

prided myself on

didn't

let

how

as

unassailable

them control my mind. But

seems they had quite a strong, but

as

subtle,

my mind.-'

"WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO THOSE BOYS The

last toilet

A TERRIBLE THING!"

IS

run of Thursday night started

at

rm. Christina had been work-

1

ing at the library following her quiet stint earlier on the Parole and Disciplinary

come down to the prison for the first time to pick me up to drive Town and Country Mall near campus for a late dinner at Stickney's

Board. She had over to the

Restaurant.

was

I

in

my

Superintendent's Office going over some logistics for the

next day's mass interviews.

she linished.

1

motioned her

unusual encounter u In

I

saw her chatting with one

in to

ith that

August of 1971.

sity.

I

had

have

just

I

I

my

completed of Craig

I

doctorate

laney.

and when

later described

at

Stanford Iniwr-

and was preparing

to start

background also should include mention

had recently gotten involved romantically with

we were even consideVing ulation study.

1

Phil /imbardo.

the possibility of marriage. Although

heard from Phil and other colleagues about the plans

initial

She

job as an assistant professor of psychology at the I'niversity of

California. Berkeley. Relevant

that

my

of the guards,

desk.

particular guard:

where was the office mate

my new

near

a seat

had not participated

in either

I

and had

for their prison sim-

the preparatory work or the

davs of the actual simulation. Ordinarilv

I

would have been more

her

—

.

169

Thursday's Reality Confrontations

interested

and maybe become involved

my

process of moving, and job.

However.

agreed

I

when

for

my

I

was

in the

teaching

first

participants.

.

.

went downstairs to the basement location of the prison ...

then went to the other end of the there

some way. but

Phil asked me. as a favor, to help conduct

some interviews with the study

When I

in

was on preparing

focus

hall,

where the guards entered the yard;

was a room outside the yard entrance, which the guards used

and relax when not on duty or

to

the start or end of their

tallced to

waiting to begin his

shifts.

I

change

He was very

shift.

I

to rest

into or out of their uniforms at

one of the guards there who was

pleasant, polite

and

friendly, surely

a person anyone would consider a really nice guy. Later on. one of the research staff mentioned to

me that I should take

new late-night guard shift had come "John Wayne" shift. John Wayne was the

a look at the yard again, because the on.

and

was the notorious

this

nickname

his reputation

course.

who was

much

to see

attention.

was absolutely stunned

guy" with

someone

the meanest and toughest of

had preceded him

was eager

I

tracted so I

guard

for the

whom

I

who

I

them

ail;

had heard. Of

he was and what he was doing that

at-

When I looked through the observation point.

to see that their

had chatted

earlier.

He not only moved

else.

in various accounts

John Wayne was the

differently,

but he talked differently

He was yelling and cursing

with a Southern accent

"really nice

Only now. he was transformed into

at the prisoners as

he made them go through "the count." going out of his way to be rude and belligerent.

spoken to

It

was an amazing transformation from the person

—a transformation that had taken place

in

I

had

just

minutes just by step-

ping over the line from the outside world into that prison yard. With his military-style uniform, billy club in hand,

glasses to hide his eyes really

mean

Just then,

1

.

.

.

this

and dark,

guy was an

silver-reflecting

sun-

afl-business. no-nonsense,

prison guard. --

watched the

last toilet

run chain gang parading past the open

door of

my Superintendent's Office. As usual,

inmate

to inmate: big

their ankle chains

were linked from

paper bags covered their heads, each prisoner's

ing on to the shoulder of the one before him.

A

arm

hold-

guard, big Geoff Landry, led the

procession. "Chris, look at this!"

"Did you see "1

already

that.'

saw

it."

I

exclaimed. She looked up. then right down.

What do you think.'" And she looked away

again.

was shocked by her seeming indifference. "What do you mean.' Don't you understand that this is a crucible of human behavior, we are seeing things no one has witnessed before in such a situation. 1

What

is

the matter with you.'" Curt and jaffc also joined

me

against her.

—

— 1

70

The Uidfcr'FJfect

She coLildiii reply because she was so emotionally distressed. Tears ran down

Tm leaving. Forget dinner.

her cheeks. I

ran out after her. and

the Psychology Uepartment.

searcher

if

I

had come down

to this prison

had. She was furious. She didn't care

was doing was

investigator. ers,

I

okay.

if

everyone

told her

I

world thought that what suffering.

As

principal

was personally responsible for their suffering. They were not prison-

who were

not experimental subjects, but boys, young men.

ized

of

and no one had reacted as she

in the

was simply wrong. Boys were

It

home

the front steps of Jordan Hall,

challenged whether she could ever be a good re-

she was going to get so emotional from a research procedure.

that dozens of people

I

I'm going home."

we argued on

and humiliated by other boys who had

being dehuman-

moral compass

lost their

in this

situation.

Her recollection of

and compassion, but the nightmare that

I

this intense confrontation

at that time,

had been

was

it

living

a slap in

with gems of wisdom

is filled

my

day and night

wake-up

face, the

for the past

call

from

week.

Christina recollects:

At around 11

p.m..

going to bed. The this

be

the prisoners were being taken to the

toilet

was outside the confines

had posed a problem

'in

prison*

for the researchers,

24 hours a day

tine for the

bathroom and back.

It

They

did not

want

to create.

So the rou-

paper bags over the prisoners' heads

to put

so they couldn't see anything, chain hall into,

and

the prisoners to

places in the outside world, which would

environment they were trying

total

bathroom runs was

them down the

who wanted

(just as in a real prison).

the prisoners to see people and

have broken the

toilet prior to

of the prison yard,

them together

in a line,

and lead

around, and out of a boiler room and then to the

also gave the prisoners

tance between the yard and the

toilet,

an

which was

illusion of a great dis-

in fact

only

in

a hallway

around the corner. Christina continues her recollection of that fateful night's reality confrontation:

When the bathroom run took place that Thursday evening. Phil excitedly had been reading: "Quick, quick told me to look up from some report I

look at what's happening now!"

I

looked at the line of hooded, shuffiing.

chained prisoners, with guards shouting orders quickly averted ing.

Do you

my

gaze.

see that?

look again, so

I

1

was overwhelmed by

Come on.

look

snapped back with.

it's

"I

at

it.-

then

I

already saw

it!"

That

led to a hit of a

what was the matter with me.

Here was fascinating luiniau behavior unlblding. and at

— and

amazing stuff!' couldn't bear to

tirade by Phil (and other stall there) about

couldn't even look

them

a chilling, sickening feel-

Thev couklu'l believe

iiiv

1.

a psychologist,

reaction,

which thev

171

Thursday's Reality Confrontations

may have taken to be a lack of interest. Their comments and teasing made me feel weak and stupid the out-of-place woman in this male world in addition to already feeling sick to my stomach by the sight of these sad

—

—

boys so totally dehumanized.

She

our clash and

recalls

resolution:

its

A short while later, after we had left the prison setting, Phil asked me what I

thought about the entire study. I'm sure he expected some sort of great

intellectual discussion

me

(I

and

am

said

I

"What you

What I

got

was an

incredibly emotional outburst from

usually a rather contained person).

in tears.

cially

about the research and the events we had just wit-

what he

nessed. Instead,

something

are doing to those boys

followed

a terrible thing!"

is

was a heated argument between

I

knew, someone

who loves

That was espe-

students and cares for

that were already legendary at the university. I

us.

scary for me. because Phil seemed to be so different from the

thought

that

was angry and frightened

I

like,

had come

of others

to love,

someone who

and surely to mine.

intensity. Instead of

He was not

gentle

is

and

them

the

in

man ways

same man

sensitive to the needs

We had never had an argument before of this we seemed to

being close and in tune with each other,

be on opposite sides of some great chasm. Somehow, the transformation in Phil (and in

me as well) and the threat to our relationship was unexpected don't remember how long the fight went on. but I felt it

and shocking.

I

was too long and too traumatic.

What I do know is that eventually Phil acknowledged what I was saying, apologized for his ally

happening

to

treatment of me. and realized what had been gradu-

him and everyone

else in the study: that

they had

internalized a set of destructive prison values that distanced their

own humanitarian

values.

And

sponsibility as creator of this prison

periment to a it

halt.

By then

it

was

calling in

prisoners,

all

all

the guard shifts for a

and then everyone

he owned up to his

re-

to call the ex-

well past midnight, so he decided to

the next morning, after contacting

and

at that point,

and made the decision

all

them from

end

the previously released prisoners,

full

round

A

together.

of debriefings of guards,

great weight

was

lifted

from

him. from me. and from our personal relationship.-^

YOU'RE MALE CAMELS, I

NOW HUMP THEM

returned to the dungeon relieved and even exhilarated by the decision to abort

the mission.

1

couldn't wait to share the

news with Curt Banks, who had done

yeoman's duty servicing the video patrol

at

despite having a family to tend to as well.

He

various times of the day and night, too

was delighted and

told

mc

that

172

The Lucifer l^fject

he was going to recommend ending the study as soon as possible

had witnessed while share our end-game

I

We

was gone.

counts.

The

dwindling cadre of only

5486. 5704. and 7258) wearily

ways. They are yelled

in various

each other.

him

"Tell

that to the next.

to

what should have been a

five

he's a prick!" yells Hellman.

resumes as testosterone flows

Hellman shouts out twenty-five push-ups.

made

cursed, and

Then the sexual harassment to

numbers,

someone

punished

is

to say abusive things to

and one prisoner turns

that started to bubble

up

to say

night

last

of them. "See that hole in the ground.'

that hole!

oners obey as Burdan shoves them

3.

every direction.

freely in

all

/uc^'i/j^/

all

to recite their

well they do their chores, at.

a.m. count to end

1

remaining prisoners (416. 209

up against the wall

lines

and songs. No matter how

rules,

alter

has angered Hellmann. He cascades into a

sad.

what he

joy.

The calm demeanor displayed by Clay-416. stressful ordeal,

after

were sorry Craig was not here tonight

You hear me!" One

down

to

do

Now

do

after another, the pris-

their duty.

Wayne and his little sidekick. Burnow pay attention. You three are going

After a brief consultation between John

dan, a

new sexual game is devised.

"Okay,

to be female camels. Get over here

(When

floor."

underwear beneath

"Now you

and bend over touching your hands

to the

they do. their naked butts are exposed since they are wearing no their smock-dresses.)

Hellmann continues with obvious

two, you're male camels. Stand behind the female camels and

glee.

hump

them."

Burdan

giggles at this double entendre.

the helpless prisoners are simulating

humping. They are dismissed back

Although

their bodies never touch,

sodomy by making thrusting motions

quarters, clearly feeling that they have earned their night's salary

from

last

night

is

coming

true.

1

am

of

to their cells as the guards retreat to their

glad that

now can I

control

it

My

nightmare

by ending

it

all

tomorrow. It is

days,

hard to imagine that such sexual humiliation could happen

when

Moreover, like

the

young men

initially

they

all

all

know

that this

They

all

but for the

all

randomly assigned

random

flip

five

to play these

con-

that the prisoners

who were

guards

of a coin they could have been wearing the pris-

oner smocks and been controlled by those they were

knew

only

were no inherent differences between the two categories.

began the experience as seemingly good people. Those

knew that

in

a simulated prison experiment.

recognized that the "others" were also college students

themselves. Given that they were

trasting roles, there

is

now

abusing. They also

had done nothing criminally wrong

to deserve their

some guards have transformed into perpetrators of evil, and other guards have become passive contributors to the evil through their inaction. Still other normal, healthy young men as prisoners have broken down under lowly status. Yet.

(he situational pressures, while the reniaining sur\

zombie-like followers. -"

i\'ing

prisoners ha\e

become

Thursday's Reality Confrontations

The power

of this situation ran swiftly

and deeply through most

173 of those

human

nature. Only a few were able to resist the

situational temptations to yield to

power and dominance while maintaining

on

this exploratory ship of

some semblance class.

of morality

and decency. Obviously,

I

was not among that noble

CHAPTER NINE

Friday's Fade to Black

We have so much to do to take down our prison and

are already exhausted from the hectic day

I

In addition, in the middle of the night

we have

for debriefing sessions, final evaluations,

matter of hours. Curt.

in a

to decide

have

to help us interview

to cancel various

on

and disbursement

sonal belongings, as well as cancellation of afternoon

had planned

Jaffe,

and night we have just endured. all

visits

the arrangements

payments and

per-

from colleagues

who

We

also

of

everyone connected with

this study.

arrangements with the cafeteria food

service, return the

campus police, and more. we each have to do double duty, monitoring

rented cots and handcuffs to the

We know

that

taking short catnaps, and laying out the final day's

logistics.

the end of the study immediately after the public defender's it

wrap up the whole experience.

We decide

news from me

be angry to learn that the study

when

new

viously, their learning jaffe will

1

is

not to

directly.

tell 1

to

the guards before informing

anticipate that the guards will

being terminated prematurely, especially now:

replacements. They have learned

have then

full staff

contact the

live

to ask all the

prisoners

who had been

to be "guards."

released earlier

to share in the debriefing

guard

shifts either to

for a "special event."

come by

at

and

Ob-

and

invite

get their full week's

noon or

to

hang around

Having anticipated that there were supposed

interviews by oufsiders on lYiday. the guards expect

to be added, but not this abrupt If all

how

curve has peaked.

them back around noontime until

announce

was already

they believe that they are in total control and are anticipating an easy week

ahead, with some

pay.

will

visit. It

would be an appropriate event around which

scheduled for the morning, and

the prisoners of the good

the Yard action,

We

end

to be

some new element

lo their jobs.

goes as planned, there will be an hour of prisoner debrieting around one

same for the guards for an hour, and finally all the guards and come together for a lull encounter. While each group is engaged.

o'clock, then the

prisoners will

175

Friday's Fade to Black

and have the

the other group uill complete our final evaluation forms, be paid,

opportunity either to keep their uniforms as souvenirs or to turn them

we

wish, they can also take the various signs

We

also

ments

have to arrange a big farewell lunch

for

them

to return

all

they

for

everyone and make arrange-

soon to view selected videos and discuss their reac-

from a more detached perspective.

tions

my nap on

Before taking w^here

office,

the convertible couch in

have been sleeping

I

guards to

shift

in. If

posted in the Yard and on the Hole.

fitfully for

though Dad were

telling

them not

to

It is

tell

the

morning

They shrug

their shoulders

and nod. as

COUNT

time in a week, the prisoners have been allowed to sleep for nearly six

unbroken hours. The accrued mous.

I

have fun on the playground.

FRIDAY'S FINAL first

upstairs professor's

the prisoners sleep through the night and to minimize any fur-

let

ther hostility against the prisoners.

For the

my

most of the week.

on

interest

hard to determine the

effects

their sleep debt

on

their

must have been enor-

moods and

their thinking that

was caused by having their sleeping and dreaming disrupted so often every night. It

was probably

The emotional breakdown

considerable.

released prisoners

may have been

The 7:05 a.m. count

only ten minutes.

lasts

other innocuous rituals observed. survivors.

even

food,

of

A

Numbers

good hot breakfast

is

when

of the early-

the other prisoners gently encourage

him

and

are called out

served to the final

As might have been expected. Clay-416 refuses

Despite

some

amplified by their sleep disturbances.

to

do

five

any breakfast

to eat so.

my instructions to go easy on the prisoners, the guards go ballistic at down for fifty push-ups if 416 don't just stares down at his food plate. stuffing food into his mouth as he spits it

Clay's continued insubordination. "Everyone

eat his breakfast." Clay-41 6 does not

Vandy and Ceros out.

They

back into

him

his cell

to caress

Yet he

is

try to force-feed him.

5704 and 2093

enlist

and forced

Guard Vandy

word and never

is

again angered

thought

this

them, but to no

down eat.

I

Vandy

specifically, since

though we kiss

let

some other

"When 416

said.

there

was no way

"I

for.

refused to eat

try.

Andre being

didn't believe

hated him for not eating. shift

put

all that.

came on

I

[Ceros]

would never ever make the prisoner do

I

his

it I

was me doing

own behavior.'

it. I

hated the reality of

at ten as usual.

1

w^as

once

down his made the pris-

made to sleep with

decided to force feed him. but he wouldn't cat. I

is

to force the food

after

prisoners

and caress a day-old sausage

was uncalled

his face.

The day

Clay-416

eats a single bite of them.

What does Guard Ceros have to say about diary noted.

avail.

love" to his dinner sausages. Ceros orders

upset at 41 6's defiance and also at his buddy's meanspirited-

ness. In his retrospective diary.

oner hug and

to help

"make

to

them, to hug them, and then to kiss them. Clay-416 does

true to his

throat, even

budge but

I

it. I

this."^

His retrospective let

the food slide

hated myself for making him

human

behavior."-

told the lead guard. Arnett. to

keep

it

"

1

76

The Lucifer Pjfect

and mellow

cool

in light of the

coming

Zen meditation and

spite of his

day

legal representation. His

shift critical

was undergoing some strange changes

incident report indicated that Clay-41 6

in

earlier surface calm. Arnett's incident report

noted:

416

is

Had

to pull

He jerked as took the bag off

very jumpy.

though

him

told

I

I

him along when leading him I

was not going

guards often did to prisoners punished. to give

I

held his sausages

him back

his

head

for the toilet run.

and from the bathroom, even

run him into anything [which the

to

He was very nervous about being

for spite].

when he went

his sausages since

ways have them."

to

to the toilet.

He

tried to get

me

another guard had ordered him to

al-

^

THE PUBLIC DEFENDER OF PRISONER RIGHTS AND WRONGS I

meet

He

is

with Tim

briefly

working

a local lawyer

B..

curious and skeptical about this whole

come.

I

describe the

I

invite

him

in to represent a

main

features of the study

to treat the matter exactly as

group of

He

real inmates.

Hubbie-7258 alone and then with videotape the session in the

he would

agrees,

favor to check

and how serious if

He

same laboratory room on the

it

had

his

on be-

he had been called

and meets

the prisoners.

all

up

reluctantly given

him as a personal

valuable time only because his aunt had asked his cousin.

in the public defender's office.

He has

affair.

first

with cousin

allows us secretly to first

fioor

where the

Parole Board had met.

The

between these two kin surprises me. There

level of formality

any previous

relationship,

if

any

existed.

Maybe

it

was an Anglo

expected at least a hug. not a formal handshake and

Attorney Tim goes through a standard reads from a prepared elicit

on

list

list

"It's

good

is

no

hint of

thing, but

to see

I

had

you again.

of items in a businesslike manner.

He

the categories of concern, stopping after each one to

the prisoner's responses, notes them, usually without comment, and moves

to the next in order:

Informed of rights upon

Harassment by

arrest.'

guards.'

Nature of any guard

abuse.'

Under pressure, mentally distraught? Size

and condition

of

cell.-

Requests that have been denied.'

Warden's behavior that was unacceptable.' Issues about

bail.'

Hubbie-72 58 answers the questions

suming that

his cousin

in a

was going through

good-humored way.

this

I

think he

is

as-

standard routine prior to escorting

177

Friday's Fade to Black

him out

of the

jail.

The prisoner

public defender that they have been told

tells his

that there is no way for them to leave the prison, no way to break the contract. The PD reminds him that if the original contract were based on monetary return for services,

by his being willing to

void. "Yes.

told

I

them that

that fee the contract

forfeit

at the Parole

Board hearing, but

makes

here."* hi listing his complaints. Hubble- 72 58

oner 416's troublemaking behavior had made them

The guards

it

it

would be null and

did

no good. I'm still

a point to note that Pris-

mad.

all

escort the remaining prisoners into the interview room, with

bags over their heads as usual. The guards are joking as they remove the hoods.

They

leave,

but

I

remain seated

The PD runs through the same

in the rear.

set of

questions as with Hubbie, inviting any of the prisoners to reply with their complaints as appropriate.

Clay-416 leads

off.

complaining

about the Parole Board pressuring him

first

which he had refused

to plead guilty to the charges of his arrest,

was never officially charged. His fasting was, illegal

in part, a

way

to

do because he

to call attention to his

imprisonment given that he was being held without charges.

man

(Again this young

continued to confound me:

ing at multiple, incompatible levels.

He was

clearly,

he was function-

dealing with the whole experience in

purely legalistic terms, mixing an experimental services contract with prisoner's rights

and corrections

mention a certain "new age" mystical

formalities, not to

meditation.)

Clay seems desperate to talk to someone w^ho w^ould actually listen to him. "Certain guards,

who

will

them,

tors."

He

is

willing to

file

an

official

to

complaint against

necessary. "Those guards also arranged for the other prisoners to be set

if

against

me up

go unnamed." he says, "misbehaved toward

the level of injurious behavior."

me

by allegedly making

my

fasting a condition for their not getting visi-

he nods toward Hubbie-72 58.

was frightened w^hen they put me against the door. Their

who

in the

own rule against

sheepishly looks the other way. "And

I

Hole and had the other prisoners bang

violence

was

set.

but

I

was

afraid

would

it

soon be overstepped."

Sarge-2093 speaks up next, describing some of the attempts various guards

made to harass him.

but he

is

proud

to report that they

had been unsuccessful. He

then gives a precise clinical description and demonstration of

guard had ordered him

to

do

many push-ups

when

a particular

—with two other prisoners

sitting

on

his back.

The

public defender

frown. Next,

tall

Paul- 5

is

startled by that account, duly noting

it

down with

using his smoking habit against him. Good guy Jerry-5486 complains personal, tion

more general

a

704 complains about the guards manipulating him by

level of the

inadequate

diet

at a less

and missed meals, the exhaus-

from endless middle-of-the-night counts, the out-of-control behavior of some

guards, and the lack of supervision by the senior directly at

me. but he was right on target:

I

was

staff.

I

wince as he turns

to look

guilty.

When the public defender completes his note taking,

he thanks them

for this

1

78

The Lucifer'Effect

inlormalion. and sajs he would

As he

for their bail.

We want

leave us here!

even weekend.

I

B.

Tim

now

bottom

hit

with you.

is

to

on Monday and

loses

We

arrange

it:

week or

can't stand another

me.

for

for us. to be bailed

his job entails,

what

its

limits are,

powerless to take action there and then. The

at that point; their

out

and how he survivors

five

high hopes dashed by legal nonsense.

me

reactions to this unique experience, conveyed to

B.'s

arrange

try to

"You can't go away and

taken aback by this sudden emotional outburst. He ex-

is

most formal way what

could help them but

appear to

to leave

a lormal report

Hubbie-7258

thought you were going

now. Please!" Tim plains in a

lilc

rises to leave.

in a letter

shortly afterward, are informative:

On .

.

.

why

[A]nother possible explanation of

legal advice

Demand Legal Rights

the Failure of the Prisoners to

is

that, as

the prisoners failed to request

white middle-class Americans, they

may

not have

ever envisioned the possibility that they would ever be thrust into the

criminal arena, where their rights would be of paramount importance.

Finding themselves in that position, they were disarmed of the objectively appraise the situation

and

ability to

knew

they

such things as

free-

act as they otherwise

should.

On .

.

.

The

Power of This Situation

classical devaluation of

dom and nessed).

the

money compared

locomotion was clearly evident

You

will

to Distort

(in

the activities which

remember the great anticipation

explanation of the bail

offer.

The

reality of their

to

ReaUty

in

whether

for legal

IS

hands to the

prevails over the sullen inmates. in

turn as he leaves the room.

head of the

to say next.

thing,

now

table

and

I

ask

in itself

seems

OVER. YOU ARE FREE

public defender's words darken the prisoners' hopes.

gloom

to

aware that they

reasons or otherwise.^

LISTEN CAREFULLY: THE EXPERIMENT The

my

imprisonment appeared

an experiment. Clearly confinement

to be painful regardless

wit-

of release caused by

be quite penetrating even though they were intellectually

were only involved

I

A

palpable cloak of

The

public defender shakes their limp

him

to wail outside lor

me. Then

ask the prisoners to pay attention to what

They hardly have sullitient motivation

that their hopes tor a quick dismissal

left

to

I

1

am

move going

pay attention to any-

have been dashed

b\ the lawyer's

officious reaction to their pfight. "1

ment

is

have something important

to

tell

you. so please listen carefully: The experi-

over You are free to huive todaif."

There

is

no immediate reaction, no change

in their facial

expressions or body

"

179

Friday's Fade to Black

language. cious,

I

and

have the sense that they are confused,

feel

that this

as clearly as possible.

another

is

and the

"I

—County and

We all

closed.

Jail is

I

suspi-

continue slowly and

research staff have decided to termi-

rest of the

nate the experiment as of this moment. The study ford

maybe even

skeptical,

test of their reactions.

thank you

for

is

over and the Stan-

officially

your important role in

this study,

Cheers replace the gloom. Hugs, slaps on backs, and wide smiles break

through on those all-too-long-grim faces. Euphoria reverberates is

a joyful

moment for me

imprisonment and

up

to give

OLD POWER There are few moments

in

Jordan Hall.

in

my role as prison superintendent once and for all. FAILURE,

my

NEW POWER FOUND

that have given

life

me more

personal pleasure

than being able to say those few words of liberation and to share in that tion.

I

It

as well to be able to liberate these survivors from their

was overcome by the aphrodisiac

total ela-

of positive power, of being able to

do

something, to say something, that had such an unconditionally joyful impact on other people.

and against

Then and

evil, to

there

human

vowed

and

their self-imposed prisons,

of

I

promote what

happiness and

to

is

to use

whatever power that

best in people, to

work

had

for

good

to free people

from

I

work against systems that pervert the promise

justice.

The negative power on which I had been running for the past week, intendent of this

mock

prison,

impact of the System that

I

was

had blinded

much

earlier,

my judgment about the need to ter-

perhaps as soon as the second normal,

healthy participant suffered an emotional breakdown. While abstract conceptual issue, the of individual dispositions.

System that

1

I

1

was focused on the

power of the behavioral situation versus the power

had missed seeing the all-encompassing power

had helped create and

Yes, indeed. Christina Maslach.

my support of

that facilitated abuse.

I

of the

sustain.

it

was terrible what I was allowing to be done to

those innocent boys, not through any direct abuse but through

abuse and

as super-

to the reality of the destructive

sustaining. Moreover, the myopic focus of a prin-

cipal research investigator similarly distorted

minate the experiment

me

my failure to stop

a system of arbitrary rules, regulations, and procedures

was the "Iceman"

in that hot

The System includes the Situation, but

it is

house of inhumanity.

more enduring, more widespread,

involving extensive networks of people, their expectations, norms, policies, and,

perhaps, laws. Over time. Systems

come to have a

historical foundation

and some-

times also a political and economic power structure that governs and directs the

behavior of that

many

people within

its

sphere of infiuence. Systems are the engines

run situations that create behavioral contexts that influence the

tion of those

autonomous

under entity,

their control. At

some

independent of those

point, the

who

human

ac-

System may become an

initially started

it

or even of those

ISO

in

Tlu'UHifefl*ffirt

apparent authority within

culture of

its

power structure. Hach System comes

its

own. as many Systems collectively come

to develop a

to contribute to the culture

of a society.

While the Situation surely brought out the worst volunteers, transforming cal victims.

I

was even more

searcher, a

fully

mature

Bronx-boy acumen

of these student

transformed by the System of domination. The

young men. without much

others were kids,

many

in

some into perpetrators of evil and others into pathologi-

adult,

real experience.

in sizing

up situations and

was

I

and a "street-smart" grown-up.

a seasoned re-

my

with

tilled

still

figuring out action-scenario to sur-

vive in the ghetto.

However, Figure.

though

in the past

week

walked and talked

I

I

were one. Therefore.

authority figure

one that

is

had gradually morphed

I

like I

one. Everyone around

became one

I

could ease

my conscience

as the good, kindly superintendent

responded to

The very nexus

have opposed, even detested,

I

status, authoritarian, overbearing boss

the flesh.

of them.

into a Prison Authority

me

all

my

life

my principal

by noting that one of

It

was

my

in

activities

was restraining the overeager guards from

more ingenious psychological abuses

surely

as

— the high-

man. Yet I had become that abstraction

committing physical violence. That restraint merely allowed them energies into

me

of that

to divert their

of the suffering prisoners.

mistake to embrace the dual roles of researcher and super-

intendent because their different, sometimes conflicting, agendas created identity

confusion in me. At the same time, those dual roles also compounded

which

in

turn influenced the

not challenge the System

and the to

law^yer.

It is

many

—parents,

"outsiders" w^ho

my

power,

into our setting but did

friends, colleagues, police, the priest, the

media,

evident that one does not appreciate the power of Situations

when caught

transform one's thinking, feeling, and action

in the claw^s of the

came

in its grip.

A

person

System just goes along, doing what emerges as the natural way

to respond at that time in that place. If

you were placed

in a

strange and novel cruel Situation within a powerful

System, you would probably not emerge as the same person cible of

human

nature.

You would not recognize your

held next to the mirror image of

what you had become.

our inner power, our sense of personal agency,

who entered that cru-

familiar

We

all

image

want

if it

were

to believe in

to resist external situational forces

of the kinds operating in this Stanford Prison Kxperiment. For some, that belief is

valid.

They are usually the

minority, the rare birds, those

who

as heroic later in our journey. For many, that belief of personal

powerful situational and systemic forces invulnerability. Paradoxically,

more vulnerable

to

is little

more than

maintaining thai

manipulation by

I

will designate

power

to resist

a reassuring illusion of

illusion on!)' ser\cs to

make one

lailing to be sunicienlly \igiianl against at-

tempts of undesired influence subtly practiced on them.

181

Friday's Fade to Black

HANDS ON DECK FOR DEBRIEFING

ALL It

was evident that we had

to use the short but vital debriefing time for several

we needed

to allow all the participants to express openly their

purposes.

First,

emotions and reactions to tion.'^

Next,

it

this

was important

unique experience within a nonthreatening situa-

me

for

make

to

clear to both the prisoners

and the

guards that any extreme behavior they had displayed was diagnostic of the power of the situation to be

and not diagnostic

reminded that they had

and healthy

to begin with.

all

of

any personal pathology

They had not brought any kind

this prison setting; the setting

them. They had

of personal defects into

had brought out the extremes

had witnessed. They were not the proverbial "bad apples" barrel" of the Stanford prison that

been demonstrated so

in

been chosen precisely because they were normal

—

in

them that we all it was the "bad

rather,

was implicated in the transformations that had

vividly. Finally,

was

it

crucial to use this opportunity as a

time for moral reeducation. The debriefing was a means of exploring the moral choices that had been available to each of the participants and dealt with them. less

abusive to the prisoners and

tried to

what the prisoners could have done

to deflect

I

contain physical aggression, but

forms of humiliation evil of

they had

made it clear that I felt personally responsible for not having number of times during the study when the abuse was extreme.

their abuse.

vened a

how

We discussed what the guards could have done differently to be

inaction

when I should

had not acted

I

have.

was

I

to

of not providing adequate oversight

I

had

modify or stop the other

guilty of the sin of omission

—

inter-

—the

and surveillance when

it

was required. The Ex-Cons Vent

The former prisoners displayed a curious mixture were

week peers

all

pleased that the nightmare

did not

show any

who had been

was

of relief

finally over.

and resentment. They

Those who had survived the

overt pride in their accomplishment in the face of their

released early.

They knew

had been

that at times they

zombie-like in their mindless compliance, obeying absurd orders and totally con-

forming

in

chants against Prisoner Stewart-8 1 9, as well as engaging in hostile ac-

tions against Clay-41 6

The

five

and ridiculing Tom-2 09 3, our most moral prisoner. "Sarge."

prisoners released early

showed no negative signs

of the emotional

overload they had suffered. This was in part because they had a base level of stability

and normality

tress

was centered on such an

to

which

to return

and

in part

because the source of their dis-

atypical setting, the

basement

jail,

and

its

happenings. Being divested of their strange uniform and other prison also helped detach

issue

them from

that sordid situation. For the prisoners, the

was coping with the shame inherent

They needed

strange

attire

in the

submissive role they had played.

to establish a sense of personal dignity, to rise

of their submissive position that

had

main

above the constraints

had been externally imposed on them.

1S2

The Lmife'r Pjfect

However, Doug-cSh of his deteriorating

1

2.

the

first

to be arrested

mental condition, was

having created a situation

in

which he

still

lost

and

lirst

to be released

me

angry with

because

in particular for

control over his behavior and mind.

Indeed, he had thought about leading a break-in with his friends to free the pris-

oners and had. in prepare for

it.

fact,

come back

Fortunately, he

He was amused

to learn

how

to

Jordan Hall the day after he was released to

had decided against that action seriously

we had taken

the

for several reasons.

rumor

of his liberation

plans and doubly pleased to learn of the lengths to which we. and especially

gone

our institution from

to safeguard

As expected, the newly they

felt

them or

had gone to single

far

who

freed former inmates railed against the guards,

beyond the demands of

them out

had

I.

his assault.

their role to be creatively abusive to

for particular abuse.

Tops on their negative

hit

parade

were Hellmann. Arnett. and Burdan, followed by Varnish and Ceros as less consistently "evil."

However, they were as quick to point out those guards "good guards."

immersed

whom

who had done little favors for them or who had

in their role that they forgot that the prisoners

this category, the

they saw as

never been so

were

human

fully

beings. In

two standouts were Geoff Landry and Markus. Geoff had done

small favors for them, constantly distanced himself from the abusive actions of his night shift

crewmates. and even stopped wearing his guard's sunglasses and

military shirt.

He even told us later that he had thought about asking to become a was grinding other people

prisoner because he hated to be part of a system that

down

so badly

Markus was not

as obviously "wired" into the prisoners' suffering, but

learned that on a few early occasions he had brought in a

gift

plement the prisoners' meager meals. After the warden had admonished him not being sufticiently engaged during his sidelines during the prisoner revolt,

shift.

began

Markus.

who had

and

to yell at the prisoners

the prisoners' parole requests.

He

he showed

is

it

off a bit.

someone who

using

for

stayed on the

scathing parole reports against them. As an aside. Markus's handwriting beautiful, almost like calligraphy, so

we

of fresh fruit to sup-

it

to

to issue is

quite

denounce

loves the outdoors, hiking,

camping, and yoga: therefore, he especially hated to be cooped up

in

our dungeon.

Between the "bad" and the "good" guards were those who had gone "by the book." done their

job.

played the

role,

and punished

personally abusive toward individual prisoners. Here

by guards Morison and Peters, and. tial

at times,

infractions but

we

were rarely

tind Varnish, the stand-

the younger Landry brother.

aloofness and distancing himself from the Yard action that \'arnish

may

in part

have been due

to his shyness, as revealed in his

The

ini-

showed

background informa-

tion statement of "having few close friends."

John Landry played a vacillating

and always

as the

role, at

times as lough sidekick to Arnett

one attacking rebellious prisoners with the

skin-chilling, lire

extinguisher carbon dioxide spray. At other times, he went by the book, and most prisoners reported that they liked him. John, a mature eighteen-year-old.

was

I

183

Friday's Fade to Black

rather ruggedly handsome, and aspired to write fiction, live

and continue dating a

One mode

on a California beach.

lot.

of inaction that characterized the "good guards"

was

tance to challenge the abusive actions of the "bad guards" on their did they never face

Markus ever were able

up

them

to

did so in private

to determine. Later

when they were in the guard quarters, as far as we on we will consider whether their failure to inter"evil of inaction."

One of the consistently rebellious prisoners, Paul- 5 704, reported upon discovering that the experiment was over:

When we were notified

Not only

while on the Yard, but neither Geoff Landry nor

vene as bystanders to abuse constituted an

tion

their reluc-

shift.

was

the experiment

over,

I felt

this reac-

a wave of relief and

me at once. I was really glad the also would have been much more happy that it lasted

a wave of melancholy break inside of

study was over, but 2 weeks. The

money

is

the only reason

1

was

in the experiment. All the

same, the feeling that I was glad to get out won, and I couldn't stop smiling till I

got to Berkeley.

Once

was there

I

You

will recall that this

of the Stanford also

planned

to write

to deal

I

forgot the

whole

it.^

Paul was the prisoner

who was proud

to be the

head

County Jail Prisoners' Grievance Committee and the one who had

Berkeley revealing

which

few hours.

for a

thing and wouldn't talk to anybody about

an expose of the study

for several alternative

how government-supported

newspapers in

research was focused on ways in

with student dissidents. His plan was totally forgotten;

it

never hap-

pened.

The Ex-Guards Resent In the second hour of debriefing, the former guards presented a quite different

group tions,

portrait.

While a few of them, the "good guards"

were also glad that the ordeal was

terminated prematurely.

Some

now

in the prisoner evalua-

most were distressed

focused on the easy

pating for another week's work their control.

over,

that they

money

had the

to see the study

they had been antici-

situation clearly

under

(They ignored the continuing problems posed by Clay-416's

and Sarge's gaining the moral upper hand

Some guards were ready

to apologize openly for

joying their power. Others as necessary to

fulfill

in his confrontations

felt justified

in

having gone too

far, for fully

what they had done, seeing

the role they had been given.

My main

fast

with Hellmann.) en-

their actions

problem

in dealing

with the guards was to help them recognize that they should be experiencing

some

guilt since they

demands intervene

had made others

of the role they

more

often,

the extremes they did.

were playing.

suffer, despite their I

made

clear

which had thereby given them

They might have avoided

understanding of the

my strong

guilt for failing to

implicit permission to go to

their abuses

had they had

better

top-down surveillance. It

was easy

for

most guards

to point to the prisoner rebellion

on Day 2 as the

184

The Lucifer Effect

turning point

them tive

who

perception of the prisoners,

in their

as "dangerous"

and needing

to be suppressed.

They

suddenly appeared to also resented the nega-

some prisoners made to them during the which they considered demeaning and which elicited their retaliation

personal references and cursing that

rebellion, in kind.

A

difficult

element of the debriefing was allowing the guards to explain why

they had done what they did. without sanctioning their justifications, for those

were simply excuses

for abusive, hostile,

and even

sadistic behavior.

experiment also meant the end of enjoying having

power

at their

me

fides in

find

command. As Guard Burdan noted

that the experiment

was going

all

"When

in his diary.

to be over.

I

feel elated,

some other guards disappointed somewhat because

The end of the

newfound guard

that

Phil con-

but shocked to

of the loss of money, but

somewhat because they were enjoying themselves. "^

A

Final

Mixing of the Categories

In the third

hour of debriefing a

when we brought

in their civilian clothes. sories,

lot of

nervous laughter

Without

their uniforms,

they were interchangeable, hard even for

used to seeing them

the laboratory

filled

room

former prisoners to meet their captors, indistinguishable

in the

in their prison garb.

numbers, and

distinctive acces-

me

having gotten so

to identify,

(Remember,

1971 there was hair

in

everywhere, shoulder-length hair and long sideburns on most of the students in

both categories, some of

The

whom had full mustaches as well.) words of one former prisoner,

joint session was. in the

compared

to the

more relaxed and

friendly prisoners' session.

ing out the others, one prisoner asked whether

be guards because they were

|erry-5486

taller.

some

recruits

said. "I

had

"stiffly polite."

As each was scop-

had been

the feeling

along the study that the guards were bigger than the prisoners, and the average height of the guards ers.

I

don't

know

if

uniforms." Before their height,

from

I

answered "No."

is

though

their

There were not any abusing guards, as

I

if

that

asked

all

There was an almost perfect height match

to perceive the

other.

guards as

What became evi-

taller

be. In part, this in a

grid

was because

however, that what remained of the strong emotions

had been deactivated.

It

now

guards

felt

that the

also helped that a few of the guards openly

apologized for submerging themselves too deeply into their role and taking seriously.

lift.

group of more than

by some of the former prisoners had to be consciously suppressed

power

than they ac-

confrontations between abused prisoners and

had anticipated there might

It is likely,

of the

guard power provided them with a two-inch shoe

direct

if

the students to line up in order of

such personal challenges would have been awkward twenty people.

wonder

was my perception because

and the prisoners on the

had come

that the prisoners

tually were, as

I

tallest to shortest.

side

I

higher than the average height of the prison-

that's true or not or

between the guards on one dent

is

selected to

somewhere

it

too

Their apologies eased the tension and stood as proxy for the tougher

who did

not apologize openly,

like

Helimann.

185

Friday's Fade to Black

At

former Tough Guard Arnett. our sociology gradu-

this debriefing session,

two events that had impressed him:

ate student, recounted

One was Zimbardo's observation mate

roles

.

.

they'd give

up

impression

is

their

Some

payment

if

immersion

in their in-

when

they said

they could be released [paroled]. The other

Wayne" and

were the two most

sadistic or

'

the seeming inability of former "prisoners" at the meeting to

believe that "John

roles.

of "prisoners"

expressed by people staying inmates even

.

many

or

I.

and perhaps other guards

(I felt

"prisoners" seemed to feel that

we were

we

that

had been completely acting

disliked guards)

in

our

actually

extremely authoritarian people and that our professions of act-

ing were cover-ups. to hide the real nature of our behavior from them, or ourselves, or both.

I

am absolutely sure that for myself at least, this was not

the case.^

One

psychological observation that

our prison and the

an unreal

reality to

failure to use

humor

I

offered

situation. For example,

extreme behavior of their

shift

was about the lack

to defuse tension or

guards

Or the prisoners might have used humor

basement

came

a

jail

a

jail:

Or a

pigsty.^

and

frat

expense in

overacting their

to pull themselves out of the unreal

be-

it

Humor breaks through the preten-

house, maybe.^

However, in the past week there had been none

place.

in

to

be

in this sad place.

we adjourned.

asked them

had completed

their

evaluations of the experience they had undergone and to complete

some

Before final

at their for

by asking the guards what this place had been used for before

sions of person

found

humor

who were not pleased with the

mates could have made a joke

guard quarters, saying that they should be getting double pay role.

of

even to bring some

I

all

other forms that Curt Banks had available.

1

to be sure they

also invited

rospective diary of the events that stood out in their

month. They would

get a fee for doing so. Finally, they

1971" reunion

a few weeks for a "Class of

to

them to write a short

ret-

memory during the following would

all

be invited back in

review some of the data

A slide show and video clips would be available. should be added that maintained contact with many

we had

gathered. It

number of

over a

a publication or

years,

them

I

of the participants

of

them through correspondence whenever there was

media show of the

study. In addition,

programs that featured our study

in various television

rience, a

all

few even to

this day.

some for

of

them

participated

decades after this expe-

We will discuss the aftereffects of this experience on

later on.

What Does Before

It

we turn

Mean

to

Be

in the next

a Prisoner or a

chapter to examining some of the objective data

lected over the six days of study

by the experiment.

I

Guard?

think

it

and

to reflect

would be useful

gathered from a selection of our participants.

on the serious ethical to review

some

we col-

issues raised

of the insights

we

1

—

'

186

On

The Lucifer Effect

Being

Chm-4

in

the Role of Prisoner

good prisoner

6; "A

one who knows how

is

to strategically unify himself

My cellmate. Jerry

with other prisoners without getting put out of action himself [5486],

is

bound

a good prisoner. There are always

and others u^ho are not

gling to get out

some

to be

prisoners strug-

Those who are not strug-

at that point.

gling at the time should learn to protect their interests without being a real

who

obstacle to those

who

is

are struggling.

A

bad prisoner

is

one who cannot do

this,

only out for himself"^''

Jerry-

54S6: "The most apparent thing that

I

was how most

noticed

of the

people in this study derive their sense of identity and well-being from their imme-

and

diate surroundings rather than from within themselves,

broke

down

—

just couldn't

hold up against

of this."

all

stand the pressure

why

that's

they

—they had nothing within them

to

'

"The way we had to degrade ourselves really brought me down why w^e all got docile towards the end of the experiment. gave up being

Paul- 5 7 04:

and

that's

I

a reactionary because

I

could see nothing was being changed by

and Rich [819 and 1037]

behavior. After Stew

found myself thinking that

left. I

couldn't change everything that needed changing myself

son

I

down

settled

after they

to

left,

needed others to work with me.

1

accomplish what

"I

.

that's

wanted

to the experimental situation

.

.

stuff that didn't matter to

Knowing

I

that

the bathroom

apart thing."

—

me

was the head

I

if

to.

.

I

.

wanted .

jail for

how

was.">

it

the guards, the

was nude and

I

It's

...

I

surely

would

^

and such

cells,

in chains, that

never

was the worst.

didn't like not being able to go to

not having the choice that's the tearing

'^

SubstUutc Prisoner Dave-" S6 12"

our

when

feel

I

part, the psychological part that

couldn't get out

when wanted

like

like

—our

spy.

who knew

that he

was sent

only one day to find out about the nature of the escape plans

quickly and totally one can

move

into the role of prisoner:

infesting everyone from the lowliest prisoner to the

quickly identified himself w

ith

"The

some

I

at tiiTU's felt

I

was somewhat

escape.

.

.

.

guilt at

roles

were

warden himself" He very

the prisoners, and in only a single day the simu-

being sent

relieved that there

And when

into

— reveals

imprisonment had an enormous Impact on Dave:

lated

of

particularly the individual

.

and the impending ones which

did occur,

Doug-S612: "The material conditions,

It

would have

about a strike

because of the punishment they had

it

have happened had the experiment not been terminated when

bothered me.

I

I

another rea-

was profoundly surprised and impressed by the reactions

most of the prisoners

breakdowns which

I

.

one."^-

first

Giiard Arnett:

.

tried to talk to the other prisoners

or something, but they wanted no part of received for the

my attitude and

in to link

was

really

on these great guys

nothing

the opportunity to fink did

to

come up

—

tell 1

about the

knew where

187

Friday's Fade to Black

—

was

the handcuff key

after a while

feeling dirty, guilty, scared.

ticipation of the break in)

.

.

.

The experience

Even when

I

I fell

one

of

full

—

I

asleep that night

was not eating very much,

and was more nervous than

I

for fear of getting

day as a prisoner had aroused

from the prison

for the rest of the

returned for the "debriefing" session.

tremely anxious time,

tell

might add) but I did not

I

me away

cient anxiety to keep

didn't

I

sidered trying to escape (alone

caught.

I

When we were taken to the boiler room (in anhad taken off my foot cuff and seriously con-

felt

was

I

still

suffi-

week.

feeling ex-

mildly nauseous

all

the

can ever remember being. The entire

me that I was unable to bring myself to dismy experiences in depth with anyone even my wife.

experience was so upsetting to cuss

I

—

we

should add that

^ ^

later discovered that the

handcuff keys had been stolen

from one of the guards by a prisoner. After the incident with the Wednesdaynight transfer of

were returned

all

to the

the prisoners

Yard

at

up

to the fifth-floor storage

room, when they

12:30 a.m.. two of the prisoners had been cuffed

gether to prevent their trying to escape. Without the keys to unlock them. call

the prisoners had thrown the key into a heating vent. David

never shared that information with any of the

On the Power of the Guard Guard Geoff Landry: it.

and

become one

to-

had to

the Stanford Police to remove the cuffs, an embarrassment, to say the least.

One of

into

I

just that

it's

walls,

and you want

that I'm free

son that enjoys

—you get

a prison that you create yourself

like

becomes the

it

that, 'this isn't really

show

Role

almost

"It's

knew this and

staff.

Me

definitions

to break out. at

and I do have

all.

you make

and you want

of yourself, almost

to be able to tell every-

and I'm a person who wants

to get out

and

my own will, and I'm not the sadistic type of per-

this type of thing." ^^

Guard Varnish: "This experience was worthwhile

for

me. absolutely. The idea

that two roughly identical groups of college students each in only a week's time

evolved into two totally disparate social groups with one group having and ing total power over the other to their detriment "I

out

and

was surprised

toilets 1

kept thinking

Guard unnatural

at myself. ...

with their bare hands.

Vandij: for

I

"My enjoyment

jured, especially animals. to rule the prisoners.

I

1

1

utiliz-

chilling.

I

made them

1

practically considered the prisoners 'cattle.'

have to watch out

me because

is

in

for

them

call

each other names and clean ^"

in case

they try something."

harassing and punishing prisoners was quite

tend to think of myself as being sympathetic to the inthink that

began

to

abuse

it

was an outgrowth from my

total

freedom

my authority." ^^

(An interesting carryover, or carryout.

of this newfound guard power is reVandy had reported to the others on his shift "that he had caught himself bossing his mother around at home.")

vealed in

Warden

jaffe's log.

Guard Arnett: "Being superficially tough came easily

to

me. For one thing.

I

.

188

The Lucifer Effect

am an authoritarian person in

some ways (even though

in

myself and others). Further.

being 'guard-like' was part of finding out

how

The main intluence on my behavior was the prison of

brutal in that

is

it is

my detachment and

being personal or

aware from

make

work: punishing

I

I

tried to

commitment.

First.

.

.

and business

Also.

like.

of prison

life

I

was

can be

disoriented by being impersonal: giving boring

feel

commands

in exercise

and .

.

.

demanding

per-

other times: speaking

at

within a social setting and tried to

1

heighten prisoner

some of those techniques. 1 could do this in only

want

didn't

tried to avoid ever

I

boredom and other aspects

harshly and mechanically during exercise sessions

I

.

be that within the constraints

.

so very sensitive to those in control of that setting, and

because

.

even though vague, that real

feeling,

prisoners for 'bad' behavior by individuals:

trivial

alienation by using

was important and my

people react to real oppression.

tried to be neutral

that the

people

all

execution of

fect

friendly. ...

my readings

exploited to

dehumanizing.

controlled

strongly dislike the trait

I

that the experiment

lelt

I

a limited way.

to be brutal." ^^

On Good and Bad Guards Paul- 5704: "1

into the

was pleased with John and Geoff [Landry]. They didn't really get much as the others. They always remained human beings

guard thing as

when giving punishment to someone. I was surprised that the guards in genaccepted their roles as much as they did after being able to go home each day

even eral

or night."-"

Guard ]ohu Landry: good guard and thanks

1

me was

talked to the other prisoners, they told

being that way.

I

knew

inside

I

was a

shit.

I

a

Curt [Banks]

me and I knew he knew. I knew also that while was good and just to the

looked at

I

prisoners.

I

failed myself.

and be a nice guy. did

"After for

I

let

I

cruelty

happen and

honestly didn't think

what most people

do.

I

I

did nothing except feel guilty

could do anything.

sat in the guard's station

and

1

didn't even

tried to forget

try.

I

about the

prisoners."-'

An even more remarkable testimony to the power of this simulated prison experience and

and

just.

view

its

impact on one of the guards

whom prisoners saw as the most fair

Geoff Landry, the big brother of John Landry, occurred in an audio inter-

at the

end of the

study.

He surprised us by

indicating that he had been think-

ing of switching roles.

Guard Geoff iMndry: "The experience became more than the experiment.

What

I

mean

to say

is

that

When

if

this

just participating in

was an experiment, the you a glassy

and products were almost too

real.

mumbles

almost have to perceive the worst.

inaudibly.

you

just

cause you fear that the worst

will

a prisoner gives

happen. Its almost as

pen, and the slightest indication of anxiety and

if

1

It's

accepted

breakdown

is

it

results

stare,

and

almost be-

would hap-

the beginning of

became more than just an though he was breaking down. At this

the worst possible effects. Specilically. the experience

experiment when 10 37 started acting as time

I

was

afraid

and apprehensive and thought

of quitting.

And

1

also

was think-

Friday's Fade to Black

become a prisoner.

ing of asking to

the machine that beats

I felt

though

as

down on other men and

tinually harasses them.

I

almost wished that

I

I

1

didn't

forces

want

to

become part

89

of

them to conform and con-

was being harassed than having

to

betheharasser."^In this context,

it is

interesting to note that

had reported to the Warden that so he took

it off.

his shirt

had

Obviously, since he

on Wednesday

was too tight and was

selected

it.

had

tried

it

night, this

guard

irritating his skin,

on for fit the day be-

we began, and had worn it for four days with no complaints, his problem was more mental than material. We arranged for him to get a larger size, which he put on reluctantly. He also kept taking off his sunglasses and not remembering where he had put them when the staff asked why he was not following standard guard fore

protocol.

Guard Ceros:

when

On

"I

hated the whole fucking experiment.

the experiment

was

the Quiet Rage of

Doug-8612,

over.

It

was too

real for me."-^

Guard Sadism

an interview he did

in

walked out the door

I

later for a student-directed film

on our

study,

elqquently compared the Stanford Prison Experiment with real prisons he had

come

to

know

as a staff

member working

in a California prison:

"The Stanford Prison was a very benign prison situation, and

become

the guards to

become

sadistic, prisoners to

break out in hives. Here you have a benign situation, and

moted everything a regular prison promotes. The guard

The prisoner

role

lence,

you can keep down but there's nowhere I

caused

it

didn't work.

role

It

pro-

promotes sadism.

promotes confusion and shame. Anybody can be a guard.

harder to be on guard against the impulse to be

sadistically.

it still

hysterical, other prisoners to

think you do have

more control

sadistic. It's a quiet rage,

for

it

to go:

it

It's

malevo-

comes out sideways,

as a prisoner. Everybody needs to

I have met in jail who are down the guards, who were always respectful of the guards, who did not create in the guards a sadistic impulse, who could rise above the shame of the role. They knew how to preserve their dignity in

[experience being] a prisoner. There are real prisoners

people of exceptional dignity,

who did

not put

that situation."--*

On the

Nature of Prisons

Clay-4 1 6: "The guards are as locked in as you are as prisoners.

run of the

open, and so really you're

all

together and what you create, you create together.

Prisoners have no society of their their

own.

It's

one thing and

They just have the

have a locked door behind them which they can't

cellblock. but they

it's

own and

the guards don't have any society of

hideous."-^

Guard Ceros: "[When] a prisoner reacted violently toward me. I

had

to defend myself, not as

guard.

He was

a guard.

It

me

but as

reacting to the uniform.

shocked me. ...

I

me

I

realized that

the guard. ...

had no choice but 1

was

just as

1

found that

He hated me

as the

to defend myself as

much

a prisoner as they

190

The Lucifer Effect

were.

I

was

just a reaction to their feelings. ...

pressiveness, but we. the guards,

was. an illusion.

came

.

.

.

We ."-^

slaves to us

.

.

times the world seems

went

all

had an

in slaves to

As Bob Dylan sings

like

We

were both crushed by the op-

illusion of freedom. That's just

the money.

what

The prisoners soon

it

be-

song "George Jackson." some-

in his

one big prison yard:

Some of The

us are prisoners.

rest of

us are guards.

ON CHARACTER TRANSFORMATION Reviewing some of the statements made before the

DAYS

IN SIX

experiment and

start of the

then again in our various daily records, we can see some fundamental transitions taking place in the mentality of the guards.

Burdan.

in his

own words before,

Prior to the Experiment: "As

cannot see a time when that

1

1

A case in point is that of Guard Chuck

during, and after this experience. 1

am

a pacifist and non-aggressive individual.

might guard and/or maltreat other

1

hope

1

be chosen as a prisoner rather than a guard. As an anti-establishment

will

person continually involved in non-conforming

can foresee a time when I may have to see

living things.

to

political

and

the role of a prisoner

fill

social behavior.

— and

1

am curious

I

my capabilities in that direction.

After

Guard Orientation Meeting: "Buying uniforms

confirms the game-like atmosphere of this thing.

at the

end of the meeting

many

doubt whether

1

of us

share the expectations of 'seriousness' that the experimenters seem to have.

amount of relief at being only an alternate." "My main fear at the outset of the experiment was

I

am

feeling a certain First Daij:

me as a real bastard,

would see the

way

I

envision myself.

will

make fun

I

of

.

the things

1

.

evolve

my

.

first

my

I

check

power and security

a semi scowl, determined

setting

Hellmann and the

seem much more

I'm bracing myself to enter. vides a certain

that prisoners

am not and not 1

.

basic strategy

anything they say or do which would be admitting

ing dinner, they

1

I

.

stay outside the cage (while

and

all

One of the reasons have long hair is don't want Feel sure that the prisoners manner that am not.

.

me in a my appearance and

people to envision

to smile at

as a guard type, as

to hold

it

tall

—mainly not

it's all

only a game.

blonde guard finish serv-

self-assured in their roles than

my sunglasses,

— and walk

in.

pick I

up my club

set

there no matter what

my mouth is

At

said.

feel).

I

rigidly into cell

5

stop

1

voice hard. and low say to #S48(S. 'What are you smiling

'Nothing. Mr. Correctional Officer' 'Well see that you don't.' As

1

As

—which pro-

walk

off

I

at.-'

feel

stupid."

Second

Daif:

"Walking from

my

uniform, hey look what I'm doing".

car .

.

.

1

suddenly wanted people to notice

S7()4 asked for a cigarette and

1

my

ignored

"

191

Friday's Fade to Black

him I

—because

Meanwhile since am a non-smoker and could not empathize. NOT to talk with him. Later

I

.

.

.

was feeling empathetic towards 1037.1 determined

am getting into the habit of hitting walls, chairs and bars [with Billy club] to After we had Count and Lights Out [Guard Hellmann] and I show my power.

on.

I

.

.

.

held a loud conversation about going

going to do to them

Day (Preparing

Third

not to

because like

first

parents.

—being a very noticed

or not. While the parents

my

dangling

the experiment

watching.

.

.

I

was

terminated

visit

type of manipulative power that

and prisoners

sat in chairs,

819

really enjoying. Prisoner

both admire and

I

fantastic, really getting into the

I

sat

is

sadism of the thing and

As

this

Fourth Day: "The psychologist [Craig Haney] rebukes

a guard (actor) he

having more and more trouble describing the Fifth Day:

commands.

harass 'Sarge'

who

have singled him out

1

and because

"I

simply don't

I

like

me for handcuffing and

him

to hold sausages in

and ...

I

resentfully

At home I was

reality of the situation."

continues to stubbornly over-respond to

abuse both because he begs

for special

each hand.

We

We

throw him into the Hole ordering

have a

upon prisoner solidarity and

be deprived of visitors into the Hole door

authority: this rebellious

crisis of

food slide ing

him

down

Sixth Day:

I

I

I

didn't believe

hated him more

"The experiment

for

over.

is

my

bike

and

difficult:

ride

was me doing

it

it. I

feel elated

I

somewhat because

let

the

hated myself for mak-

.

.

.

but

am shocked

of the loss of

to find

some

money and some

Talking during the detoxification ses-

everything seems strained and uncomfortable

home through

I

not eating."

because they are enjoying themselves.

was very

We

the others will

decided to force feed him. but he wouldn't eat.

other guards disappointed

sion

new one that all

he does not eat his dinner. I walk by and slam my stick am very angry at this prisoner for causing discomfort and

his face.

eat but

the

if 1

trouble for the others.

tell

it

new

conduct potentially undermines the complete control we have over the others. decide to play

all

for

him. The real trouble starts at dinner. The

prisoner [416] refuses to eat his sausages.

is

bugs me."

my business anyway.

both necessary security and

it is

table

part of

first

being obnoxious and bears

dislike.

blindfolding a prisoner before leaving the [counseling] office, reply that

said

is

on the end of the

This was the

felt like.

I

really

I

what

figure with almost complete control over

[Hellmann] and

.

I

and contradicting anything

feet

warning the prisoners

fast, we fimade sure I was one of the guards on the yard,

unless they wanted the

my first chance for the

was

this

our girlfriends and what we were

to

for the first Visiting Night): "After

make any complaints

nally brought in the

home

(to irritate the prisoners)."

the sunshine.

It

feels

damn good

1

get

on

to be out of

there.

416

Weeks

later:

in the

Hole

Phil [Zimbardo] to

"The absolute cruelty of all

night) does not hit

hard along with

end the study].-"

this

me

event (Hellmann's decision to leave

until

weeks

many other things at

later,

but

it

must have

this point [that

hit

he decided

192

The Uicifcr Effect

Another curious characlcr transformation of someone only tangentially sociated with our study

my

Log. Recall

my

found

is

among

serious psychologist colleague

who

challenged

me

the midst of

in

frantic efforts to deceive the anticipated intruders by alleging the study

been terminated. He demanded to know. "What

is

He and

to the fifth tloor closet.

had

the independent variable.'"

notes indicate that "Dr. B. visited on Tuesday night

Jaffe's

had been moved

as-

"additional anecdotes" in the Warden's

his wife

when

the prisoners

went upstairs

to see the

made at least two comments manner of dress, and the other

prisoners. Mrs. B. passed out cupcakes, while Dr. B.

one concerning

ridiculing the prisoners,

their

concerning the stench of the place. This pattern of 'getting into the with almost every outside

While

act"

visitor."

his wife gave the participants

some

"tea

and sympathy."

my usually re-

served colleague unexpectedly treated these students in a dehumanized

made them

likely

On

Hellmann's

in his

old

preguard status.

I

Background Form that Hellmann completed a

experiment in order to get a sense of what he was

start of the

was amazed

to learn that

sophomore student, among our youngest

nett.

was one

that

Experiments"

at the Volunteer

week before the

way

shamed.

"Little

back

Let's look

feel

occurred

of the oldest.

like

he was only an eighteen-year-

participants. His counterpart. Ar-

Hellmann came from

a middle-class academic family,

the youngest sibling of four older sisters and a brother. At six feet two and 175

pounds, with green eyes and blond

hair,

man identified himself as a musician and indicated.

added.

"I

"I live

have

a natural

and

life

a great love for

my

personality.

Few know my

first

admire

real capabilities

In response to the negative version.

Hellmann gave us an of

what

to

is

insight into this

come when he

is

with stupidity, a total disregard exploitation of

some

people,

beings." like

most about

for

you.'"

Hellmann

me because of my talent and outgoing at human relationships."

"What do people

like least

about you.'"

young man's complex character and

given absolute power.

my

This young

figure.

music and food and other people." He

human

"What do people

In response to the question

radiated confidence: "People at

love

fellow

he was an imposing

"a scientist at heart." His self-description

people whose

bluntness.

my

life

He

style

I

a hint

"My impatience

wrote.

do not agree with.

confidence." Finally,

let's

My

add to

the mix that this volunteer said that he preferred to be assigned to the prisoner role rather

With

than

to be a

guard "because people resent guards."

that character reference in mind,

it

is

now

instructixe to review his post-

experiment relied ions on what he perceived his role was CuanUii'lliiunm: "\es

it

testing peoples capabilities,

of a correctional officer.

cination to

many

It

pushing them

was not pleasant

test their reactions.

occasions."-''

in this study.

has been more than an experiment.

I

to the

but

I

I

had

a

chance

at

breaking point under the guise

felt

compelled out of

my own fas-

was concluding experiments on my own on

I

"

"

"

193

Friday's Fade to Black

"The best thing about the experiment was that

some

that brought out press.

.

.

ment

of

I'm sorry

.

my own."

if I

seemed

I

caused more trouble than you wanted

seemed

and that I made them enemies.

A month

was an

It

the

experi-

after

many people took me

My words affected them,

so

[the prisoners]

reality of the experiment." ^^

touch with the

to lose

TV and

from

—

^^'

"The worst thing about the experiment was that so seriously

to be the catalyst

startling results that gained interest

our study was terminated,

this

former guard was interviewed

along with former prisoner Clay-4 1 6, his nemesis. They interacted as part of a TV

documentary about our study on NBC's Chronolog. a forerunner was titled, "819 Did a Bad Thing."

Hellmann described

After

on the

guard

his transformation into the

offensive, finally being able to

add

adage of that

to the

of

60 Minutes.

It

Clay went "What comes

role,

era,

around, goes around."

Hellmann: "Once you put a uniform on and are given a saying 'Your job

person

if

is

to keep these people in line,'

role,

mean, a

I

job,

then you're certainly not the same

You

you're in street clothes and in a different role.

become that

really

person once you put on the khaki uniform, you put on the glasses, you take the nightstick,

ingly

and you act the part. That's your costume, and you have to act accord-

when you

Clay: "It

put

on."

it

harms me, I mean harms,

Hellmann: "How did people can be

I've

I

you.^

mean in the present tense,

it

How does it harm you.? Just

harms me."

to think that

like that.?"

Clay: "Yeah.

hand.

harm

it

It let

read about

me in on some knowledge that I've never experienced firstread a

I've

it,

hand.

guy.

You know.? You understand.?"

I've

Hellmann: [Smiling and shaking Clay: "I do,

lot

about

I

his head]

But

it.

And

never seen anyone turn that way.

first

I've I

never experienced

know

"You don't know

do know that you're a nice guy.

I

it

that you're a nice

don't get bad

that."

—

Hellmann: "Then why do you hate me.?" Clay: "Because

do

if

you

tion, or

say.

it's

I

know what you can

turn

into.

I

know what you're willing to

'Oh well, I'm not going to hurt anybody.' 'Oh well,

over in two weeks.'

Hellmann: "Well, you

what would you have

in that position,

Clay (slowly and carefully enunciating each word):

you that I know what

I'd

a limited situa-

1

done.?"

don't know.

can't

I

tell

do."

Hellmann: "Would you

—

Clay (now talking over Hellmann):

have been as inventive as you. tion to

it's

"

1

"I

don't think

I

don't think.

I

don't believe.

would have applied

as

much

1

would

imagina-

what 1 was doing. Do you understand.?"

Hellmann: "Yes,

—

I

Clay [interrupting and seeming to enjoy his

would have been

a guard.

1

don't think

it

new

sense of power]:

would have been such a

"I

think

masterpiecel"

I

"

194

The Lucifer Effect

Hellmann: that

Clay

(in

"I

didn't see

where

it

was

really harmful.

It

was degrading, and

—

my particular little experiment to see how could, uh disbelieO: "Your particular little experiment} Why don't you

was part

of

I

tell

me

about that?"

Hellmann: Clay: "Tell

"I

was running

me about

Hellmann: "Okay.

can take before they cumstances. said. 'Jeez,

And

it

I

scum

wanted

surprised

experiments of

my own."

experiments. I'm curious."

to see just

me

what kind

what

of the earth."

I

no one

that

you can't say those things

without question, they'd

supposed

little

little

of verbal abuse that people

start objecting, before they start lashing back,

that, they just accepted

the

your

said.

I

said. 'Go tell that

and they'd do sit

me. those things are

to

it

jail,

man

sick.'

Nobody

to

abuse

people.^

I

Why.?"

Why indeed.?

teary.]

said

to his face that he's

abuse each other, and here they're

but here they're abusing each other be-

my authority at all. And Why didn't people say something when

cause I requested them to and no one questioned

shocked me. [His eyes get

cir-

No one

without question. They'd do push-ups

in the Hole, they'd

to be together as a unit in

under the

said anything to stop me.

started to get so profane,

I

and

still,

it

really

started

people didn't say anything.

.

CHAPTER TEN

The SPE's Meaning and Messages: The Alchemy of Character Transformations We're

all

guinea pigs

Humanity

is

in the

work

just a

laboratory of God

.

.

in progress.

—Tennessee Williams. Camino Real (1953)

Ihe Stanford Prison Experiment began as a simple demonstration of the that a composite of situational variables has

on the behavior

effects

of individuals role-

playing prisoners and guards in a simulated prison environment. For this ex-

we were not

ploratory investigation,

testing specific hypotheses but rather

which the external features

assessing the extent to

of

an

institutional setting

could override the internal dispositions of the actors in that environment. Good dispositions were pitted against a

However,

ov^er time, this

bad situation.

experiment has emerged as a powerful illustration of

the potentially toxic impact of bad systems and bad situations in

making good

people behave in pathological ways that are alien to their nature.

The narrative

chronology of

this study,

veals the extent to

were seduced

and many

by.

which I have

the social forces inherent in that behavioral context

of the other adults

ing boundaries.

tried to re-create faithfully here, vividly re-

which ordinary, normal, healthy young men succumbed and professionals who came within

its

to.

or

— as were

I

encompass-

The line between Good and Evil, once thought to be impermeable,

proved instead to be quite permeable. It is

time

now

for

course of our research. light

us to review other evidence that

we

collected during the

Many quantitative sources of information shed additional

on what happened

in that

dark basement prison. Therefore, we must use

all

the available evidence to extract the meanings that have emerged from this

unique experiment and

to establish the

ways

in

which humanity can be

formed by power and by powerlessness. Underlying those meanings are cant messages about the nature of

diminish or enrich

it.

human

transsignifi-

nature and the conditions that can

196

Tlw Linilcr

lifif^ci

SUMMING UP BEFORE DIGGING INTO THE DATA As you

hii\r seen,

our psychologically cornpclling prison environment

tense, realistie, \\m\ often pathological reactions

We

from

many

elicited in-

of the participants.

were surprised both by the intensity of the guards' domination and the speed

with which

it

appeared

in the

Doug-86 1 2. we were surprised

wake

so quickly

in the

case of

overcome most of

that situational pressures could

young men

these normal, healthy

As

of the prisoner rebellion.

and so extremely.

Kxperiencing a loss of personal identity and subjected to arbitrary continual control of their behavior, as well as being deprived of privacy and sleep, generated in

them a syndrome of

passivity,

dependency, and depression that resembled what

has been termed "learned helplessness."' (Learned helplessness of passive resignation especially I

when

lalf of

tional

it

our student prisoners had

who remained

for the

whims

to be released early

"zombie-like" in their

of the ever-escalating

As with the rare "good guards," so

because of severe emcv

few prisoners were able to stand up

too. a

As we have

prisoners for being a "troublemaker."

seen. Clay-416.

who

should have been

was harassed by his fellow

They adopted the narrow

spective provided by the guards rather than generate their strike as

movements while

listless

guard power.

for his heroic passive resistance, instead

on Clay's hunger

punishment,

duration generally became mindlessly obedient to the

to the guards' domination.

supported

the experience

disorders, transient but intense at the time. Most of those

demands and seemed

yielding to the

is

failure or

seems arbitrary and not contingent upon one's actions.)

and cognitive

guards'

and depression following recurring

emblematic of a path

for their

dispositional per-

own metaperspective communal resistance

against blind obedience to authority.

Sarge also behaved heroically a fellow prisoner

when ordered

to

at

do

times by refusing to curse or verbally abuse so.

but

at all

other times he was the model

obedient prisoner. |erry-4^ of group membership. On

the other hand, a task leader focuses on the setting

more formal

aspects of leadership,

agendas and standards, providing assignments, and giving informational

feedback to achieve the group's goals. traits,

A

and

but often the job

is

divided

group leader should possess both

Ideally, a

among

several leaders, each of

whom is best at more than

one or the other set of attributes. Groups need effective task leaders

they do good social-emotional ones in situations that are ambiguous, that involve shifting

demands, and that lack explicit objectives

shift job setting

on Tier 1 A. As good

or correctional circumstances, he job of leader

on that

shift at that

as Chip

—a

classic

example of the night

may have been in previous leadership

was simply the wrong person

for the

complex

time in that place.

Chip Frederick also completed the primary assessment of an individual's extent

setting. He did so Abu Ghralb. The Maslach

and type of psychological burnout within an organizational

by imaging

his

work situation

Burnout Inventory (MBI) specific

work

setting:

as

it

was when he was

identifies three aspects of a person's relationship

emotional exhaustion, cynicism, and personal

was developed by Christina Maslach periment).

at

The measure was

(recall the

later refined

with a

efficacy.

and extended

in her research

with

who provided a "blind" analysis of Frederick's reactions (that he was unaware of who the "client" was and of his specific work setting).-^

Michael

Leiter,

According

It

heroine of the Stanford Prison Ex-

to Dr. Leiter. Chip's scores reveal

an unusual

profile of

Dr. is.

burnout on

these three dimensions. Ordinarily, a high degree of exhaustion, elevated cynicism,

and a reduced sense

terizing job burnout.

of personal effectiveness at

work go together in charac-

However. Chip showed few signs of cynicism or a negative

evaluation of his personal work effectiveness. Nonetheless, he does

show extreme

emotional exhaustion:

The

profile indicated a

person experiencing extreme exhaustion, which

is

the defining quality of burnout. Specifically, the assessment indicates a

person

who

is

emotionally drained and chronically

tired.

His recovery cy-

344

The Lucifer Effect

cles are not providing suflicienl rest or relief

from work to permit him

replenish his energy, leading to a condition of chronic weariness.

dent that his current state

in his

managing

current circumstances.

person experiencing job burnout that

The

question.

to

evi-

contrary to the individual's identity: He

is

thinks of himself as capable of

whelmed

It is

profile suggests that

.

is

.

.

serious demands, but

is

over-

Overall, this profile indicates a

specific to the

work

situation in

under different work circumstances, he

could be a productive and enthusiastic contributor.

Research tasks

in cognitive

psychology shows that performance on a variety of

undermined by conditions, such as chronic

is

stress

and multitasking, that

impose an excessive load on a person's cognitive resources. Memory and problem solving, as well as

usual capacity tive capacities

is

judgment and decision making,

overextended.^^'

I

demands he

With these clues

Tier

same mind-set

A

1

let

now

us

that

during the night

you used

were a participant, or a walking

in

when

the mind's

level of cogni-

faced nightly at his new. overwhelming job.

mind,

in

stance" alluded to in Dr. Leiter's report.

work on

suffer

was indeed overwhelmed by the inordinate load imposed on him by

the situational

to

all

argue that Chip's ordinary

will

turn our focus on the "work circum-

From

shift.' I

earlier in

Chip's perspective,

what was

invite you. the reader, to

it

our journey, when you imagined that you

subject, in various social psychological experiments.

Chip Frederick's boots

like

assume the

for a

Try

few months, from October to December

2003.

A

Bad Apple or

a

Chip off the Best Block?

we leave our dispositional analysis to consider the situational forces at play, we must keep in mind that this young man brought no pathology into that situa-

Before

tion.

There

would

is

absolutely nothing in his record that

predict that Chip Frederick

behavior.

On

the contrary, there

been forced to work and

is

would engage

much

in his

Jessica

was

able to uncover that

its

recruitment ads. He could have

psuedoheroes. Privates

Lynch and Pat Tillman. '^ The military could have used

who loved

his

Staff Sergeant Ivan

country and was ready

drop of his blood. He could have been the best of apples In a sense.

sadistic

record to suggest that had he not

in place of the military's fabricated

Frederick as a superpatriot last

I

any form of abusive,

such an abnormal situation, he might have been

live in

the military's Ail-American poster soldier on

been used honestly

in

to serve

in their

it

to the

good barrel.

Chip Frederick also could have been one of the participants

in

our

who wc knew were good young men. normal and down into that prison basement. .Mthough he does went

Stanford Prison Experiment, healthy

— before they

not share their intelligence level or middle-class background. Chip can be com-

pared with Iheni

become

in starting

boldly etched

tion thai

out as a

upon by

tiibuhi rasa, a

clean

slate,

a pathological prison setting.

brought out the worst

in this

otherwise good

which would soon

What was

soldier.'

the Situa-

How could

it

have

Abu indelibly etched itself

tioning?

What was

345

Ghraib's Abuses and Tortures

distorting his usual mental

on him,

and behavioral func-

the nature of the "barrel" into which this once "good apple"

was dropped?

THE SITUATION: NIGHTMARES AND NIGHT GAMES ON TIER lA Because he had prior experience in corrections, Staff Sergeant Frederick was assigned to be in charge of a small group of other the night shift at

"hard

that

site."

Abu

is,

He had

Ghraib.

Army Reserve Military Police on

to oversee activities

inside the concrete structure rather

camps surrounded by barbed

wire.

One

of those

on four

tiers in

the

than outside in the tent

camps was Camp

Vigilant (later

changed to Camp Redemption), which had four separate compounds. Within Tier

lA

(Alpha) was a special

tions.

facility

designed for inmate, or "detainee." interroga-

They were usually conducted by civilian contract

interrogators,

some aided

by translators (hired by the Titan Corporation) and only loosely supervised by military intelligence, the CIA.

At

serve

Staff Sergeant Frederick

first.

oners. That

and other service branches.

was in

Company

Police National

was responsible for about four hundred pris-

2003. when

early October

his 3

72nd Military Police Army Re72nd

(based in Cresaptown, Maryland) replaced the

Guard Company.

Initially,

signments handed to him, even though so medium-security prisoners he

it

Military

he was able to handle the complex as-

was an escalation from the hundred or

had had under

his

command back home. How-

not long after President Bush had declared "mission accomplished." instead

ever,

of the Iraqi citizenry being supportive,

all hell

broke loose. Insurgency and foreign

terrorism against the U.S. and Coalition occupation surged out of control.

had anticipated how

extensive, coordinated,

and deadly

it

No one

would be and would

continue to grow out of control.

Revenge

likely

for the

how

tainty about

deaths of so

many soldiers mixed freely with fear and uncer-

to contain this eruption. Orders

were sent out

suspects in towns where any insurgent violence

to

round up

all

had erupted. That meant

widespread arrests of whole families, especially adult males. The detention sys-

tem was not and

able to process this

new load adequately. Record keeping on detainees

their likely interrogation value

fell

by the wayside, and basic resources be-

came completely inadequate under the pressure of an inmate population that doubled in November and nearly tripled to more than a thousand by December. Chip was required to be in charge of all of them and. in addition to being in charge of a dozen or so MPs. to oversee the

fifty

to seventy Iraqi police

who were

guarding more than 1.000 Iraqis imprisoned on various criminal charges. The Iraqi police,

who worked

Tiers 2.

weapons and other contraband the prisoners

was in the range of

well as children as together in

to

huge

young

cells.

3.

and

inmates

4.

were notorious

for a fee.

twenty, there were also

as ten years old

Female prisoners,

and seniors

prostitutes,

for

smuggling

in

Although the average age of

up to fifty adolescents,

in their sixties

—

all

as

housed

and the wives of generals and

346

The Lucifer Effect

who

iiKMi

liiid

hccMi iinporlanl leaders in

(Bravo). I-ach ol the

Alpha and Bravo

Saddam's parly were housed

tiers

held about

complex

time, hi short, bein^i in charge of this

fifty

in 'iier

IB

prisoners at any one

without adequate resources

facility

and a suddenly erupting foreign prisoner population placed a heavy burden upon

someone whose

had been limited

prior experience

medium-security

number

to policing a small

town

civilian prisoners in a small

of

in Virginia.

Training and Accountability

Zimbardo: "Please

tell

me about

your training to be a guard, a guard

leader,

in this prison."^'

Frederick: "None.

No training for this job. When we mobilized at Fort I^e. we class, maybe it was about forty-five minutes long, and it

had a cultural awareness

was

basically about not to discuss politics, not to discuss religion,

'em Aayrabs.' don't Heads, Aayrabs.'

"How

Z:

bility

you

felt

call

and not

to call

'em 'Camel Jockeys,' 'Towel Heads.' or not to call 'em Rag

"

and the accounta-

w^ould you describe the supervision you received

you had toward your superior

officers.^"

Frederick: "None."

"Who was your direct

Z:

superior officer to

Frederick: "Sergeant First Class Snyder.

he was

in

charge of

me and

it

whom you

w^as in

I

reported.'"

charge of the four

keeps going up the chain. Next in line

Brinson. Above Captain Brinson

Captain Reese; above Reese

is

tiers, is

and

Captain

Lieutenant

is

Colonel Phillabaum." Frederick's shift

began

went on

to report that

night or

made even

at

4

and

p.m.

few of these

brief

4 a.m. He

lasted for twelve hours, until

were ever present on Alpha Tier

officers

appearances early

in the shift.

He had no

from Sergeant Snyder because his superior had no professional training However,

tions.

changes Z:

Chip did

at various times

to Snyder. Brinson.

and Reese.

prisoners with mental conditions.

soon as

I

got there

was

.

.

facility.

nude except

doors, should not have prisoners

niles,

in correc-

and recommended

offer suggestions

"You would make recommendations.'"

Frederick: "Yes. about operation of the cell

at

supervision

.

One

Not

to

handcuff prisoners to

for self-mutilators, can't

of the

first

things that

regulations, operating procedures. ...

men. women, and

nienlall\'

ill

prisoners

all in

same

the

1

I

handle

asked

was housing

thing,

it's

for as

juve-

a violation

of the military code. Z:

"So you would try to get up the chain of command.'"

Frederick:

ranking

"I

would

tell

anybody

Usually they would

up the good work."

this

is

the

tell

way

that

me.

would come

just see

in

who thought had some

Military Intelligence

wants

At other limes. C'hip said that he would be scoffed

higher-ups

lor

I

what you can come up with, keep

at

it

done."

or reprimanded by

complaining. (ii\en the combat zone conditions, they told him. he

Abu would have wyn,

mal

to

make do

Virginia, Prison.

as best possible.

He was

surely not in Kansas or the Dill-

There would never be any clear written procedures, no

and no structured

policies,

347

Ghraib's Abuses and Tortures

guidelines.

for-

There was none of the procedural

support that Chip Frederick needed to follow in order to be the kind of leader he

hoped

to be in this

most important mission in

his

life.

He was on his own, without

any support system upon which he could rely. This was exactly the worst working

we have

condition for him, given Chip Frederick's basic needs and values, which just reviewed

from his assessments.

It

was a sure

recipe for failure.

And

that

was

only the beginning.

Nonstop Night Work Not only did

this soldier

with not a single day

lowed by two more nights on. as

I

work

around the

half

off for a full forty days!

solid

clock,

he did so seven days a week

Then he had only one day

weeks on. before he could get a regular day

off, fol-

off after four

where such a work schedule would not be seen

can't imagine any job

inhumane. Given the shortage

of trained corrections personnel

and perhaps

the failure of his superiors to appreciate the extent of this overwhelming daily

workload, there was no recognition of or concern for Chip Frederick's job stress

and burnout

potential.

He had

do what they wanted him to do and simply stop

to

complaining to his superiors.

Where ply

went

did he go at

4 a.m. when

twelve-hour

to sleep in another part of the prison

by-nine-foot prison cell that

around

his long

it. It

was

enough water

had no

dirty because there

to clean

it

in the porta-potties.

nasty in there. There were

—

in a prison cell!

He

over.?

He

sim-

slept in a six-

but did have plenty of rodents running

were not enough cleaning supplies and not

up. Chip Frederick told

couldn't find supplies to keep the

backed up

toilet

was

shift

facilities clean.

me

during our interview,

The plumbing was bad.

There was trash and mold everywhere.

human body parts in the facility.

.

.

.

"I

Shit

was

... It

was

There was a pack

running around [still present from the days when prisoners executed Saddam were buried in part of the prison and wild dogs would dig up their remains]. You know I was so mentally drained when I got off in the morning, all I

of wild dogs

by

wanted

to

do

is

sleep."

He missed breakfast, T-rations

lunch, often had only one meal a day, which consisted of

and not-so-tasty MREs

—the Army-issue meals ready

containers. "Portions were small due to the large

be

fed.

I

ate a lot of cheese

problems

he was always

because of work schedule

around

to be eaten out of

of soldiers that

had

to

and crackers." Chip reported. Other emerging health

for this athletic, socially

cising because

number

minded young

tired

conflicts.

his prison supervision

man

were that he stopped exer-

and he was not able

More and more

and the

MP

to socialize with buddies his

life

revolved entirely

Reservists working there under his

command. They soon became what social psychologists refer to as his "reference group." a new in-group that would come to have a big influence on him. He was

348

The iMcijcr

enmeshed

in a "lolal situation.

had earlier described as

'

I-ffcct

the kind that the psychologist Robert Jay

ot

facihtating

mind control

in cults

and

in

Lil'ton

the North Korean

prisoner-of-war camps.

Many Others on The two MP

the All-Night Scene

reservists

who served most often on the night shift in Alpha Tier were Jr.. and Specialist Megan Ambuhl. Oaner was put in di-

Corporal Charles Graner.

charge of Tier

rect

1

A during the night shift, given that Chip had to move around When they were off duty. Specialist Sabrina Harman

to supervise the other tiers.

replaced them. Sometimes Sergeant Javal Davis would

Lynndie England was a

file

clerk

who was

often to be with her boyfriend. Charles Graner.

birthday on the

was

tafion.

tier.

Armin

Specialist

also frequently

in.

fill

Private First Class

not assigned to this duty but visited

She celebrated her twenty-first

Cruz, of the 32 5th Military Intelligence Bat-

around that

tier.

There were also "dog handlers." soldiers

who came on

the

tier to

use their

dogs either to intimidate prisoners into talking or to force prisoners out of their cells

the

show

they were suspected of having weapons, or just for a

if

such teams were sent

Guantanamo Bay

to

Abu Ghraib (Two

Prison.

guilty of prisoner abuse,

who were

of these dog handlers,

problem arose. Also present were a number of

who did the interrogation

found

when some special medical

civilian contractors

and military

from the Titan

of those detainees suspected of having in-

formation about insurgency activities or knowledge of terrorist often required translators to assist suspects. FBI. CIA.

practice at later

were Sergeant Michael Smith and Staff Sergeant Santos

Cardona.) Nurses and medics also visited on occasion,

Corporation,

of force. Five

November 2003. having had

in

them

in their interactions

intelligence personnel

activities.

They

with the detainee-

were also around

at

times

for special interrogations.

As might be expected, high-ranking military the middle of the night. the

months

that Chip

Commander

was on

were rarely around

visitors

Karpinski never visited Tiers

duty, except

once when giving a TV

servist in that unit reported seeing Karpinski only twice in the five at

Abu

Ghraib.

A

few other

officers

made

brief

appearances

not in uniform and had no identification, tiers.

No one was supposed

A/B during

tour.

One

re-

months he was

in the late afternoon.

and

to suggest

Varit)us other people,

who were

Chip used those rare occasions to report problems with the

changes he hoped could be made; none ever was.

1

in

came and went

facility

to

and from these two

to ask to see their credentials, so they operated in total

anonymity. Against the rules of military conduct, civilian contractors gave orders to the

MP guards about things they

for interrogation. Soldiers oil

wanted done

to prepare particular prisoners

duty are not supposed to take orders from

This line has become increasingly hiurred with the

personnel to

fulfill

rise in

civilians.

use of civilian contract

roles previously liantilecl In inililar\' intelligence.

Chip's letters and e-mail messages

he and the other .MP reservists on

Tier

home I

clearly told that a key function that

Alpha served was

to help the inlerroga-

Abu tors

do their job more

since they like the

proud

effectively. "Military intelligence

has encouraged and told

"They usually don't allow others to watch them interrogate. But

"

us, 'Great job.'

349

Ghraib's Abuses and Tortures

way

run the

I

to report that his

prison, they have

made an

exception."

He was

men were good at doing what they were asked to do.

soft-

ening up detainees so they would give up the information interrogators wanted.

We've had a very "We help getting them to talk with the way we handle them usually end up breaking They high rate with our style of getting them to break. within hours."

home

Chip's messages

which included CIA

officers

contractors, dominated

Abu

Ghraib.

He

told

all

repeatedly noted that military intelligence teams,

and

and interrogators from

linguists

of the action that occurred in that

me that

cause they had deliberately

private defense

dungeon

facility of

he could not identify any of these interrogators be-

made themselves anonymous. They rarely gave their in fact, most of them did not even wear a

names and had no IDs on their uniform;

military outfit. Chip's account squares with

media accounts about the climate

created by General Sanchez's insistence that the best

way to get actionable intelli-

gence from detainees was by extreme methods of interrogation and secrecy.

Some rules for U.S. duck

military personnel at the prison

responsibility for their actions, a factor that

to abuse.

cell

made it easy for people to

also

memo titled

According to an undated prison

which covered the high-security

may

have opened the door

"Operational Guidelines."

block (Tier lA), the

acronym "MI

[Military

Intelligence] will not be used in the area." "Additionally,

recommended

knowledge

tion area reduce

The use

it is

that

military personnel in the segrega-

of their true identities to these specialized detainees.

of sterilized uniforms [cleansed of

and personnel should

all

identification]

all

is

highly suggested

NOT address each other by true name and rank in the seg-

regation area."^^

The Army's own

investigations revealed the truth of Frederick's descriptions

about the extreme strategies that were employed in the prison. They found that interrogators

MP

had encouraged

reservists

Iraqi detainees for questioning, physically

lished line

working

in the prison to prepare

mentally.^'*

The traditionally estab-

between MPs dealing only with detention procedures and military

telligence personnel reservists

and

in-

working on intelligence gathering was blurred when these

were recruited

to assist in

prepping detainees for coercive interrogation.

Military intelligence agents were also guilty of

some

of the worst abuses. For ex-

ample, in order to obtain information from one Iraqi general, interrogators

soaked

down

his sixteen-year-old son,

him naked out

smeared him with mud. and then drove

into the cold. Sergeant

Samuel Provenance (Alpha Company,

3()2nd Military Intelligence Battalion) reported to several news agencies that two of the interrogators

nel

were aware of

had sexually abused a female teenager and that other person-

this abuse.

We

abuses were committed by any those by Chip Frederick's

will see in the

number

next chapter that

of soldiers

MP night shift crew.

and

much worse

civilians, in addition to

—A 3

50

ThclAuiferlJiccl

hope

"1

the*

investigation (of inmate abuses]

who committed

the crimes, but

some

is

encouraged

Mark Kimmilt. deputy

director for

these crimes as well." said Brigadier Ck'neral

Dan Rather on

Coalition operations in Iraq, in an interview with

"Because they certainly share some

including not only the people

of the people that might have

level of responsibility as well."

and investigating

that the System has been slow in accusing

Chip Frederick also had general custody of tainees." prisoners

who were

were assumed

property. Because they

OGA

only as

listed

its

Wmuws

(lU

(We

own

will

II.

note

officials.)

twenty "ghost de-

fifteen to

—Other Government Agency

to be high-ranking officials

who had

valuable information to give, the interrogators were given latitude to use

means necessary

to extract that actionable information.

"ghosts" because there was no site,

never

saw one

officially listed,

them

of

he was

after

official

without any

who had

packed

and put

in ice

into a

body bag with an IV inserted

the hospital in the morning. Before he was

MPs (Graner and Harman) on

with him as souvenirs, just in the following chapter.)

was

for the record.

However, the

dumped somewhere by

the night

(We

shift

had

MPs on

arm

new

their pictures taken

night

shift

more

detail

witnessing

some

resistant detainees or

positions.^

1

norm of abuse acceptability. If it were posaway with murder, what harm was there in just smacking around

certainly to establish a

sible to get

to

a cab driver,

will revisit this case in

effect of the

in his

and being taken

sick

these and other instances of grim abuse by a variety of visitors to their Tier

was

I

^^

been severely beaten by a Navy

(by a medic) so that his murderers could pretend he

of the

in there."

then hung on a rack during interrogation by a CIA agent, suffocated

to death, then

some

"I

by Delta Force soldiers. They killed this guy.

killed

That "guy" was a ghost detainee unit,

at that

During our interview. Chip confided.

nobody cared. Nobody cared what happened

got the impression that

SEALs

them ever having been

record of ID.

all

These detainees were

social

embarrassing them by making them take humiliating

they reasoned.

The Fear Factor There was

much

to fear within those prison walls

and

also for Chip Frederick

all

— not only

the other guards. As

is

for the prisoners but

the case in most prisons,

prisoners with time on their hands and ingenuity will fashion tually

from beds or windows, broken

ken

off

less

ingenuity and

them with guns,

some money,

of vir-

and

warned by guys

the

in

letters to

72nd

glass,

and sharpened toothbrushes. With

prisoners could bribe the Iraqi guards to supply

knives, bayonets,

also transler notes

and ammunition,

l-or

a fee. these guards

which

his unit replaced, that

guards,

to the detainees. tlu'v

would refuse

Although to

many

of

— they even assisted escape attempts h\ provid-

ing security inlornuitioM. lacility maps, clothes, and weapons.

drugs

would

and from family members. Frederick had been

MP Company,

the Iraqi guards were \ery corrupt

in

weapons out

anything available to them. Here their weapons were made from metal bro-

l-rederick

make rounds

They

was nominally

of the tiers,

in

also

smuggled

charge of these

and usually they

just sat

Abu around on

351

Ghraib's Abuses and Tortures

tables outside the tier

smoking and

must be added

talking. This

to all

the other sources of Chip Frederick's constant frustrations and stress in running

a secure

facility.

Prisoners regularly assaulted the guards verbally and physically;

them, and others used

feces at

some threw

their long fingernails to scratch the guards' faces.

One of the most frightening and unexpected series of events on the tier happened on November 24. 2003. when Iraqi police smuggled a handgun, ammo, and bayonets into the cell of a suspected Syrian insurgent. Chip's small force had a shootout with him, and they were able to subdue

him without

killing

him. However,

and

that event raised the bar for everyone in that place to be eternally vigilant

even more fearful of lethal attacks against them. Prisoner riots occurred over the poor quality of the food, which was often inedible

and

insufficient. Riots

ploded nearby in

Abu

were also

Ghraib's "soft

erupt

likely to

site."

As noted

when mortar

attacks ex-

the facility

was under

earlier,

daily

bombardment, and both guards and prisoners were wounded and some

killed

by these mortar attacks.

"I

was always

mortar and rocket attacks and the

firefights

fearful,"

Chip confessed to me. "The

were very scary

been in a combat zone before Iraq." Nevertheless, he had

to

for

me.

suck

brave, given his position of authority over the detainees, his fellow Iraqi police.

The

situation

demanded

it

I

had never

up and

act

MPs, and the

that Chip Frederick pretend not to be afraid

but instead to appear calm. cool, and collected. This conflict between his outer,

seemingly composed manner and his inner turmoil worsened as more inmates

were constantly added to the ranks and demands from higher-ups escalated to get

more "actionable inteUigence" from the In addition to his bottled-up

fear.

detainees.

Chip Frederick endured the stress and ex-

haustion generated by the excessive demands of this complex

he was

tween

totally

unprepared and untrained. Consider,

his core values

—

order, neatness,

and disorder that surrounded him

all

and cleanliness

one would work with me. place."

I

the

norm

to stop

named. No one of prisoners,

able from I

in

total

visitors

full

and the

charge was readily

can imagine.

It

was

its

barren ugliness.

of person, given that

military uniforms while civilian interrogators identifiable,

wearing orange jumpsuits or

one another.

"weak" because "no

anonymity by

combined with anonymity

wearing their

around them, most

felt

filth,

to be in

accountability." Moreover, the physical set-

which he found himself conferred of place

was supposed

make any changes about how to run this anonymous because "no one was listening to my po-

He also began to feel was clear that there was no

Anonymity

which

couldn't

sition. It

ting in

for

—and the chaos,

the time. Although he

charge of the entire compound, he reported that he had

new job.

wide discrepancy be-

too, the

totally

on

it

duty.

became

And

all

came and went un-

and the seemingly endless mass naked, were also indistinguish-

as extreme a setting for creating deindividuation as

352

The Lucifer Effect '

Parallels

Now

with the Guards

in

the Stanford Prison Experiment

uv have surveyed

that

tween the psychological

k

the

work

setting,

we can begin

states experienced by

to see parallels be-

Chip Frederick and his fellow

guards with those of the guards in the Stanford Prison Experiment. Deindividua-

anonymity of person and anonymity

tion processes created by

dent.

Dehumanization

of prisoners

is

of place are evi-

apparent by virtue of their sheer numbers,

enforced nakedness, and uniform appearance, as well as by the guards' inability to

understand their language. One of the night

their thinking:

"We were never

your imagination. Break them.

was

flexicuff 'em:

trained to be guards.

throw 'em down

told to all of us. they're

less

than human, and you

never dream of

Both

sets of

a difficult

said. 'Use

sandbags instantly on their head. They

to the

all

ground: some would be stripped. phrase.^].

So you

It

start

of a sudden, you start looking at these

start

doing things to 'em that you would

control.

own

would be interesting or

was aggravated,

Boredom was

some excitement, some

guards decided on their

that they thought All this

in.

both prison settings, bred by long

in

when everything was under

take actions that might bring ing.

in

into

And that's where it got scary." ^^

Boredom operated nights

The higher-ups

nothing but dogs [familiar

breeding that picture to people, then people as

MPs. Ken Davis, reported

We want them broke by the time we come back.*

As soon as we'd have prisoners come would

shift

documentary about how dehumanization had been bred

a later television

shift

hours on those

a potent motivator to

controlled sensation seek-

initiative "to

make

things happen"

fun.

of course, by the lack of mission-specific training for

and complex job and the lack of oversight by a supervisory

staff,

which

rendered accountability unnecessary. In both prisons, the system's operatives gave permission for the guards to maintain total power over the prisoners. In addition, the

guards feared that the prisoners would escape or

riot,

as did our Stan-

ford guards, although of course with less deadly consequences. Obviously.

Ghraib Prison was a

far

more

lethal

environment than our

relatively

Abu

benign

prison at Stanford. However, as the experiment showed, the abusiveness of guards

and

their aggression

ries of sexual,

in

toward the prisoners escalated

homophobic

acts

even more perverse and extreme ways, on Tier

the worst abuses occurred during the night authorities noticed It

should be

them

made

nightly,

culminating

least: thus, free

shift,

1

when

the guards

that the

clear that such situational forces as those described here

Except for the

Abu Ghraib

felt

from their elemental constraints.

encouragement given by some

—

as in the Stanford prison

Milgram research

civilian interrogators to

"soften up" detainees in order to render iheni vulnerable, forces at

true,

A. Moreover, in both cases,

did not directly prod the guards into doing bad things, as in the

paradigm.

in a se-

imposed upon the prisoners. The same was

it

was the

situational

— that crcMcd freedom from the

usual social and moral constraiFilson abusive actions.

It

became apparent

to

both

Abu sets of night shift

Ghraib's Abuses and Tortures

guards that they could get away with

353

many taboo behaviors bewhen newly emergent

cause responsibility was diffused: no one challenged them

norms made acceptable once unthinkable

"when the cat's away, the mice Flies,

will play."

behavior.

It is

It is

the

phenomenon

where supervising grown-ups were absent as the masked marauders

ated havoc.

It

of

reminiscent of Golding's Lord of the cre-

should also remind you of the research on anonymity and aggres-

sion reported in the previous chapter. It is

instructive to note

some

of the conclusions reached by the independent

panel headed by James Schlesinger that compared the two prison situations.

drawn

surprised to discover the parallels

in that report

I

was

between our simulated

prison conditions at Stanford and the all-too-real prison conditions at

Abu

Ghraib. In a three-page Appendix (G), the report describes psychological stressors, the bases for

inhumane treatment

tors that are involved

when

of prisoners,

and the

humane

ordinarily

social psychological fac-

people behave inhumanely

toward others:

The potential for abusive treatment

of detainees during the Global

War on

Terrorism was entirely predictable based on a fundamental understanding of social psychology principles coupled with

known environmental

risk factors.

an awareness

of

numerous

[Most of the leaders were unac-

quainted with these risk factors.]

Such conditions neither excuse nor absolve the individuals who engaged in deliberate

immoral or

behaviors [even though] certain condi-

illegal

tions heightened the possibility of abusive treatment.

Findings from the

field

of social psychology suggest that the conditions of

war and the dynamics

human tion

of detainee operations carry inherent risks for

mistreatment, and therefore must be approached with great cau-

and careful planning and

training.

[The] landmark Stanford study

.

.

.

provides a cautionary tale for

all mili-

tary detention operations, which were relatively benign. In contrast, in military detention operations, soldiers

work under stressful combat condi-

tions that are far from benign.

how and why individuals and who usually act humanely can sometimes act otherwise in certain

Psychologists have attempted to understand

groups

circumstances.

Among

the social psychological concepts identified by the Schlesinger in-

why abusive behaviors occur include deindienemy image, groupthink. moral disengagement,

vestigation that help explain

viduation. dehumanization.

and

social facilitation.

We have discussed all of these processes earlier with regard

to the Stanford Prison Experiment,

and they were operating

as well in

Abu

5S4

The lAuifer

Cihraib. with the exception of "grt)uplhink.

liffecl

"

I

do not believe that

this biased

of thinking (that promotes a group's consensus with the leader's position)

play

among the night

shift

way

was

at

guards, because they were not systematically planning

their abuses.

"Groupthink"

a concept developed by

is

my

former

chologist Irving janis to account for bad decisions

Such groups suppress

intelligent people.

when

^'aic teacher,

in

the psy-

groups composed of

dissent in the interest of

group harmony,

they are an amiable, cohesive group that does not include dissenting view-

and has a

points

(1961)

More

made

recently,

intelligence

of Pigs invasion of

Cuba

example of groupthink by President John Kennedy's cabinet.

groupthink was

community

(IC)

mass destruction (which, volved in the Iraq

The disastrous Bay

directive leader.

a prime

is

work

at

in

the shared belief within the American

and the Bush cabinet that Iraq possessed weapons

in turn, led to the

war against

Iraq): "IC

personnel

of

in-

WMD issue demonstrated several aspects of groupthink: exam-

ining few alternatives, selective gathering of information, pressure to conform

within the group or withhold criticism, and collective rationalization." The back-

ground

for this

line: see

the Notes.

In

conclusion by the Senate Intelligence Committee

is

available on-

^~

an independent analysis published

in the

journal Science, the social psy-

Susan Fiske and her colleagues supported the position taken by the

chologist

Schlesinger investigation. They concluded that "Abu Ghraib resulted in part from

ordinary social processes, not just extraordinary individual cial

evil."

Among the so-

processes identified are conformity, socialized obedience to authority, dehu-

manization. emotional prejudices, situational stressors, and gradual escalation of

abuses from minimal to extreme.

^^

A

former soldier

SPE

to

understanding the behavioral dynamics

and

also

why

in Iraq offers

strong leadership

is

further documentation of the relevance of the at

work

in Iraq military prisons,

crucial.

Professor Zimbardo. I

was

lished

a soldier [lead counterintelligence agent] in the unit that estab-

Camp

the Baath

study to

Cropper, the

Regime

my

fell.

I

first

can

detention

up

facility set

definitely relate the lessons

observations on the ground in Iraq.

I

However, unlike the soldiers

Ghraib.

Our

after

my

tour and saw

the situations you described from the study at

Abu Ghraib our

petent leadership and things never got

Abu

Baghdad

from your prison

dealt extensively with

both the Military Police and detainees throughout

many examples of

in

leaders

knew

unit

had very com-

anywhere near the

level as at

the rules, set the standards, and super-

vised to ensure that the rules were followed. Infractions of the rules were

investigated

and when appropriate, xiolators were punished. Detention

missions are deluinianizing for exeryone involved.

I

think

I

went

numb

Abu after the first

tv^'o

Ghraib's Abuses and Tortures

355

weeks. Active involvement by our leaders kept us from

who we were and why we w^ere there. Anyhow. I enjoyed readsummary of your experiment: it brought more clarit>' to my

forgetting

ing the

thinking. Sincerely.

Terrence Plakias^^ Sexual Dynamics on Tier lA

One of the unusual features of the night shift staff on xAlpha Tier was the mixture of young female and male guards. It is noteworthy that, in this culture of unsupervised young adults, the women were quite attractive. Add to this emotionally charged mix young Lynndie England, who hung out with that shift to be with her

new rid

boyfriend. Charles

Graner England and Graner soon began engaging

sexual escapades, which they

in digital

became pregnant and subsequently gave

tually she

there

documented

must have been something

nine-year-old

MP

he was sentenced

else

birth to his child. However,

going on between Graner and the twent>^-

guard Megan Ambuhl. because they

later got

married

—

after

to prison.

The media, which focused on the England-Graner- Ambuhl tle

in tor-

photos and videos. Even-

triangle, gave

among the Iraqi criminal for the Army Reservists who

coverage to the fact that there were prostitutes

oners,

who

are seen posing with bared breasts

their pictures. In addition, there

were scores of naked

Iraqi

lit-

pris-

took

male detainees, partly

because of the humiliation strategy imposed upon them by orders from higher authorities

and

partly because there

were not enough orange prison

suits to go

around. Ironically, some of the prisoners had to wear women's pink panties instead of male underwear because of a mistake in the supply order step

down

to force

some prisoners

to

wear them over the head

as a

It

was

a short

funny form of

humiliation. Despite Chip Frederick's requests to separate

young and adult

detainees, a

who had been housed with them. Specialist Sabrina Harman marked one of these men on his leg with a Sharpie pen. "I am a Rapeist" [sic]. On another of them, a lipstick face was group of

Iraqi prisoners allegedly raped a fifteen-year-old

drawn around

his nipples

across his bare chest.

one

MP

with his prison ID number also marked with

well.

was becoming ever more James Schlesinger.

like

like a

male

MP

and perhaps with a

in

cer-

raping a female detainee.

It

porn palace than a military prison.

who headed one of

the

many

what he saw and heard about that night

Animal House" (the movie).

any person.

light

Male detainees were frequently threatened with rape by

tain guards. Other evidence implicates a

described

lipstick

The sexual atmosphere was explosive. There is evidence that

sodomized a male detainee with a chemical

broomstick as

boy

It

was

independent investigations,

shift's

nightly activities:

"It

was

a Situation spiraling out of the control of

35h

The lAuijer Effect

Chip Frederick remembers that the abuses occurred

the following clus-

in

tered chronological order:

1-10 October 2003: Nudity, handcuffing to cell doors, wearing women's underwear. This was carried over from the

relief in place

MP

with the 72nd

Company. 1

October

from

Sexual poses

to 2 5 October.

unknown

gether naked). Also an

GITMO and showed

Ciraner

(in

soldier

some

presence of MI

who was

— handcuffed

there claimed he

stress positions that

to-

was

were used

at

GITMO. 8 November. Riot at danci

within (Tier

an

1

MP

Abu A).

compound

|one of the separate

Cihraib Prison]. Seven detainees being

Were

in possession of multiple

Hostage and

kill

the

compounds

to the

hard

weapons and was planning

MP This was the night

sexual poses and masturbation. Dogs

moved

came around

site

to take

of the pyramid, assaults, this time.

Following a thorough investigation. General Antonio Taguba's report itemizes a

this

long

MP

set of

unit

following:

abuses and torlure practices attributed to various members of

on Tiers

1

A and

1

B.

The charges

in his

damning

report include the

Abu

357

Ghraib's Abuses and Tortures

a.

Breaking chemical lights and pouring the phosphoric liquid on detainees;

b.

Threatening detainees with a charged

c.

Pouring cold water on naked detainees;

broom handle and a chair;

d.

Beating detainees with a

e.

Threatening male detainees with rape;

f.

9mm pistol;

Allowing a military police guard to stitch the

was injured

after

wound

being slammed against the wall in his

of a detainee

who

cell;

and perhaps a broomstick;

g.

Sodomizing a detainee with a chemical

h.

Using military working dogs to frighten and intimidate detainees wiih threats of attack,

who in one instance

light

actually bit a detainee.

Intentional abuse of detainees by military police personnel included the

lowing

fol-

acts;

a.

Punching, slapping, and kicking detainees; jumping on their naked

b.

Videotaping and photographing naked male and female detainees;

c.

Forcibly arranging detainees in various sexually explicit positions for pho-

d.

Forcing detainees to remove their clothing and keeping

feet;

tographing;

them naked

for

several days at a time; e. f.

Forcing naked male detainees to wear women's underwear; Forcing groups of male detainees to masturbate themselves while being

photographed and videotaped; g.

Arranging naked male detainees

h.

Positioning a naked detainee

and attaching wires

in a pile

on a

and then jumping on them;

MRE Box,

to his fingers, toes,

with a sandbag on his head,

and penis

to simulate electric tor-

ture; i.

Placing a dog chain or strap around a naked detainee's neck and having a

female soldier pose for a picture; j.

k.

A male MP guard having sex with a female detainee; Using military working dogs (without muzzles) to intimidate and frighten detainees,

1.

and

in at least

one case biting and severely injuring a detainee;

Taking photographs of dead Iraqi detainees.

"These findings are amply supported by written confessions provided by several of the suspects, written statements provided by detainees,

ments," concludes General Taguba.^

mind cSOOlh

MP

Soldiers of the requirements of the Cicneva Conventions

regarding detainee treatment or took any steps to ensure that such abuse

was not

repeated.

commander

Nor

there any evidence that LTC(P) Phillabaum. the

is

Camp Bucca

of the Soldiers involved in the

abuse incident,

look any initiative to ensure his Soldiers were properly trained regarding detainee treatment.

What We Have Here

is

a Failure to Communicate, to Educate, and to Provide

Leadership

Taguba

many

offers

MPs were not

instances of ways in which the soldiers and

they needed to perform their

The

Army

Reserve

properly trained and were not given the resources and information difficult

functions as guards in

Abu Ghraib

Prison.

report states:

There

a general lack of knowledge, implementation, and emphasis of

is

basic legal, regulatory, doctrinal,

800th

The handling

of detainees

compound, encampment 800th

phasize

The

facility to

detention

encampment, and

to

MP Brigade AOR

shift differences

.

.

and criminal prisoners

was inconsistent from detention

the

and command requirements within the

MP Brigade and its subordinate units.

to night

compound

to

even shift to shift throughout

(Area of Responsibility).

from day

after in-processing

facility,

on Tier

1

[Italics

added to em-

A.]

report also states:

The Abu Ghraib and Camp Bucca detention their intended

maximum

facilities

are significantly over

capacity while the guard force

and under resourced. This imbalance has contributed conditions, escapes,

and accountability

overcrowding of the

is

undermanned

to the

poor living

lapses at the various facilities.

facilities also limits

gate leaders in the detainee population

The

the ability to identify and segre-

who may

be organizing escapes

and

riots

The

report goes on to identify one of the problems raised by Chip Frederick in

within the

policing his

tier,

coming and

going,

that of

facility.

numerous

unidentified civilians

and giving orders

to

him and

and unknown others

his staff.

In general. l!S civilian contract personnel (Titan Corporation.

third country nationals,

and

local contractors

supervised within the detention

do not appear

CACI.

etc.).

to be properly

Abu Ghraib. During our on-site much unsupervised free access various outfits (civilian and DCUs

facility at

inspection, they wan(Jered about with too in

the detainee area. Having civilians in

(Desert

sion

Camouflage

Hnitsj) in

and about the detainee area causes confu-

and may have contributed

to the difticulties in the accountability

process and with detecting escapes.

387

Putting the System on Trial

Taguba documents many instances of prisoners escaping and rioting and describes lethal encounters

peats

conclusion:

its

between MPs and detainees. In every case, the report re-

"No information on

findings, contributing factors, or

The report

corrective action has been provided to this investigation team."

takes note of one major prisoner riot that

had

lethal consequences,

also

one of those

that Chip Frederick mentioned as a prelude to a transfer to his Tier 1 A of the riot

who were then abused there:

ringleaders,

24 November 03- Riot and shooting allegedly

began

to riot at

about

1

of 12 detainees

300

in all of the

.

.

.

Several detainees

compounds

at the

encampment. This resulted in the shooting deaths of 3 detainees, 9

and 9 injured US

detainees,

Soldiers.

MP Brigade,

Falcone (220th

A

15-6 investigation by

Ganci

wounded

COL Bruce

Deputy Commander) concluded that the de-

tainees rioted in protest of their living conditions, that the riot turned violent,

the use of non-lethal force

Battalion

CDR [Commander]

was

ineffective, and, after the

320th

MP

executed "Golden Spike," the emergency

containment plan, the use of deadly force was authorized.

it.^

What or who was to blame for this riot and the use of deadly force to contain involved. He notes:

Taguba concludes that a host of problems were

Contributing factors were lack of comprehensive training of guards, poor or non-existent SOPs,

no formal guard-count conducted mix

rehearsals or ongoing training, the lethal

rounds

in

weapons, no

AARs

of less

prior to shift,

no

than lethal rounds with

[after action reports]

being conducted

ROE [rules of engagement] not posted and not understood,

after incidents,

overcrowding, uniforms not standardized, and poor communication be-

tween the

command and Soldiers.

Taguba was the

especially

concerned that the obviously inadequate training of

MP brigade, well-known by military command, was never corrected: I

find that the

800th

MP Brigade was not adequately trained for a mission

that included operating a prison or penal institution at

Complex. As the Ryder Assessment found. 8()0th

MP

prior to mobilization

could not train

Brigade

Abu Ghraib Prison

concur that units of the

with

levels,

MP

units did not receive pinpoint assignments

and during the post mobilization

for specific missions.

at the mobilization sites level

also

Brigade did not receive corrections-specific training during

their mobilization period.

pany

I

little

were

[sic]

The

training that

training,

and thus

was accomplished

developed and implemented at the com-

or no direction or supervision at the Battalion and

and consisted primarily

of

common tasks and

law enforce-

ment training. However. I found no evidence that the Command, although aware

of this deficiency, ever requested specific corrections training

from the Commandant of the Military Police School, the US

Army Con-

38S

The Lucifrr^Effect

linemcnt Facility at Mannheim. Cicrniany. the Provost Marshal (Jeneral of the Army, or the

US Army

Disciplinary Barracks at Fort l^avenworth.

Kansas This investigation indicates that B(i Karpinski and her staff did a poor job allocating resources throughout the Iraq

Abu

housed between ftOOO and

7()(){)

battalion. In contrast, the

HVI) [High

tains only about

100

detainees, yet

and

detainees,

is

also

Abu Ghraib (BCCF) was facility]. PX [post exchange]

[dining

.

welfare,

and recreation]

random

rifle

it

Joint

facilities.

and detainees

severely overcrowded

run by an entire battalion of

life

for Sol-

extremely poor. There was no barbershop, or

MWR [morale,

There were numerous mortar attacks,

in the facility.

attacks,

and a serious

The prison complex was also

and the Brigade lacked adequate resources and

sonnel to resolve serious logistical problems.

and

normally

was operated by only one

and RPG [rocket-propelled grenade]

threat to Soldiers

Operations Area].

Facility])

Detainees] Facility main-

Visibility

diers assigned to

ciations

|

undermanned, the quality

In addition to being severely

DFAC

jOA

(BCCF [Baghdad Central Confinement

Cihraib

Finally,

per-

because of past asso-

familiarity of Soldiers within the Brigade,

friendship often took precedence over appropriate leader

it

appears that

and subordinate

relationships.

Taguha Targets

One of

Derelict. Deficient

Commanders

the exceptional features of General Taguba's report, compared with

all

the

other investigations into the Abu Ghraib abuses, is its willingness to identify the commanders who failed to exercise their military leadership and who deserve some form of military punishment. It is worth our time to lay out some of the rea-

—

sons that the general targeted

command

that

many

military leaders for their roles in creating a

was a mockery rather than

who were

were the leaders

supposed

a

model of military leadership. These

to provide the disciplinary structure for the

hapless MPs:

With respect

to the

find that there

uas

SOOth

MP

Brigade mission

Abu

Commander. SOOlh side the

with

little

little

MP

Brigade,

coordination

oversight by 52()th

tainee abuse

ment

who

(ihniib (BCC^I) after 19

who

I

controlled l-OB |l-orward

November

2(){)5.

and the

controlled detainee operations in-

al

command

the

two functions. X'oordination occurred

The

Cihraib (BCCF).

FOB. There was no clear delineation of responsibility between

commands, of the

Abu

clear friction a[ul lack of effective coinnuinication be-

tween the Commander. 2()5th Ml Brigade, Operations Base|

at

commanders.

.

.

at

level,

and no integration

the lowest possible levels

.

MP Battalion was stigmatized as a unit due to previous de-

which occurred

I'acilitv (TIF),

in

May 200 5 at the Bucca Theater Interncommand of FTC (P) Phillabaum.

while under the

.

.

389

Putting the System on Trial

commander and

Despite his proven deficiencies as both a

Karpinski allowed LTC (P) Phillabaum to remain in troubled battalion guarding, by

800th

MP Brigade.

Numerous

.

far.

number of

the largest

BG

leader.

command of

her most

detainees in the

.

witnesses stated that the 800th

MP

Brigade S-1.

MAJ

Hinzman and S-4. MAJ Green, were essentially dysfunctional, but that despite numerous complaints, these officers were not replaced. This had a detrimental effect on the Brigade Staff's effectiveness and morale. Moreover, the

Brigade

lack initiative tions.

Command Judge Advocate. LTC James O'Hare.

and was unwilling

erly supervise the Brigade staff

corrective action

of his ac-

failing to lay

out

not prop-

staff priorities, take overt

when needed, and supervise their daily functions. numerous officers and senior NCOs have been .

reprimanded/discipUned

for

misconduct during

From my reading of Taguba's an "animal house"

MPs on Tier

analysis.

I

must conclude that Abu Ghraib was

among

at the officer level, as well as

1 A.

Twelve

officers

this period.

the night shift

and NCOs were reprimanded or

(mildly) for their misconduct, dereliction of duty, lack of leadership,

One

abuse.

8 70th

.

addition,

In

serve

by

any

Officer) did

to accept responsibility for

LTC Gary Maddocks. the Brigade XO (Executive

appears to

glaring example involved Captain Leo Merck,

Army

Re-

disciplined

and alcohol

commander

of the

MP Company, who was alleged to have taken nude photographs of his own A

female soldiers without their knowledge.

were found

derelict in

for gratuitously

tionally

duty

for fraternizing

shooting off their

M-16

and negligently blowing up a

NCOs

w^ho

officers

and

second example involved

with junior commissioned

rifles

whfle exiting their cars, uninten-

fuel tank!

of the individuals in command positions, who should have been positive role models for the ordinary soldiers and reservists functioning under them, deserved to be relieved from command or relieved from Duty and given a General Officer Memorandum of Reprimand. His report cites many specific instances of faUure of leadership for each of the

Taguba recommended that a dozen

following principals: Brigadier General Janis

Colonel

Thomas M.

(P) Jerry L.

Steven

L.

Karpinski.

Phillabaum. Commander. 32()th

Commander 800th MP MI

MP

Brigade:

Brigade: Lieutenant Colonel

Battalion: Lieutenant Colonel

Jordan, former director Joint Interrogation and Debriefing Center

liaison officer to talion:

L.

Pappas. Commander. 20 5th

205th Ml Brigade: Major David

and Captain Donald

Other lower-level tions in Tier

1

A.

They

J.

Reese,

VV.

commander

officers also cited

3

DiNenna. S-3. 320th

72nd

and

MP Bat-

MP Company.

by Taguba are important for their posi-

include: First Lieutenant Lewis C.

Raeder Platoon Leader.

MP Company: Sergeant Major Marc Emerson, operations Sergeant Major 32()th MP Battalion; First Sergeant Brian G. Lipinski. 372nd MP Company: and Sergeant First Class Shannon K. Snider, platoon sergeant. 372nd MP Company. 372nd

390

The LudfcrJ-ffect

The Taguba Report

common

issued a

Lipinski.

and

Snider.

Tier

1

A: Reese. Raeder. Emerson.

Each of them was charged with one or more of the following:

Failing to ensure that Soldiers

•

reprimanding those

juslilicalion for

who should have been in charge of operations at

under

command knew and

his direct

under-

stood the protections afforded to detainees in the Geneva Convention Relative to

the Treatment of Prisoners of War.

Failing to properly supervise his Soldiers

•

the Hard-Site at

Abu Ghraib

trained in Internment

Here. then,

1

of

soldier standards, profi-

is

his direct

command were

properly

and Resettlement Operations.

made

further support for the pleadings

by Chip Frederick and

MP guards on his shift that they were essentially clueless as to what was ap-

propriate and

what was not acceptable when preparing detainees

However, culpability lay not

shows that the

under

Failing to ensure that Soldiers

•

"visiting" Tier

and accountability.

ciency,

other

and enforce basic

Failing to properly establish

•

working and

(BCCF).

MPs

and interpreters who wrongly involved

several civilian interrogators

in their interrogation of detainees

in the abuse.

Among

for interrogation.

with the military. This investigation also

just

on Tier

them, the Taguba Report

1

A were personally implicated

identifies the following culprits:

Steven Stephanowicz. contract U.S. civilian interrogator. CACI. 20 5th Military Intelligence Brigade,

20 5th

and John

Israel,

contract U.S. civilian interpreter. CACI.

Military Intelligence Brigade.

Stephanowicz

were not trained ting conditions'

is

accused of having "Allowed and/or instructed MPs.

in interrogation techniques, to facilitate interrogations

which were neither authorized and

plicable regulations/policy.

abuse." (Italics

added

He

knew

clearly

emphasis.) That

for

is

\sic\ in

'set-

accordance with ap-

his instructions

exactly

who

by

equated to plniskal

what Frederick and Graner re-

ported thai they had been encouraged to do by these civilians u ho seemed to be in

charge of the main action of tainee interrogation by any

The

Tier

means

effect of the negative

1

A: to get actionable intelligence through de-

necessary.

modeling of the

"evil of inaction"

is

also revealed

by Taguba's admonition of Sergeant Snider for "Failing to report a Soldier,

under

his direct control,

feet in his

who

abused detainees by stomping on their bare hands and

presence."

Before eral other

we

leave the

Taguba Report

to

move on

to

some

independent investigations, we must note

its

of the findings in sev-

powerful conclusion

about (he culpability of some military officers and civilian workers ye( lu'cii tried, or

Several

even charged,

US Army

for the

Soldiers have

breaches of international law

at

abuses

at

Abu

who have

Ghraib:

committed egregious acts and grave

Abu

(ihraib/BCCl' and

Camp Bucca.

Iraq.

not

391

Putting the System on Trial

Furthermore, key senior leaders in both the 800th

205th MI Brigade

and command (BCCF) and at

2004.

.

MP

Brigade and the

comply with established regulations,

failed to

Camp Bucca

policies,

Abu Ghraib

directives in preventing detainee abuses at

during the period August 2003 to February

.

Specifically,

I

suspect that

COL Thomas M.

Pappas. LTC Steve

L. Jor-

dan. Mr. Steven Stephanowicz. and Mr. John Israel were either directly or indirectly responsible for the abuses at

ommend

Abu Ghraib (BCCF) and strongly

paragraphs as well as the initiation of a Procedure

mine the

rec-

immediate disciplinary action as described in the preceding

full

1 5

Inquiry to deter-

extent of their culpability. [Italics added for emphasis.]

The Milolashek Report Blames Only the Few Lieutenant General Paul

T.

Milolashek.

Army

inspector general, reviewed ninety-

four confirmed cases of detainee abuse in Afghanistan

and Iraq and the conditions

contributing to these violations of U.S. mihtary policy: (the report

February 10. 2004). Even though the report flawed decisions by senior

commanders and

identifies the

was

many

issued

on

instances of

military officers that contributed to

the abuses. General Milolashek concluded that the abuses did not result from any

mihtary po/ici/, nor were they the fault of any senior

blame

laser

on only low-ranking

lashek's record

show

soldiers for

officers. Instead,

he turned his

committing these abuses. Let Milo-

that these ninety-four cases of detainee abuse in military

prisons in Afghanistan and Iraq were due simply to the "unauthorized actions

taken by a few individuals." Thus, the inspector general cleanly absolved the entire

chain of

command of any responsibility for the damages. The ninety-four cases of

abuse also go

far

beyond the confines of the night

shift

on Tier

1

A.

This top-level "whitewash" should be packaged with the Ryder Report as a

Tweedledee-Tweedledum boxed set this general's

his report's other findings.

guidance from

set.

However, before moving on.

it is

valuable to

conclusion of no top dogs responsible against inconsistencies in

command on

lished interrogation policies

The report notes

that troops received

"ambiguous

the treatment of detainees" and. further, that estab-

were "not clear and contained ambiguity."

notes that the decision by senior commanders in Iraqi prisons to rely on the

tanamo Bay Prison ("Gitmo")

guidelines

was wrong. The detainees

considered high value "alien combatants"

gence necessary to extract

in

who may have had

at

It

also

Guan-

Gitmo were

actionable

intelli-

order to combat terrorism and insurgency. Secretary

Rumsfeld outlined a

set of stiff interrogation tactics to

however, they were

somehow

be used on those detainees;

transported overseas to Iraq prisons and to run-of-

the-mill detainees. Milolashek's report states that this action by senior military officers

"appears to contradict the terms of Rumsfeld's decision, which explicitly

stated that the guidelines were applicable only to interrogations at

and this

room

led to the

use of 'high

risk"

interrogation techniques that

for misapplication, particularly

Guantanamo:

left

considerable

under high-stress combat conditions."

392

The

LiHifi'f kjfcct

The Fay /Jones Report Scales the Blame Upward and Outward7 Lieutenant General Anthony R. Jones assisted Major General (Jeorge R. Fay in leading an investigation of allegations that the

Abu

Brigade was involved in detainee abuse at

20 5th

Military Intelligence

Ghraib. They also investigated

whether any organizations or personnel higher than that brigade command were involved in those abuses in any way.^ Although their report advances the stan-

dard dispositional attribution of putting the blame on the individual perpetrators of the abuses

—

civilians"

it

—once again that "small groups

of morally corrupt soldiers

and

does extend the causation to situational and systemic factors in

re-

vealing ways.

"The events

at

Abu Ghraib cannot be understood in a vacuum." is the how the "operational environment" contributed to

Fay /Jones lead-in to outlining

those abuses. Compatible with the social psychological analysis that

have been

I

proposing, their report goes on to detail both the powerful situational and sys-

temic forces operating within and around the behavioral setting. Consider the

sig-

nificance of the following three paragraphs extracted from the final report:

LTG Jones found abuse the

at

commit the

that while senior level officers did not

Abu Ghraib

facility, failing to

they did bear responsibility for lack of oversight of

respond

in a timely

manner

to the reports of the In-

ternational Committee of the Red Cross and for issuing policy

guidance

failed to provide clear, consistent

for

memos that

execution at the tactical

level.

MG

Fay has found that from 25 July 2003 to 6 February 2004.

twenty-seven 205 MI

BDE

[Brigade] Personnel allegedly requested, en-

couraged, condoned or solicited Military Police (MP) personnel to abuse detainees and/or participated

in detainee

abuse and/or violated established

interrogation procedures and applicable laws and regulations during in-

terrogation operations at

Abu

Ghraib.

The leaders from units located Soldiers

and units

at

Abu Ghraib

at

added

[Italics

for

emphasis.]

Abu Ghraib or with supervision over

failed to supervise

subordinates or pro-

vide direct oversight of this important mission. These leaders failed to

properly discipline their Soldiers. These leaders failed to learn from their

mistakes and failed to provide continued mission-specific training.

absence of effective leadership was a factor

in

.

.

.

The

not sooner discovering and

taking actions to prevent both the violent/sexual abuse incidents and the Mnises would not have occurred

misinterpretation/confusion incidents

had doctrine been jolhnved and tnission

trainituf conducted. [Italics

added

for

emphasis.]

The

joint report of these generals

summarizes multiple

found as having contributed to the abuses tified

at

as primary contributors to the abuses:

Abu

factors that they

Ghraib. Seven factors are iden-

393

Putting the System on Trial

"Individual criminal propensities" (the alleged dispositions of the reserve

MPs) "leadership failures" (systemic factors)

command

"dysfunctional

relationships at brigade

and higher echelons"

(systemic factors) "multiple agencies/organizations involvement in interrogation operations at

Abu Ghraib"

(systemic factors)

"failure to effectively screen, certify,

and then integrate contractor

inter-

rogators/analysts/linguists" (systemic factor)

"lack of a clear understanding of the

MP and MI roles and responsibilities and systemic

in interrogation operations" (situational

"lack of safety

and security

at

Abu Ghraib"

factors)

(situational

and systemic

fac-

tors)

The Fay /Jones Report thus

specifies six of

seven contributing factors to the

abuses as traceable to systemic or situational factors, and but one to dispositional factors.

It

then proceeds to expand on this overviev^ by highlighting numerous

systemic failures that played key roles in facilitating the abuses:

Looking beyond personal responsibility, leader responsibility and command responsibility, systemic

environment cific

in

problems and issues also contributed to the volatile

which abuse occurred. The report

lists

several

dozen spe-

systemic failures ranging from doctrine and policy concerns to leader-

ship and

command and control issues to resource and training issues.

Cooperating with Illegal CIA Activities as "Teamwork" I

was surprised

to discover in this report open, public criticism of the CIA's role in

the abusive interrogations, which

The systematic

was supposed

to be clandestine:

lack of accountability for interrogator actions

tainees plagued detainee operations at

Abu

Ghraib.

under what authority the CIA could place prisoners

Abu Ghraib because no memorandums subject between the

CIA and CJTF-7. Local CIA

and procedures.

(Italics

like

unclear

and de-

how and

DETAINEE-28*

of understanding existed officers

Pappas and LTC lordan that they should be allowed tablished local rules

It is

added

for

in

on the

convinced

COL

to operate outside the es-

emphasis.]

Let's pause for a moment to let that statement resonate before considering how this matter of the military's links with the CIA was resolved. Fay/Jones noted that "When COL Pappas raised the issue of CIA use of Abu Ghraib with COL Blotz.

*We

will

have more to say about

this detainee.

Manadel al-Jamadi.

later on.

394

The Lucifer Effect

COL was

Blotz all

encouraged COL Pappas

in

to cooperate [as well)."

Work Environment

Creating an Unhealthy

The way

with the CIA because everyone

to cooperate

one team. COL Blotz directed LTC Jordan

which such 'above and beyond the law" undercover work by CIA op-

eratives contributed to a cancerous

environment

elaborated in Fay/Jones with

is

a psychological analysis:

The death

DETAINEE-28 and

of

incidents such as the loaded

the interrogation room, were widely

MP

and

alike) at

Abu

some people being above the laws and

The resentment contributed

that existed at

Abu

in

Ghraib. Speculation and resentment grew out of a

lack of personal responsibility, of regulations.

weapon

known within the US community (MI

The death

Ghraib.

to the

of

unhealthy environment

DETAINEE-28 remains unre-

solved.

The operational use murder

is

noted

and never revealed

When

anonymity as a protective

of

in passing:

"CIA

their true

officers operating at

other night

alias [sic]

names."

the Self-Serving Claims of the

The Fay/Jones

away with

shield to get

Abu Ghraib used

MPs

Turn Out

to

Be True

investigation offers support for the claims by Chip Frederick

shift

MPs

that

many

supported by a variety of individuals working

and

and

of their abusive actions were encouraged

for military intelligence in their

unit:

The MPs being prosecuted claim that their actions came at the direction MI. Although self-serving, these claims do have some basis in vironment created at Abu Ghraib contributed

and the fact of time.

that

What

remained undiscovered

it

started out as nakedness

bij

to the

of

The en-

fact.

occurrence of such abuse

higher authoritif for a long period

and humiliation,

cal training [exercise], carried over into sexual

stress

and physi-

and physical assaults by a

small group of morally corrupt and unsupervised Soldiers and civilians. [Italics

added

for

emphasis.)

These investigating generals repeatedly make by systemic and situational factors

in

c\'ideiit

the major roles played

the abu.ses. However, they cannot give up

the dispositional attribution of the perpetrators as the few "morally corrupt" individuals, the so-called bad apples in

an otherwise flawless barrel

filled

to the

brim

with "the noble conduct of the vast majorits' of our Soldiers." Decent Dogs Doing Ding Deeds

The Fay/Jones Report was one cepted" tactics used to

facilitate

of the

first

to detail

and

fault

some

effective interrogations. For example,

of the "acit

notes that

the use of dogs was imported by Major General Geoffrey Miller from Gilmo prison

395

Putting the System on Trial

in

Cuba, but the report adds. "The use of dogs in interrogations to

'fear up" de-

tainees was utilized without proper authorization.'

Once muzzled dogs were it

officially

made

available to induce fear in prisoners,

unmuzzle them in order to rev up the fear

did not take long to unofficially

factor.

The Fay /Jones Report identifies a ci\alian interrogator [number 2 1 a private CACI employee] who used an unmuzzled dog during an interrogation and who yelled to .

MPs where

a dog

was being used against a detainee

that the dogs could mattress.

chew

Another interrogator

(Soldier 17.

2nd MI

ing to report the improper use of dogs that he

dog

to "go nuts" in scaring

into their

cell.

to "take

Battalion)

selves

is

accused of

fail-

saw when the handler allowed the

two juvenile detainees by sending an unmuzzled dog

This interrogator also failed to report the dog handlers discussing

their competition to scare detainees to the point that they

pants.

him home." To show

things up. that dog had just torn apart the detainee's

They claimed

to

would defecate

in their

have already made several detainees urinate on them-

when threatened by

their dogs.

Naked Prisoners Are Dehumanized Prisoners

The use

of nudity as

from prisons tic at

in

an incentive

likely

They simply carried forward the use

The use

of clothing as

more

is

significant in

severe abuses to occur [by the MPs].'"

Segregation Becomes Isolation

Although Lieutenant General Sanchez had approved the extended periods of time "segregation" of site.

of nudity into the Iraqi

an incentive [nudity]

contributed to an escalating "de-humanization" of the detainees and set

the stage for additional and

When

When it came time to use that tac-

the Fay /Jones Report noted "the lines of authority and the proper

theater of operations. it

maintain detainee cooperation was imported

Afghanistan and Guantanamo.

Abu Ghraib.

legal opinions blurred.

that

to

for specific detainees,

them from

Sanchez was taken

all

word, and

Fay/Jones Report notes that "These

Ghraib Hard

Site

Abu Ghraib hard many detainees were totally isolated and

MP

cells

guards and interrogation by MI." The

had

limited or poor ventilation,

excessively hot or cold. Use of isolation

was not

rooms

no

light.

in the

Abu

closely controlled or monitored. Lacking proper train-

ing, clear guidance, or experience in this technique,

bounds

over

appears that he really meant

outside contact, as in solitary confinement, "other

than the required care and feeding by

and were often made

"

fellow prisoners. However, at the

at his

completely removed from

it

tactic of "isolation

into further abuse: sensory deprivation

both

MP and MI stretched the

and unsafe or unhealthy

living

conditions."

Assigning Blame: Officers, Ml. Interrogators. Analysts. Interpreters. Translators,

and Medics

The Fay/Jones Report concludes by declaring found responsible

for detainee

abuse

at

as culpable

Abu Ghraib

—

all

those

fully

its

investigation

twenty-seven indi-

396

The Lucifer'Effect

name or identity code. What is significant to me is the number of people who knew of the abuses, witnessed them, even participated in them in various

viduals by

ways and

did nothing to prevent, stop, or report them.

proof" to the

MPs

that

it

was acceptable

to

They provided

"social

continue doing whatever they wanted

to do. Their smiling, silent faces provided social support

from the surrounding

network of the general interrogation team that gave thumbs up should have received reprimands. Once again, we see the

to abuses that

evil of

inaction facilitat-

Medics and nurses often were guilty of not helping victims

in distress, of ob-

ing the evil of action.

serving brutality and looking the other way. and worse. They signed off on false

death certificates and

about the nature of wounds and broken limbs. They

lied

violated their Hippocratic oath fessor of medicine

and

"sold their souls for dross." according to pro-

and bioethics Steven H.

At the top of the Fay/Jones blame

book Oath Betrayed^

Miles, in his

list is

again the inept Colonel Pappas. with

twelve separate charges against him. and again Lieutenant Colonel Steven Jordan (director of the Joint Interrogation Debriefing Center).

The following

on Taguba's

also culpable:

hit

list,

are singled out by Fay

and Jones as

Price (operations officer at that center). Major Michael tions officer at that center),

officers,

not

Major David

Thompson (deputy opera-

and Captain Carolyn Wood,

officer in

charge of Inter-

rogation Control Element (ICE) at that center. Before reviewing

characters

who

perpetrators,

Wood. As

it is

in

important role to

Afghanistan.

The Fay/Jones Report notes

by her MI soldiers. However.

in detainees

that

lation of the abuses in

Abu

it

badly.

At

being severely beaten: one was of her

MI

interroga-

"CPT Wood should have been aware

of the

Ghraib." given her knowledge of prior abuses

Wood

received a Bronze Star for Valor after her duty Star,

C.hraib.'"

what. then, constitutes bad leadership

If

along with a promotion, following reve-

such leadership wins high distinctions,

in that military corps.'

Failures of bystander intervention by I

but she misplayed

Abu

Afghanistan and another Bronze

Tier

play,

authorized new. tougher interrogation

and a female detainee was sexually assaulted by three

potential for detainee abuse at

in

Wood

somehow ended up

guidelines that

tors.

moment to consider the fate of Captain Carolyn 519th Military Intelligence Brigade when she was only a

Wood had an

Bagram Prison

of the reprehensible actions of the lower-level cast of

well to stop for a

leader of the

lieutenant.

killed,

some

played both directors and audience for the "Abu Ghraib Seven"

A helped to perpetuate that

abuse,

numerous observers

.\mong those who were

of the abuse

on

identified as wit-

nessing abuses and doing nothing about them were the following:

•

Soldier

1

5.

Ml

interrogator,

and Soldier 22 (who

also heard

MPs

say they

were using detainees as "practice dummies" by striking them unconscious) •

Soldier 24. intelligence analyst (present during abuse of detainees in

many photographs)

397

Putting the System on Trial

(who "thiought

Soldier 25, interrogator

•

it

was funny" when dog handlers

scared detainees into running into their cells as dogs attacked: she was also present

when

pyramid of naked prisoners was formed)

a

(who witnessed prisoner abuse and saw photos

Soldier 20, Medic

•

of the

naked pyramid) Soldier

•

1

.

human p^Tamid when called to provide

Medic she also saw the (

medical treatment).

who watched the dog attacks and

Also included are those mentioned earlier

never challenged the dog handlers or reported the abuses.

Not content

Army

to observe in silence,

many

analyst (Soldier 10) threw water

tor (Soldier 19) actively participated in the

the photographs, threw

foam

others eagerly joined the

on three naked

abuse of three detainees depicted in

balls at their genitals,

poured water over them, and

who was

gave instructions to

MPs

hooded on the

whimpering." The Fay /Jones Report

floor

to

abuse a detainee

sonally involved interrogator: "Soldier-29

saw Graner

later

found "naked and

identifies

saw the photos being

mid: she

was

made him

roll in dirt,

taken: she

knew

that

and then forced him

dry: she stripped a prisoner

another per-

slap a detainee: she

computer screen saver with the image of seven naked detainees

shower,

One

fray.

detainees; one interroga-

MPs

in a

saw a

human pyra-

gave a detainee a cold

to stand in the cold until

naked and walked him outside

in the cold

he

on a

winter night."

Most is

tellingly in

support of Chip Frederick's defense, this female interrogator

charged with giving

MPs

instructions to mistreat

proven that she told that to SSG Frederick

an interrogation

—which "appeared

when

and abuse detainees.

It

was

detainees had not cooperated in

to result in [their]

subsequent abuse" (ac-

cording to Fay and Jones). This thorough investigation by two claims that the

MPs on

Army

the night shift of Tier

1

generals should lay to rest any

A abused

and tortured the prison-

ers solely out of their personally deviant motivations or sadistic impulses. Instead,

the picture that diers

and

is

emerging

is

one of complex multiple causality Many other

civilians are identified

and implicated

in various

abuse process. Some were perpetrators, some

who failed to report

abuses. In addition,

we

sol-

ways in the torture and

facilitators,

and some observers

see that a legion of officers

is

also fin-

gered as responsible for these abuses by their failures of leadership, and by creating the chaotic, impossible situation in which Chip Frederick

and those serving

under him found themselves enmeshed. However. General Sanchez was not directly implicated in any wrongdoing by this investigation. Yet.

Kern,

he was not entirely

him responsible

for

what

hook, according to General Paul

did or did not happen."''

wordplay: General Sanchez thing!

off the

J.

who told reporters. "We did not find General Sanchez culpable but we found

We will not

is

Now. that

is

really elegant

not "culpable" but merely "responsible for" every-

be as charitable to this

officer.

398

The Lucifer'Kffect

Next we turn to a special investigation ordered by Rumsfeld and headed not by another general, but by former defense secretary James Schlesinger. This committee did not conduct new. Independent investigations: rather, they interviewed

top military and Pentagon leaders, and their report offers us tures for the case

we

The Schlesinger Report This

Abu

for the situational

tention center operation, its

fea-

will present.

It

offers valuable evidence to

its

its

to the abuses at

many shortfalls in the deand command culpabilities,

specification of

pointing out leadership

revelation of the cover-up of the photos of abuse by the military after Joe

Darby took the photo CD

What report,

we

and systemic influences contributing

Ghraib. Of special interest are

and

important

Identifies Culpability'^

the final investigative report

is

our case

many

are building.

struck

me

as

to a military criminal investigator.

most unexpected, and what was

much

appreciated in this

the section devoted to detailing the relevance of social psychological re-

is

Abu

tucked away addendum to the Schlesinger Report also presents the apparent parallels between the Abu Ghraib search to understanding the abuses in

an Appendix

situation

(G)

and

is

at

Ghraib. Unfortunately,

it is

therefore likely not to be widely read. This

and the abuses that occurred during the Stanford Prison Experiment.

Widespread Military Abuses the report notes the widespread nature of "abuse" across

First,

cilities.

(The term "torture"

is

never used.) At that time. November 2004. there

were three hundred incidents of alleged detainee abuse areas, with sixty-six established as "abuse" by forces at

Afghanistan, and interrogation,

more

fifty-five

and

at least five

pened during interrogation. still

under investigation

uum"

that Fay

in Iraq.

A

joint

in

operation

Guantanamo and were related

third of these incidents

in

to

deaths of detainees were reported as having hap-

Two dozen

at that time.

and Jones

military fa-

all U.S.

additional cases of detainee deaths were

This grim account seems to

fill

up the "vac-

referred to in their report about the abuses

on Tier

1

A.

Albeit they were the most visible instance of the abuses perpetrated by soldiers.

they

may have been

detention

facilities

less horrible

that

we

than the murders and

mayhem in other military

will visit later.

Major Problem Areas and Kxacerbating Conditions

The Schlesinger Report

identified five areas as

major problems that

led into the

context of the abuses. They are:

MPs and Ml

•

Inadequate mission-specific training of

•

lA]uipnient

•

Pressure on interrogators to produce "actionable intelligence" (with inex-

and resources

soldiers

shortfalls

perienced, untrained personnel and detainees

long as ninety days before being interrogated)

who were

in

custody

for as

399

Putting the System on Trial

•

Leadership that was "weak." inexperienced, and operating within a confused, overly

•

complex structure its own rules, command structure

The CIA operating under in the military

The report

also specifies a

number

of prevailing conditions that exacerbated

Abu Ghraib Prison, notably those on the MPs and

the difficult task facing the soldiers in the

hard

site in Tier lA.

It lists

without accountability to anyone

the following conditions that impacted the

Mis on that tier:

•

The fire

• •

• •

•

MPs

fear besetting

firom

given that the facility was under frequent hostile

mortar and rocket-propelled grenades

Detainee escape attempts were numerous Several riots in the prison

Ml and MP seriously underresourced MI and MP lack of unit cohesion and midlevel leadership Reserve MI and MP units had lost senior NCOs and other personnel through rotation back to the United States and/ or reassignment

72nd

MP soldiers were not trained for prison guard duty

•

3

•

Thinly stretched in dealing with the large

•

800th

MP

was among the lowest

capability to •

Lack of

overcome the

shortfalls

and standards

discipline

number of

units in priority it

detainees

and

did not have the

confronted

of behavior

were not established or en-

forced •

•

No clear delineation of responsibility between commands and fittle coordination: lax and dysfunctional command structure Weak and ineffective leaders: top leaders failed to ensure that subordinates were properly trained and supervised

•

Some medical personnel

failed to report

detainee abuses that they had wit-

nessed and provided tacit approval as bystanders •

"Secretary Rumsfeld publicly declared he directed one detainee be held secretly at the request of the Director of Central Intelligence."

provided a model of deception at the highest levels of

was emulated What We Have Here Again and again, level

and

its

Is

in

various ways by others in

this report

makes evident the total

contribution to the abuses by the

These abuses

and

command, which

command at Abu Ghraib.

Again a Failure of Leadership

The aberrant behavior on the night would have been avoided with proper ship

That action

,

discipline.

.

.

failure of leadership at every

MPs on

shift in cell

the notorious night block

1

training, leadership,

at

shift:

Abu Ghraib

and

oversight.

represent deviant behavior and a failure of leader-

400

The Ludfir'^ffect

There were other abuses not photographed during interrogation

ses-

and abuses during interrogation sessions elsewhere than Abu

sions

Ghraib. Still,

known

And

higher

levels. [Italics

At the tactical

individuals to follow

they are more than the failure of a few leaders to

enforce proper discipline. There ity at

some

the abuses were not just the failure of

standards.

level,

added

is

both institutional and personal responsibil-

for

emphasis.]

we concur with the Jones/Fay investigations con-

clusion that military intelligence personnel share responsibility for the

abuses at

Abu

Ghraib.

The unclear command structure

at

Abu Ghraib was

further exacer-

bated by the confused relationships up the chain.

The unclear chain

command established by CJTF-7 combined with

of

the poor leadership and lack of supervision contributed to the atmosphere at

Abu Ghraib that

allowed the abuses to take place.

At the leadership

was

level there

tion between the 8()()th

and a lack

friction

of

communica-

MP Brigade and the 20 5th MI Brigade through the

summer and fall of 2003.

.

.

.

There was a lack of discipline and standards

A

of behavior were not established or enforced.

lax

and dysfunctional

command climate took hold. There were serious lapses of leadership

commissioned

officers to battalion

in

both units from junior non-

and brigade

levels.

The commanders

at

both brigades knew, or should have known, abuses were taking place and taken measures to prevent them.

By not communicating standards,

policies,

and plans

to soldiers, their

leaders conveyed a tacit approval of abusive behaviors toward prisoners.

Weak and sooth

MP

ineffectual leadership of the

Brigade,

allowed the abuses

We

and the Commanding at

Abu

Commanding General

Officer of the

205 MI

Ghraib.

concur with the Jones finding that LTG Sanchez and

dakowski

failed to insure

of the

Brigade,

MG

Woj-

proper staff oversight of detention and interro-

gation operations.

The Independent Panel finds BG Karpinski's leadership helped Cover-up

set

of the

failures

the conditions at the prison which led to the abuses.

Abuse Photos

The Schlesinger Panel

also

mentions

in

passing

how

the military responded to

the revelation of abuse and torture in the "trophy photos." Interestingly, the

committee uses language^ that takes

all

the officials off the hook for negligence

and malfeasance. There was an attempt

meaning and abuse:

significance of this

at a

cover-up by downplaying the

damning photographic evidence

of torture

and

401

Putting the System on Trial

"The officials who saw the photos on January 14. 2004. not realizing their not

likely significance, did

ior officials."

manders

in

recommend

the photos be

shown

Based on the interim report to CJTF-7 and

mid-March 2004.

"their

news up the chain

more

sen-

impact was not appreciated by these

officers or their staff officers as indicated

a timely fashion to

to

CENTCOM com-

by the failure to transmit them in

more senior officials. Again, the reluctance to move bad

command was

of

a factor impeding notification of the

Secretary of Defense.

General Richard Myers, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of public

Staff, tried to

delay

showing of the photos by CBS Television in April 2004. so he must have re-

alized that they

had some

"likely significance." Nevertheless, as

previously, this top general

felt

free to say publicly that

have mentioned

I

he knew these events were

not "systematic" but rather were due to the criminal actions of a "few bad apples."

The

Social Psycholog}' of

Among

Inhumane Treatment of Others

the dozen investigations of abuses in military detention

Schlesinger Report

is

unique

facilities,

the

in offering a detailed consideration of the ethical

is-

sues involved and in summarizing the psychological stressors and the situational forces operating in

away

tures are tucked

and

G. "Stressors

Abu Ghraib at the

Prison. Unfortunately, both of these special fea-

end of the report

Social Psychology."

Of personal relevance

is

when

main The

Appendices H. "Ethics." and

the committee's identification of parallels between

the Stanford Prison Experiment and the

the

in

they should have been highlighted.

Abu Ghraib

abuses. Let's briefly review

points raised in this section of the Schlesinger Report: potential for abusive treatment of detainees during the Global

War on

Terrorism was entirely predictable based on a fundamental understanding of the principle of social psychology principles

known environmental

awareness of numerous from the

field

[sic]

coupled with an

risk factors.

.

.

.

of social psychology suggest that the conditions of

the dynamics of detainee operations carry inherent risks for

Findings

war and

human

mis-

treatment, and therefore must be approached with great caution and careful planning

and

training.

However, the report noted that most military leaders are unacquainted with

such important

risk factors. In addition, the Schlesinger

Report

made

clear that

understanding the psychological foundations of the abusive behaviors does not excuse the perpetrators

—as

I

have stated previously throughout

conditions neither excuse nor absolve the individuals

immoral or

illegal

this book:

who engaged

"Such

in deliberate

behaviors" even though "certain conditions heightened the

possibility of abusive treatment."

402

The Lucifer TJfect

The Lessons of the Stanford Prison Experiment The Schlesinger

Abu Ghraib environment

all

military detention operations." In contrasting the

work under

The implication

stressful

that those

is

benign environment of the Stanford

to the relatively

Prison Experiment, the report makes tions, soldiers

"landmark Stanford study pro-

Repiirt boldly proclaimed that the

vides a cautionary tale lor

it

evident that "in military detention opera-

combat conditions

that are far from benign."

combat conditions might be expected

to generate

even more extreme abuses of power by military police than were observed

mock issue

prison experiment.

we have been

The Schlesinger Report continues

who

how and why

humanely can sometimes

usually act

cumstances."

Among

ordinarily

deindividuation. dehumanization.

ment, social

One such environmental

and

why abu-

individuals are the following:

enemy image, groupthink. moral disengagefactors.

was the widespread

factor singled out

practice of

"The removal of clothing as an interrogation technique

evolved into something

much

tainees being kept naked

why

sensitive analysis of

humane

and other environmental

facilitation,

stripping detainees.

individuals

act otherwise in certain cir-

the concepts the report outlined to help explain

among

occur

sive behaviors

our

dealing with throughout our Lucifer Effect journey.

"Psychologists have attempted to understand

groups

in

to explore the central

for

broader, resulting in the practice of groups of de-

extended periods of time

at

Abu

Ghraib." In

its

very

nakedness played a causal role

this practice of enforced

MPs and others in Tier 1 A. the Schlesinger Report noted that the initial intention was to make detainees feel more vulnerable and to become more compliant with interrogators. However, it describes how this tactic in

the abuses of detainees by

eventually fostered dehumanizing conditions on that

Over time,

"this practice

guards and interrogators as practice,

is

well.

likely to

The wearing

and therefore the stripping away

usually preclude

Common

.

.

.

.

.

.

social

unin-

is

inter-

Dehumanization lowers moral and cultural barriers that

the abusive treatment of others."

to these investigative reports,

two key elements: they tors to the abuses at

an inherently

may have had the the eyes of those who

of clothes

of clothing

tended consequence of dehumanizing detainees in acted with them.

tier.

have had a psychological impact on

and the others not included

specify a variety of situational

Abu

Ghraib: they also identify

here, are

and environmental contribu-

many systemic and structural

contributors to those abuses. However, because top military brass or the secretary of defense.

Donald Rumsfeld, commissioned them, the authors of these dozen

ports stop short of attributing blame

to higher levels in the

For a clearer f(K'us oh that bigger picture,

and turn next

ti(jn for

our

largest

such organization that works

ca.se

www.hrw.org.)

we

to a recent report

to defend

re-

chain of command.

leave this evidentiary founda-

Human Rights Watch, the human rights worldwide. (See

from

403

Putting the System on Trial

HUMAN RIGHTS WATCH REPORT: "GETTING AWAY WITH TORTL RE?"'3 •"Getting

Away ulth Torture?"

(HRW) report

(April

tigation of the

such

We can

the provocative title of the

2005 which

many

).

stresses the

abuses, tortures,

and civilian personnel. tects of

is

It

calls for

policies that

need

and murders

an investigation

think of the torture dungeon at

independent inves-

of prisoners by U.S. miiitan-

who were the archihuman rights.

of all those

have led to wanton violations of

Gitmo and other military prisons

Human Rights W arch

for a truly

Abu Ghraib and

in .\fghanistan

similar facilities at

and Iraq as ha\1ng been de-

signed by the senior "architects" Bush. Cheney. Rumsfeld, and Tenet. Next the "justifiers." the lawyers legalized "torture" in

who came up

with

new ways and means

new language and

—the

president's legal counselors Al-

berto Gonzales. John Yoo. Jay By bee. William Taft. and John Ashcroft.

men" on Miller.

came

concepts that

The

"fore-

the torture construction job were the militan. leaders, such as Generals

Sanchez. Karpinski. and their underlings.

came

Finally,

the technicians.

the grunts in charge of carrying out the daily labor of coercive interrogation, abuse,

and torture

—the

soldiers in militar>' intelligence.

CIA

operatives, civilian

contract and military interrogators, translators, medics, and military police, in-

cluding Chip Frederick and his night

shift

buddies.

Shortly after the photographic revelations of abuses at

dent Bush vowed that the "wTongdoers will be brought to

of those

for those

Ghraib. Presi-

justice."^-*

HRW report points out that only the lowly MPs were brought none

Abu

However, the

to justice

and that

who created the policies and provided the ideolog\' and permission

abuses to take place ever were. "In the intervening months." the

HRW

report concludes:

It

has become clear that torture and abuse have taken place not solely

at

Abu Ghraib but rather in dozens of detention facilities worldwide, that in many cases the abuse resulted in death or severe trauma, and that a good number of the victims were civilians with no connection to al-Qaeda or terrorism. There

is

also evidence of abuse at controlled "secret locations"

abroad and of authorities sending suspects to third-countr>- dungeons

around the world where torture was

likely to occur.

To

date, however, the

only WTongdoers being brought to justice are those at the bottom of the

chain -of-command. The evidence demands more. Yet a wall of impunity-

surrounds the architects of the

policies responsible for the larger pattern

of abuses.

As this report shows, evidence is mounting that high-ranking civilian

and

militarv' leaders

—including Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld,

former CL\ Director George Tenet. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez,

merly the lop

commander

in Iraq,

and .Major General Geoflrey

for-

Miller, the

404

The Lucifer Effect

former

commander ot

decisions

and issued

tions of the law.

tions.

There

The

also

is

was

that abuse

ployed over the

Even the

viola-

strongly suggest that they either

knew

that such violations took place because of their ac-

mounting data

when

that,

presented with evidence

methods approved by senior

last

stem the abuse.

field

and widely em-

officials

three years include tactics that the United States has

condemned

Army

as barbarity

and torture when practiced by

manual condemns some of

Although much relevant evidence remains

for a

others.

these methods as torture. secret, a series of revela-

tions over the past twelve months, brought together here, already

compelling case

— made

and widespread

in fact taking place, they failed to act to

coercive

repeatedly

camp at Guantanamo Bay. Cuba

The circumstances

known

or should have

the prison

policies that facilitated serious

makes a

thorough, genuinely independent investigation of

what top officials did. what they knew, and how they responded when they

became aware As upsetting shift

of the widespread nature of the abuses.

comparison

in

CIA. and other civilian personnel.

Abu

Ghraib.

it

and torture by the

as were the images of abuse

MPs, they pale

to the "If

many murders of

the United States

needs to investigate those

at the top

is

to

who

Tier

1

A

night

detainees by soldiers.

wipe out the stain of

ordered or condoned

abuse and come clean on what the president has authorized." said Reed Brody.

Human

special counsel for diate,

once and

for all. the

Rights Watch.

He

adds, that

mistreatment of detainees

"Washington must repu-

in the

name

of the

war on

terror." ^^

Many

Abusers, Few Punished, Officers Get Free Ride

Let's set the

record straight on the extent of abuses of detainees in Iraq.

Afghanistan, and that

Guantanamo

more than 600 accusations

A

Bay, Cuba.

recent

Army

statement indicates

of abuse of detainees have been reported since

October 20(31. Of those. 190 have never been investigated or there investigation of

them

—the "ghost abusers.

'

At

least

been investigated with the following consequences:

79 were court-martialed. 54 were found

one year

30 were sentenced to

in prison.

10 were acquitted.

1

5 cases are

still

guilty.

less

1

410

as of April

260

no known

50 faced disciplinary

10 were sentenced

than one year.

1

to

action.

more than

4 got no prison

time.

pending or charges were dropped. 71 were

administratively disciplined or nonjudicially disciplined. that leaves at least

is

other accusations have

investigations closed or

If

one does the addition,

whose ongoing status was unclear

2006. the time the report was published."^ One of the dog handlers.

Sergeant Michael Smith, was sentenced to

six

months

in

prison for using his un-

muzzled dog to torment prisoners. He maintained that he had been "following orders to soften

up prisoners

for interrogation."

"Soldiers are not supposed to be soft

He

is

also reported to have said that

and cuddly." and he was not

that.'"

I

405

Putting the System on Trial

As

2006, there was no evidence that the military has even

of April 10,

attempted to prosecute a single

command

charged, none under the

charged with dereliction of duty

five officers

have been criminally

One Army captain was

deaths of two detainees in Afghanistan;

for the

A Navy lieutenant was charged with assault and dere-

the charges were dropped.

ted.

respon-

responsibility doctrine.

abuses only

tailed report of all investigated

liction of

command

under the doctrine of

officer

personally directed abuses or for those of their subordinates. In the de-

sibility for

duty in the death of a ghost detainee Manadel al-Jamadi; he was acquit-

Three other

officers,

a lieutenant, a captain,

and a major, were convicted

at

court-martial of detainee abuse, either directly participating in abusing prisoners or ordering their troops to do so; one received a sentence of only

45 days in prison,

another got two months, and the third was discharged with no prison sentence at all.

The

command

military

goes soft on

errant officers by using nonjudicial

its

hearings and administrative reprimands that are usually meant for minor offenses

and carry weak sentences. This is so even nal abuse, including 10 homicides and also to

CIA operatives in

ing for the

CIA or the

widespread

command

far

at least

military.

in

20

more than 70 cases of serious crimiSuch leniency extends

assault cases.

abuse cases and 20 civilian contractors work-

1

Thus,

it

becomes evident that detainee abuse was

beyond Abu Ghraib and further that there

responsibility in

Notes for access to the

any

full

of the

many

and

report of the abuses

a general failure of

is

cases of abuse

and

torture. (See the

failures of prosecution of

guilty officers. 1^)

HRW Goes up the Command Chain After in

its

detailed

documentation of the widespread abuses perpetrated by

soldiers

MP and MI brigades, the CIA, and civilian contractors serving as interrogators,

the

HRW

goes nearly

all

the

criminal responsibility for

way up

the chain of

war crimes and

While there are obviously steep

command

so serious,

is

voluminous, that States not to

it

push

authorized the "disgust" at the

way of

investigat-

the nature

of

wrongdoing

are held to account,

Abu Ghraib photos by If

there

is

no

come the perpetrators of

all

when

a

so

who

designed or

President George W.

Bush and oth-

real accountability for these crimes,

atrocities

around the world will point

government as dominant and

States openly defies laws against torture,

the same. Washington's

now

the protestations of

to their treatment of prisoners to deflect criticism of their

Indeed,

is

responsibility for the United

this to the next level. Unless those

ers will be meaningless. for years to

and mounting evidence

would be an abdication of

illegal policies

accusation of

officials,

political obstacles in the

ing a sitting defense secretary and other high-ranking of crimes

in its

torture:

it

own

conduct.

influential as the United

virtually invites others to

much-needed credibility

as a proponent of

do

human

406

The LudJft%Effect

was damaged by the torture

rights

aged

revelations

and

will

be further

dam-

torture continues to be followed by complete impunity for the

if

policy-makers.'''

Stripping

Away Immunity for the Architects of

Both

and international law recognize the

U.S.

Illegal Policy

principle of

"command

responsi-

or "superior responsibility." by which individuals in civilian or military

bility"

authority may be criminally liable for crimes committed by those under command. Three elements are required for such liability to be established.

their First,

there must be a clear superior-subordinate relationship. Second, the superior

must have known or had reason

know

to

that the subordinate

was about

to

com-

mit a crime or had already committed a crime. Third, the superior must have failed to take

necessary and reasonable measures to prevent the crime or to pun-

ish the perpetrator.

War

crimes and torture are punishable under the terms of the

War Crimes

Act of 1996. the Anti-Torture Act of 1996. and the Uniform Code of Military Justice

(UCMJ).

exists that ficials:

Human

Rights

Watch goes on record arguing

that a prima facie case

warrants the opening of criminal investigations with respect to four of-

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, former CIA director George Tenet.

Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, and Major General Geoffrey

Here I can only outline some of the ficials liable for

description

On

Trial:

justifications for holding

Miller.

each of these

the acts of torture and abuse committed under their watch

and supporting evidence

is

provided in the

—

a

of-

full

HRW report.

Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld

Rumsfeld told the Senate Armed Services Committee: "These events occurred on

my watch. As Secretary of

Defense.

I

am

accountable

for

them.

I

take

full

respon-

sibility."^"

HRW asserts that "Secretary Rumsfeld should be investigated for war crimes and torture by US troops

in

Afghanistan. Iraq, and

Guantanamo under

the doc-

for 'command troops to commit war crimes and torture by sidelining and disparaging the Geneva Conventions.-' He did so by approxing interrogation techniques that violated the Geneva Conventions as well as the Conwntion against Torture and by

trine of

approving the hiding of detainees Cross."

Rumsfeld created the conditions

responsibility.' Secretary

froi]i tlu'

International C'ommittee of the Red

HRW continues:

From the earliest days on notice through

of the

brielings.

war

ICRC

in

Afghanistan. .Secretary Rumsfeld was

reports,

human

rights reports,

and press

accounts that troops were committing war crimes, including acts of ture. li()we\er. there

warned

manv

is

no evidence

lli.it

that the mistreatment of prisoners

of the crimes

committed by

tor-

he ever exerted his authority and

must

stop.

Had he done

forces could have been avoided.

so.

407

Putting the System on Trial

An

investigation

would

also determine

whether the

tion techniques that Secretary Rumsfeld approved for

actually used to inflict

them without requesting

gram

that encouraged physical coercion

prisoners, as alleged by the journalist

Secretary Rumsfeld might

incur

his permission.

examine whether Secretary Rumsfeld approved a

also

liability

interroga-

inhuman treatment on detainees there before he re-

scinded his approval to use

would

illegal

Guantanamo were

and sexual humiliation

Seymour Hersh.

also, in addition to

If

either

command

It

secret proof Iraqi

were

true,

responsibility,

as the instigator of crimes against detainees.

Rumsfeld authorized a list of interrogation methods that violated the Geneva Convention and the Convention against Torture used on detainees

namo, which then migrated

Guanta-

at

and

to other military prisons in Afghanistan

Iraq.

Among his directives for preparing detainees for interrogation were the following: The use of lation

stress positions (like standing) for a

up

to

30 days

The detainee may tion

maximum of four hours in iso-

also

have a hood placed over his head during transporta-

and questioning

Deprivation of light and auditory stimuli

Removal

of all comfort items (including religious items)

Forced grooming (shaving of facial

Removal

hair, etc)

of clothing

Using detainees' individual phobias (such as fear of dogs) to induce stress

In addition, standard operating procedures advocated exposing detainees to

extremes of heat. cold,

The Department

light,

and

of Defense

noise.

was repeatedly warned about

of detainees by the International July

2003

Committee

(prior to the public expose at

of the

Abu

torture

Red Cross (ICRC)

and abuse

in

May and

Ghraib) and again in February

2004.^^

The ICRC reported on hundreds of military venues,

of allegations of prisoner abuse at a

making repeated requests

to take

immediate steps

these abuses. These concerns were ignored, the abuses worsened,

by the ICRC were curtailed. In

its

number

to correct

and inspections

February 2004 report, presented confidentially

to officials of the Coalition forces, the following violations against "protected per-

sons deprived of their liberty" during their internment by Coalition forces, the

ICRC highlighted the following:

•

Brutality

upon capture and

initial

custody, sometimes causing death or

serious injury •

Physical or psychological coercion during interrogation to secure infor-

mation

408

The luciferMfci

•

Prolonged solitary confinement

•

Excessive

in cells devoid of light

and disproportionate use of

force resulting in death or injury

during their period of internment

The ICRC

report concludes with a stern warning that the secretary of de-

fense should have heeded but apparently did not: "The practices described in this

[twenty-four-page] report are prohibited under International Humanitarian Law.

They warrant serious attention by CF [Correctional

CF

Facilities]. In particular.

should review their policies and practices, take corrective action and improve the treatment of prisoners of war and other protected persons under their authority."

Amnesty

International has also weighed in with

detention and torture in Iraq.

It

calls

upon the

its

own

Iraqi. U.S..

in-depth report on

and U.K. authorities

"take urgent, concrete steps to ensure that the fundamental

human

rights of

to all

detainees in Iraq are respected. In particular, these authorities must urgently put in place

adequate safeguards to protect detainees from torture or ill-treatment."- ^

Mark Danner. reviewed

all

the relevant documents for his book Torture and Truth: America. Abu

Ghraib and the

"When you

a journalism professor at the University of California. Berkeley,

War on

Terror

Danner concludes from his detailed investigation that

read the documents. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld was in-

volved very personally in approving procedures that went beyond the line of what is

allowed in military law. and for that matter, in civilian law.

what can be done

On

Trial:

when

it

comes

to

to prisoners."--^

Former CIA Director George Tenet

HRV\' accuses former CIA director George Tenet of a variety of violations. Under

George Tenet's direction, and reportedly with

his specific authorization, the

CIA

tortured detainees through "waterboarding" (the near drowning of a suspect)

and by withholding

their medicines.

Other tactics reportedly used by the CIA

in-

clude feigning suffocation, making prisoners hold "stress positions." light and noise

bombardment,

sleep deprivation,

the hands of foreign governments Tenet, the tainees.

CIA "rendered" detainees

Under Director Tenet

s

and making detainees

believe they are in

known

to torture routinely.

to other

governments, which tortured the de-

direction, the

CIA

Under Director

also put detainees

beyond the

protection of the law. in secret locations in which they were rendered completely defenseless, with

no resource or remedy whatsoever, with no contact with the

outside world, and completely at the mercy of their captors. These detainees, in

long-term incommunicado detention, have effectively been "disappeared." Recall that the Fay/Jones investigation concluded that

"CIA detention and

interrogation practices led to a loss of accountability, abuse, reduced interagency C(X)perati()n

Abu

and an unhealthy mystique that further poisoned the atmosphere

Cjhraib." In effect, the

CIA operated under

Under Director Tenet, the CIA

its

own

rules

and beyond the

at

law.

also developed the widespread practice of

409

Putting the System on Trial

using "ghost detainees."

How many? We

Paul Kern, the senior officer

will

who oversaw the

.\rmed Services Committee. "The number

[of

know

never

ghost detainees]

perhaps up to 100." The CL\ kept a number of detainees Ghraib. hiding

but General

for sure,

Fay /Jones inquiry, told the Senate is

in the dozens,

books

off the

at

Abu

them from the ICRC.

Army Lieutenant Colonel Steven Jordan, who was second in command of the intelligence-gathering effort at Abu Ghraib while the abuse was occurring, told military investigators that "other

brought

force "routinely

government agencies" and a

secretive elite task

in detainees for a short period of time"

and that the

names

tainees were held without internment numbers, with their

de-

kept off the

books. Such practices are violations of international law.-^

The "Ice

Man" Goeth

The Fay /Jones Report mentions one an

by the

Iraqi detainee

name

Manadel al-Jamadi. brought

of

November 2003 to the prison

CIA agent, was never formally

Nav}- SELALs and interrogated by a

madi was

of these "ghosted" cases: In

"tortured to death." but the cause of his death

by

registered. Ja-

was concealed

in a

most

unusual way.

The

Mayer has shed

investigative reporter Jane

CL\ played

in this

homicide and

Deadly Interrogation" in The

Xew

the question "Can the CIA legally

The al-Jamadi case

is

its

Yorker

kill

light

on the

sinister role the

Her fascinating account "A

grisly cover-up.

magazine (November 14. 2005)

especially important for us in our effort to

the behavioral context at

raises

a prisoner.-"

Abu Ghraib

in

understand

which Chip Frederick and

his other

"rogue soldiers" worked. They were enmeshed in an environment where they observed ghost detainees routinely being brutalized, tortured, and dered.

They witnessed perpetrators

By comparison with what happened

some even mur-

away with murder."

literally "getting

to the ghost detainee

Manadel

al-

Jamadi. the so-called Ice Man. what they did to the run-of-the-mill detainees must

have seemed

much more

like just

battered, suffocated to death,

"fun and games.

and then

Al-Jamadi was a so-called high-value target legedly supplied explosives to insurgents. his

home

Baghdad on November

outside

"

They knew him

to

have been

iced away. for interrogation

because he

al-

A team of Navy SLALs captured him at 4.

2003.

at 2 a.m.

He ended up with

a

black eye. a cut on his face, and perhaps half a dozen fractured ribs following a violent struggle.

The SEALs turned al-Jamadi over

for interrogation, led

to

CIA custody

at

translator, took al-Jamadi into a holding cell in the prison, stripped

and began

yelling at

According oner to Tier

1

to

Abu Ghraib

by Mark Swanner. This CIA operative, accompanied by a

him

to

tell

him naked,

him where the weapons were.

Mayers NVw Yorker story. Swanner

told the

MPs to take the prisMPs were

Alpha, into the shower room for interrogation. Two of the

ordered (by this

anonymous

civilian) to shackle the prisoner to the wall,

even

410

The Luiiftr kffcct

though he was by now in a torture position

Spanish Inquisition,

one

MP recalled,

totally passive.

They were

told to

hang him from

his

arms

known as "Palestine Hanging." (First practiced during the when it was known as strappado.) After they left the room,

"we heard a

lot

of screaming." Less than an

hour

later.

Manadel

al-]amadi was dead.

Walter Diaz, the

up

like that,

MP on

given that he

MPs were told

guard duty, said that there was no need to hang him

was handcuffed and

by Swanner to take the dead

gushing out of

his

nose and mouth, as

if

offered

man down

a faucet

no

resistance.

When

the

from the wall, "blood came

had been turned on." Diaz

re-

ported.

Now

the problem for the CIA

der,

were alerted

was what

to

do with the \ictlm's body. Captain

MP commander, and Colonel

Donald Reese, the

to this "unfortunate incident"

worried, because the CIA took matters into kept in the shower

room

until the next

its

as

if

told

he were

alive but

merely

ill.

known

cause al-Iamadi had neVer exonerated

for their part in

and. several years

later.

They needn't have

in ice

The next day

a medic inserted

an

carried out of the prison on a stretcher

taxi driver carted the corpse

who were

away

to

was destroyed, and there was no paper

officially

was

and bound with

so as not to upset the other detainees,

A local

destination. All evidence

their shift.

stealthy hands. Al-|amadi

morning, packed

arm and had him

he had had a heart attack.

on

own

clear tape to retard decomposition of the corpse.

IV into the "Ice Man's"

Thomas Pappas. the Ml comman-

an un-

trail

be-

been registered. The Navy SKALS were

manhandling al-|amadi. the medic was not

Mark Swanner continues

criminal charge against him! Case almost closed.

to

work

for the

identified,

CIA. with no

I

411

Putting the System on Trial

Among all the other horror images in Corporal Graner's digital camera were several photos of that very

was a photo

there

of

an

same

"Ice

Man"

that were recorded for posterity. First,

Then Graner

over al-Jamadi's battered body with a thumbs-up sign.

mix

add

to

sure.

his

approving smile to hers, before the "Ice

Chip and the other night

shift

Harman bending

Sabrina

attractive, smiling Specialist

got into the

Man" melted

away. For

MPs knew what had just gone down. dungeon

things could happen and be so deftly handled, then the

of Tier 1

If

such

Alpha

was the "Romper Room," where anything went. Had they not taken those photos and had Darby not sounded the alarm, the world might never have learned what had happened

in that

once secret place.

Nonetheless, the CIA continues unshackled in any restrain

its

way by laws

agents from torturing and murdering people, even in

terrorism. Ironically, Swanner has admitted that he obtained

from

this

murdered ghost

no

its

that should

global

war on

useful information

detainee.

This involvement of the CIA in torture

is

nothing

new and

is

evident in the

analysis by the historian Alfred

McCoy

from the Cold War

War. According to McCoy, the shocking photo-

to the Terror

graphs of abuse from If

we

in his recent

Abu Ghraib are nothing new.

look closely at these grainy images,

perfection. Indeed, the

photographs from Iraq

on executive

erated,

see the geneology of

1950s

role

CIA

to their present-day

illustrate

gation practice inside the global gulag of secret

its

In his view:

we can

torture techniques, from their origins in the

book documenting

standard interro-

CIA prisons that have op-

authority, since the start of the

war on

terror.

These

photos, and later investigations they prompted, offer telltale signs that the

CIA was both the

lead agency at

Abu Ghraib and the source of

Guantanamo, Afghanistan, and

tortures practiced in

the nine soldiers court-martialed for the abuse at following orders. Responsibility for their actions higher,

On Trial:

up the chain

of

systematic

Iraq. In this light,

Abu Ghraib were simply lies much higher, much

command.-^

Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez

Like Rumsfeld, Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez also loudly acknowledged his responsibility: "As senior

pened

at

Abu

commander in Iraq.

I

accept responsibility for what hap-

Ghraib."-" However, such responsibility should bear appropriate

consequences and not be employed as photo op public gesturing.

Watch

includes this top

for torture

Lt.

commander among

and war crimes.

Its

Human

Rights

who

should stand

war crimes and

torture either

the big four

report states:

Gen. Sanchez should be investigated

as a principal or under the doctrine of

for

"command

responsibility."

Gen.

Sanchez authorized interrogation methods that violate the Geneva Conventions and the Convention against Torture. According to

Human Rights

trial

412

The Lucifer Pjfect

Watch, he knew, or should have known, that torture and war crimes were

committed by troops under measures I

command,

his direct

but failed to take effective

to stop these acts.

am putting Cicneral Sanchez on trial

the words of the

HRW

report, "he

book because of the

in this

fact that, in

promulgated interrogation rules and tech-

niques that violated the Geneva Conventions and the Convention against Torture,

and further that he knew or should have known about torture and war crimes committed by troops under

his

command."

Given the lack of "actionable intelligence" being gathered

at

Guantanamo

Bay Prison despite months of interrogations, there was pressure on everyone get the goods

on the

terrorists,

Mark Danner reported an

and

to

do so immediately, by

all

means

to

necessary.

e-mail sent by the military intelligence officer Captain

William Ponce to his colleagues, urging them to provide an "interrogation wish list"

by mid-August

200 3. The captain infused his message with an ominous foreto come at Abu Ghraib: "The gloves are coming off gen-

shadowing of what was

tlemen regarding these detainees." His message continued. "Col Boltz [the second-ranking MI

commander

dividuals broken. Casualties arc

in Iraq]

has made

it

clear that

mounting and we need

we want

these in-

to start gathering info to

help protect our fellow soldiers from any further attacks. "-'*

General Geoffrey at

Miller,

then recently put

in

charge of the detention

facilities

Gitmo. headed a visiting team of specialists to Iraq from August to September

200 3.

His mission

was

to spread the

erals Sanchez. Karpinski.

new

and other

get-tough interrogation policies to Gen-

"General Miller put his finger in

officers.

Sanchez* chest and told him he wanted the information." according ski.-'^

Miller

was

able to

port from Rumsfeld

push these other

officers

to Karpin-

around only with obvious sup-

and other high-ranking generals, based on

his so-called

successes at C^itmo.

Sanchez formalized

his rules for interrogation in a

memo on

September 14.

200 3. introducing more extreme measures than had been practiced by his MPs and MIs.^" Some of his explicitly staled goals were to "create fear, disorient detainees and capture shock." These newly approved techniques that came by way of Rumsfeld via Miller, included:

Presence of Military Working Dog: Exploits Arab fear of dogs while maintaining security during interrogations. Dogs will be muzzled and under control of

.

.

.

handler

at all

times to prevent contact with detainee.

Sleep

Management: Detainee provided minimum 4 hours

hour

period, not to exceed 72 continuous hours.

Veiling.

Loud Music and Light Control:

I

of sleep per

24

sed to create fear, disorient

detainee and prolong capture shock. X'olume controlled to prevent injury.

413

Putting the System on Trial

Stress Positions: Use of physical postures (sitting, standing, kneeling,

prone,

etc.) for

no more than

hour per

1

use.

Use of technique(s)

will

not

exceed 4 hours and adequate rest between use of each position will be provided.

False Flag: Convincing the detainee that individuals

from a country other

than the United States are interrogating him.

The Schlesinger Report indicated that a dozen of Sanchez's techniques went beyond those acceptable in Army Field Manual 34-52 and were even more extreme than those that had been approved

March 2005 General Sanchez had

for

memo was came about a

Guantanamo. Sanchez's

released publicly in

in response to a

year after

lied to

FDIA

lawsuit.

It

Congress in sworn testimony

(in

May

2004) that he had never ordered or approved the use of intimidation by dogs, sleep deprivation, excessive noise, or inducing fear.

He should be

tried for all the

reasons outlined above.

One

soldier's

of the military

view about the extent to which there was direct involvement

command

in directing abuses against detainees

Darby, our heroic whistleblower:

"Nobody

in

command knew

comes from Joe

about the abuse,

command cared enough to find out. That was the real probcommand structure was oblivious, living in their own little

because nobody in lem.

The

entire

worlds. So

it

wasn't a conspiracy

—

it

was negligence,

and

plain

simple.

They were

fucking clueless." ^^ General Sanchez has been forced to retire early (November

2006) by the top military brass because

of his role in the

admitted, "That's the key reason, the sole reason, that

November

{Guardian Unlimited,

2,

2006.

I

was forced

General Says

"U.S.

1,

Abu Ghraib scandal. He to retire."

Abu Ghraib

Forced

Him Out.")

On Trial:

Major General Geoffrey Miller

Human Rights Watch asserts that "Major General Geoffrey Miller, at the tightly-controlled prison

as commander camp at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, should be inves-

tigated for his potential responsibility in the

war crimes and

mitted against detainees there." Furthermore, he that troops under his

against detainees at

"knew

acts of torture

or should have

com-

known

command were committing war crimes and acts of torture Additionally, "Gen. Miller may have proposed

Guantanamo."

interrogation methods for Iraq that were the proximate cause of the torture and

war crimes committed

at

General Miller was

Abu Ghraib." commander of

Joint

Task Force-Guantanamo (JTF-

GTMO) from November 2002

until April 2004. when he became the deputy commanding general of Detention Operations in Iraq, the position he held until 2006. He was sent to Gitmo to replace General Rick Baccus, who higher-ups considered

was "coddling" prisoners by

insisting that the

Geneva Conventions guidelines be

414

The Lucifer Pjfect

"Camp X-Ray" was transformed

short order.

strictly followed. In

Delta" with 62 5 inmates. 1.400 Mis Miller

was an

and developed

"Camp

into

lots ol tension.

teams that

specialized interrogation

time integrated military intelligence (MI) personnel with the military

for the lirst

police

inno\'at()r

and MPs. and

— blurring

(MP) guard force

a line that

had previously been impermeable

in

the Army. To get inside the heads of the prisoners. Miller relied on experts. "He

brought

in

civilian

and

And

military].

ways

soft spots,

who were

behavioral scientists,

to

psychologists and psychiatrists [both

they were looking for psychological vulnerabilities,

manipulate the detainees to kind of get them to cooperate, and

looking for sort of psychic vulnerabilities and cultural vulnerabilities."

Using prisoners' medical records. Miller's interrogators

and

pression, to disorient detainees,

were hunger

strikes, at least

to

^-

induce de-

tried to

break them. The prisoners resisted: there

fourteen prisoners committed suicide early on. and

over the next few years, several hundred prisoners attempted suicide.

^^

Recently,

three Gitmo detainees committed suicide by hanging themselves in their cells

with bedsheets: none had been formally charged after having been held there

many years.

ment spokesperson derided them Navy

for

Instead of recognizing such acts as signs of desperation, one governas a public relations

rear admiral contended that they

move

had not been

to gain attention.^-*

A

acts of desperation but

rather "an act of asymmetrical warfare against us."

new

Miller's

more

interrogation teams were encouraged to get

given Secretary Rumsfeld's

sanctioned for use by

official

authorization of the harshest techniques ever

Abu Ghraib was to become Miller's new experihypotheses about the means necessary to get "ac-

U.S. soldiers.

mental laboratory to

test his

tionable intelligence" from resistant prisoners. Rumsfeld went to aide Stephen

aggressive,

Cambone

to

meet with Miller and be sure they were

Gitmo with all

his

playing the

same game. Recall that General Karpinski said that Miller told her. "You have to treat the

prisoners like dogs.

have

If

.

.

.

they believe that they're any different than dogs, you

effectively lost control of

works. This

is

Karpinski that he

your interrogation from the very

what we do down is

also

was going

at

Guantanamo

on record as saying that

Bay."

Miller

start.

.

.

.

And

it

^"^

"came up there and

to "Gitmo-ize" the detention operation (at

Abu

told

me

C'jhraib)."^''

Colonel Pappas reported that Miller told him the use of dogs at Gitmo had proven effective in .setting the

atmosphere

for getting

that the use of dogs "with or without a muzzle"

To be certain that it

that his

team

lowetl. (leneral

on

many

eral Paul

left

e\ iileni the

approved tactics to Abu Ghraib: in

^"

were followed. Miller wrote a report and saw

his orders

of the techniques being used in

computers

okay.

behind a compact disc with detailed instructions

Sanchez then authorized

Kern mack'

information from prisoners and

was

Abu Ghraib

his

tough new

rules,

to

to be Ibl-

which elaborated

Guantanamo. The veteran Army gen-

problems created by such application of (Jitmo'I

SIX'DI-I'

think

it

became confusing. mean, we found I

Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's

|.

j

memos

in

that

A 415

Putting the System on Trial

were written for Guantanamo. not for Abu Ghraib. And that caused confusion." ^^ For

the reasons outlined above, General Geoffrey Miller

all

defendants on In

trial for their

nacle of system responsibility for the abuses and torture at

dent Dick Cheney and President George W. Bush. later,

1

will

add these two

to

our

list

for their role in setting the

accused

of

list

Human Rights Watch stopped short of going up to the pin-

accusations.

its

added to our

is

crimes against humanity. ^^

I

A

bit

will

be

not be so hesitant.

will

on

of defendants put

Abu Ghraib: Vice PresiThey

trial here.

agenda that redefined the nature of

torture,

suspended protections afforded prisoners under international law. and encouraged the CIA to engage in a session with the so-called

However,

and

series of illegal

war on

lethal tactics

because of their ob-

terror.

we need to explore further the question of whether the Tier

first

1

abuses were an isolated incident by those few rotten apples or whether their offensive

behavior was part of a broader pattern of tacitly approved, and widely prac-

ticed,

abuses by

many

in the

miUtary and

civilian cadre involved

this barrel of apples

with capture,

My contention will be that

and interrogation of suspected insurgents.

detention,

began rotting from the top down.

TORTURE, TORTURE EVERYWHERE,

WITH MAYHEM ON THE SIDE As he

did

on the day

after the

abuse photos were

first

revealed publicly. General

Richard Myers, the Joint Chiefs chairman, continues to deny any systemwide

volvement

in the abuses: instead

he continues

to lay all the

Ghraib Seven MPs." He said publicly (on August 25. 2005), least fifteen investigations

a

little

snapshot

—

if it

on Abu Ghraib, and we've

was only the night

shift at

it

think we've had at

Ghraib, which

only a small section of the guards that participated in that

"I

dealt with that.

Abu

in-

blame on the 'Abu

this, it's

I it

mean,

just

was.

was

it

a pretty good clue

wasn't a more widespread problem."'*"

Did he ever read any of those reports.'

From only

the sections of the indepen-

dent investigative reports that I have summarized here, the abuses went well beyond those few

it

could not be clearer that

MPs emerging in the images from Tier

Those investigations implicate the military leadership, military intelligence,

and the CIA

in creating the conditions that

abuses. Even worse, they participated in other, even

You

will recall that the Schlesinger

abuse throughout

Iraq, as well as

more deadly

panel detailed

1

A.

civilian interrogators,

fifty-five

spawned the

abuses.

cases of detainee

twenty instances of detainee deaths

still

under

slow investigation. The Taguba Report found numerous instances of wanton criminal abuses constituting "systematic and

Ghraib (my

italics).

illegal

abuse of detainees"

at

Abu

Another Pentagon report documented forty-four allegations

Abu Ghraib. The International Committee of the Red Cross its treatment of detainees in many of its military prisons

of such

war crimes

told the

government that

at

has involved psychological and physical coercion that

is

"tantamount

to torture."

41h

The

Further,

it

reports that such

Luciftn- Effect

methods being used by interrogators

Abu Ghraib

at

"appeared to be part of the standard operating procedures by military intelligence personnel to obtain confessions and extract information."

viewed the more recent

statistics of

more than

And we have

hundred cases

six

just re-

of abuse re-

ported throughout the U.S. military prisons in Iraq. Afghanistan, and Cuba. Does this

sound

only "a few bad apples" in one bad dungeon, in one bad prison.'

like

Revelations of Widespread Prisoner Abuses Before

Although both military and

civilian administrative

Abu Ghraib

commands sought

to isolate

the abuses and tortures in Iraq to an aberration of a few bad soldiers working the

A

night

shift in Tier 1

tions.

On May 2. 2006.

government

officials

2003. new Army documents belie such asserACLU released Army documents revealing that senior

in the fall of

the

were aware of extreme cases of detainee abuse

.Afghanistan two weeks before the

Abu Ghraib

scandal broke.

An

in Iraq

and

information

paper entitled "Allegations of Detainee Abuse in Iraq and Afghanistan." dated

2004. detailed sLxty-two ongoing investigations of abuse and fwmicides of

April 2.

detainees by U.S. forces.

mock

Cases include assaults, punching, kicking and beating, sexual assault of a female detainee, threatening to

message

kill

to other Iraqis." stripping detainees, beating

with a blasting device, throwing rocks tainees with knots of their scarves,

at

an

executions.

Iraqi child to "send a

them and shocking them

handcuffed Iraqi children, choking de-

and interrogations

Some

twenty-six cases involved detainee deaths.

gunpoint. At least

at

had already gone

of the cases

through a court-martial proceeding. The abuses went beyond Abu Ghraib and touched

Camp

Cropper.

Samarra. Baghdad, and Notes

A Army

for the full report

Camp

Bucca. and other detention centers in Mosul.

Tikrit in Iraq, as well as

Orgun-E

in

Afghanistan (see

by the ACLU).-*'

Pentagon report of the twelfth investigation into military abuses,

led by

brigadeer general Richard Formica, noted that U.S. Special Operations

troops continued to use a set of harsh, unauthorized interrogation tactics against

detainees during a four-month period in early 2004. This

Abu Ghraib

was long after the 2003

abuses, and after approval for their use had been rescinded.

were given only crackers and water

for as

locked in cells so small they could neither stand or prived of sleep,

and subjected

Some

long as seventeen days, kept naked, lie

down

for

a week, frozen, de-

to sensory overload. Despite these findings,

none

of

the soldiers received even a reprimand. Formica believed the abuse was not "deliberate" or

due

to "personal failure." but to

"inadequate policy

failure."

He

also

added to this whitewash that, based on his observations, "none of the detainees

seemed

to be the

Marines Murder 1

worse

for v\'ear

because of the treatment."^- Amazing!

Iraqi Civilians in

Cold Blood

have focused on understanding the nature of the bad barrel of prisons that can

corrupt good guards, but there

is

a larger,

more deadly

barrel, that of war. In all

417

Putting the System on Trial

wars, at killers.

all

times, in every country,

That

is

men into

wars transform ordinary, even good

are trained to do. to

vi^hat soldiers

kill

their designated enemies.

However, under the extreme stresses of combat conditions, with fatigue, anger, hatred,

and revenge

at full throttle,

go beyond killing enemy combatants. Unless military discipline

knows he bears personal

tained and every soldier

which are under surveillance by senior

fear,

men can lose their moral compass and

officers,

is strictly

main-

responsibility for his actions,

then the furies are released in

unimaginable orgies of rape and murder of civilians as well as enemy soldiers.

know such sacres,

loss

was true

at

My

Lai

and

in other less

We

well-known military mas-

such as those of the "Tiger Force" in Vietnam. This

elite fighting

unit

left

a

unarmed civilians. ^^ Sadly, the brutality of war that spills over from the battlefield to the hometown has become true again seven-month-long

trail

of executions of

in Iraq.^^

Military experts

warn

that as soldiers have to fight

mies in asymmetrical warfare

maintain discipline under such

it

will

more against elusive ene-

become increasingly

stresses.

Wartime

atrocities

difficult for

occur in

If

you

and criminal behavior toward civilians get

enough

soldiers into

We field

must acknowledge that

official at

known

On

now

Killing

to suppress their prior

kill

was

who just

killed a civilian in Iraq

it's like.

On November

19.

is

elabo-

can get out of hand and

refused to stop at a traffic check. like

All right, let's go get

squashing an ant.

some

pizza.

And

1

I

mean.

then

I

"It

mean, you I

did

thought it.

and

it

"**"

2005. a roadside bomb went

fifteen Iraqi civilians arc

in this

who

Marine and injuring two other

device, according to a

killers"

this life-changing experience.

All right, whatever'

Iraq, killing a U.S.

is

ordinary. Consider the reactions of a twenty-one-year-old

somebody would be

like.

moral

in his website."^^

nothing. Over here, killing people

somebody, and

killing

suc-

battle-

wartime as a natural response

a West Point professor of military science,

and

However, sometimes the "science of creating

make murder become like

who have

as the science of "killology." This term, coined by retired lieutenant

rated in his book

was

mur-

are going to

commandment "thou shalt not kill." New military training

colonel Dave Grossman,

soldier

them

soldiers are well-trained killers

that works to rewire their brains to accept killing in is

of

a Washington miUtary think tank.'*^

They must learn

as their testing ground.

about

is

completed an intense learning experience in boot camp, with the

training guided by the

to

a classic combat stress symptom.

enough combat, some

der civilians," according to a senior

cessfully

is

them

wars and

"Combat

are committed by most occupying forces, even high tech ones. stress,

all

off in the

town

of Haditha.

soldiers. In the following hours,

reported to have been killed by an improvised explosive

Marine

way almost every

day.

investigation. Case closed, as

many

Iraqis are killed

However, a townsperson (Taher Thabet) made a

videotape of the bullet-ridden bodies of the dead civilians and turned

it

over to the

Time magazine bureau in Baghdad. That prompted a more serious investigation into the

murders of twenty-four civilians by that Marine

battalion.

It

appears that

S

4

The Uuiferilffect

1

the Marines cnicred three

homes and

methtxiically killed most of the occupants,

women, by gunshots and grenades. They

including seven children and four

shot dead a taxi driver and four students

who had

also

stopped their taxi on the road

nearby.

There was clearly an attempted cover-up by senior Marine officers when they were unprovoked murders of

realized that these

abandoned the

Marines

civilians by

who had

engagement. In March 2006 the battalion commander

rules of

company commanders were relieved of command: one said that he more investigations are under way at this writing and may even tind more senior commanders culpable. It is important to add to and two of

was a

his

"political casualty." Several

this terrible tale that these

Marines from the 3rd Platoon. Kilo Company, were ex-

perienced soldiers, on their second and third tour of duty. They had engaged in fierce fighting earlier in Fallujah

riously

wounded

building

War dren

in

up before the Haditha is

hell

on

where nearly half

combat. So. there was a

when

their buddies

of anger

and

were

killed

or se-

feelings of revenge

massacre.-*^

soldiers, but

in battle zones,

lot

always worse on civilians and especially

it is

chil-

the soldiers stray off the moral path, acting cruelly

against them. In another recent incident under investigation. U.S. forces killed as

many

Some were found

as thirteen civilians in the hamlet of Ishaqi. Iraq.

and shot

in the head, including several children. U.S. military officials,

edging that "noncombatants" had been deaths" (again this

is

killed, called

tied

up

acknowl-

the casualties "collateral

an instance of euphemistic labeling associated with moral

disengagement l.-**^

Imagine what happens when a senior civilians.

Four soldiers accused of

were

raid in the city of Tikrit. Iraq,

Michael

Steele, to "kill all the

ported this

new

rule of

officer gives soldiers

killing three

unarmed

The

terrorists."

engagement was threatened by

kill

commander. Colonel

told by their brigade

male insurgents,

permission to

men during a house

Iraqi

soldier

his colleagues

who

if

re-

he told

anyone about the shooting deaths.^"

One

of the worst horrors of

soldiers, as in

was documented

Rwanda, described

tality

has surfaced

in

war

in the

chapter

in Iraq,

is

the rape of innocent civilian

massacre of the Tutsi

1.

A new

where a group

women

women

by Hutu

by

militia

allegation of similarly horrible bru-

of U.S. soldiers

(

lOlsl Airborne Divi-

sion) are accused in federal court of raping a fourteen-year-old girl after killing

her parents and four-year-old all

the bodies.

The evidence

changing out of uniform their traffic checkpoint

The

is

sister,

then shooting her

in the

(so as not to be identified) after eyeing the

and pr(K*eeding

military had inllially'blamed the

to

in

combat zones

were videotaped as they beat up unit,

is

young

first

girl at

murder her family before abusing

murders on insurgents.

This suspcMision of self-constraints against cruelty that

among soldiers

head and burning

clear that they intended this bloixly assault by

her.

^'

is all

loo

common

not limited to the U.S. military. British soldiers

Iraqi youths.

can be heard laughing as he urges

his

The cameraman, a corporal

comrades

in that

to enjoy their abuses. Obvi-

419

Putting the System on Trial

ously, the

prime minister, Tony

Blair,

has promised a probe into what one of his

military

spokesmen describes as the actions limited

diers. "^^

At

I

he had the decency not

least

to a "tiny

Let us next go beyond abstract generalizations, statistics, tigations to listen to the confessions of several U.S.

what they saw and what they themselves did

in

number

of sol-

"bad apples" metaphor.

to use the

Army

and military

inves-

interrogators about

abusing detainees. As we will

see,

they go on record as reporting on the widespread abuse and patterns of torture they witnessed and which they personally practiced.

We abled

review the recently revealed program at Gitmo that en-

will also briefly

young female

interrogators,

employ a variety of sexual

nicknamed "torture chicks" by the media,

to

lures in their arsenal of interrogation tactics. Their

presence and tactics must have been done with commanders' approval; they did

not just decide to "sex out" in Cuba on their only did the lowly abuse, but even

Army

Reserve

elite soldiers

MPs on

own initiative. We will learn that not lA engage in despicable acts of officers performed many even more

Tier

and military

brutal acts of violence against prisoners. Finally,

we

will see the

scope of torture as virtually boundless, because the

known as "ren-

United States "outsources" torture to other countries in programs

We will

dis-

torture his people, the United States did so,

and

ditions," "extraordinary renditions,"

cover that not only did

Saddam

and even "reverse

renditions."

new Iraqi regime also has been torturing its countrymen and women in secret One can only feel sorrow for Iraqis when their torturers come packaged in so many different guises. the

prisons throughout Iraq.

Next Up: Witnesses

for the Prosecution

Anthony Lagouranis (retired) was an Army interrogator for five years 200 5 with a tour of duty in Iraq during 2004. Although first stationed Abu Ghraib, Lagouranis was assigned to a special intelligence-gathering unit

Specialist

(200 1 at

to

)

that serviced detention

facilities

throughout

Iraq.

When

he

about the "cul-

talks

ture of abuse" that permeated interrogations throughout Iraq, his database

countrywide and not Tier

Then for six

there

months

is

as

1

Sergeant Roger Brokaw

an

is

A-specific.^^ (retired),

interrogator, starting in spring

who worked

at

Abu Ghraib

2003. Brokaw reports that

few of those with

whom he talked, maybe only 2 percent, were dangerous or were

insurgents: most

had been brought

in or singled

grudge against somebody or simply didn't

like

out by Iraqi police

him. Both

men

reasons intelligence gathering was so ineffective was that detention overflowing with people

who had no good

picked up in roundups of

all

Because there were

who had

a

say that one of the

information to give.

facilities

were

Many had been

the males in entire families in an area of insurgent relatively

few trained interrogators or translators

available, by the time these detainees

were interviewed any information they

activity.

might have had was cold and outdated.

A

lot of frustration

arose from expending so

much

effort for so

few

solid

"

420

The Lmifcf Infect

results, llial Iruslratioii also led to a lot of aggression, as the old frustration-

aggression hypothesis would predict. Time was running: the insurgency was

growing: pressure was building from the military commanders, the heat from their civilian bosses up the tion

was

command chain,

who were

feeling

l-xtraction of informa-

vital.

Brokaw: "Because they were picking up people

was

a hat. There

for

anything, just the drop of

quotas, quotas on interrogating so

[sic]

and sending reports up the chain

many

people per week

command.

of

Lagounmis: "We rarely got good Intel from the prisoners, and blame that on we were getting prisoners who were innocent and didn't have Intel to give us." I

that

Brokaw: "And ninety-eight percent of the people

I

talked to

had no reason

being in there. They would just take them at face value and go in and raid this

house and Pappas

pull these people out

[said],

there

if

we

down

Brokaw:

dan

them

"I

said that

we

command in

I

up."

to give

meaning

to that

off" spiraled

boxing metaphor.

heard the phrase. 'We're going to take the gloves

one night

if we find And think MPs wanted

have, you know,

message about "taking the gloves

also reported that the

the chain of

life. If

condoning whatever the interrogators or the

to these people to soften

Brokaw

the detention camps. Colonel

find these insurgents, we'll save soldiers' lives.'

that led to this idea of

do

in

to get information. Ciet information.

information, save another GI's

'Let's get this

these weapons,

to

and throw them

was pressure from him

off.'

">•*

Colonel Jor-

one of our meetings. 'We're taking the gloves off. We're

going to show these people, you know, that we're

in charge.'

And he was

talking

about the detainees."

As the insurgency against the Coalition extensive, pressure

was ever

greater.

on the Mis and MPs

An anonymous

forces

became ever more

lethal

and

to get that elusive actionable intelligence

interviewee told PBS

I'rontliiie

(October 18.

2{)()5):

"Most of the abuses around Iraq are not photographed, and so get

any outrage out

the back of a

it.

And

Humvee or in

cameras. There are there's

of

\sic\

this

makes

still

photography There's no video cameras. And

no one looking over your shoulder, so you can do anything you want."

Lagouranis added some

details:

homes. They were using things

ple's feet

that

never

Iraq, in

a shipping container, there's no camera. There are no

no

"Now

are torturing people in their homes. their

they'll

even harsher because around

it

was

it's all

over Iraq.

The infantry

like,

as

1

It's

—as

said, burns.

stuff."

said, people

They would smash peo-

with the back of an axe-head. They would break bones,

— that was serious

I

units are torturing people in

He added. "When

ribs.

Nbu know.

the units would go out into

homes and do these raids, they would just stay in the house and them." Brokaw witnessed some of the same abuses: "1 saw black eyes and and some of them had to be treated lor bad abrasions on legs and arms." people's

Just

how

far

were Mis and MPs allowed

higouranis: "Part of

il is.

torture fat lips.

to go in their quest for information.'

they were trying to gel information, but part of

it is

1

Putting the System on Trial

also just pure sadism.

You

just kept

wanting

42

push and push and push and see

to

how far you could go. It's natural for people to reach an intense level of frustration when you're sitting there with somebody that you feel you have total control over and total power over, and you can't get him to do what you want. And that you do that

day x\nd

day. every

all

at

some

point,

you want

to start raising the

stakes."

What happens when you add high lysts to

the volatile mix.'

angry because you're getting mortared

Lagouranis: "If you're really

time

—

I

mean,

RPGs

rockets, they're shooting

you can

there's nothing

seen

and revenge as psychological cata-

fear

enemy And

And people

do.

you

so

think might be doing this

are dying

around you because booth with

get in the interrogation stuff,

all

the

[rocket-propelled grenades] at us.

and you know, you want

of this un-

guy who

this

to go as far as

\'ou

you can."

How far did they actually go.^ Lagouranis: "I tion

remember the

He'd heard about

facility.

chief warrant officer in charge of the interroga-

how

the SL\Ls were using just ice water to lower give

him

—you know, they

temperature to make sure he didn't

die.

They would keep

the body temperature of the prisoner.

would take

his rectal

And they would

him hovering on hypothermia." The reward

manded was

for giving

up the information de-

de-icing the prisoner before he died!

Social modeling, another potent psychological tactic,

when

this interrogator

metal shipping container that served as the interrogation Lagouranis: "So

into practice

cell.

we were keeping them hovering around hypothermia

environment of what they blaring] music

was put

used a similar strategy throughout the night inside a cold

and strobe

call

in this

'environmental manipulation.' with the [loud

And then we would

lights.

dogs and use those on the prisoners. Even though

it

bring in military working

was controlled

—

like,

the dogs

were muzzled, they were being held by a handler. But the prisoner didn't know that because he

was

blindfolded.

These are big German shepherds. So. when

would ask the prisoner a question and handler, so the dog bite

him

—

I

didn't like the answer.

would bark and jump on the

I

I

would cue the

prisoner, but he wasn't able to

sometimes they wet their jumpsuits because they were so scared, you

know.' Especially because they're blindfolded. They can't figure out that's a pretty terrifying position to be in.

and I made the chief warrant

—you know,

That was something I was ordered

officer sign off

to do.

on every single thing that I was asked

to do."

Moral disengagement

facilitates

behaving in ways that would ordinarily be

self-censured by moral people. Lagouranis:

"It is

because you really do

feel like

you're outside of normal soci-

ety you know.' Your family, your friends, they're not there to see what's going on.

And everybody for

want

becomes

is

sort of participating in this

of a better word, this delusion about

OK

as

you look around

gets broken

I

don't

know what

what you're doing

—

psychosis, or

there.

down, you know.' And

I

And what

mean.

1

felt

ThclAuifnmn

422 myself.

it

remember being

I

been with a guy

|aii

and morally

lated,

you

isolated, that

and maybe you even want

this guy.

shipping container in Mosul, ^'ou know. Id

in thai

inicrrogated prisoner]

This young interrogator,

night long.

all

felt like

And you

way

who must

"You

Uuiouranis: far

upon

of escalating, of feeding

you could

live

the rest of his

with the knowledge

life

it

seems

how

violence has

itself.

wanting

just kept

And

go.

to

to."

of the evil he did as part of his service to his country, describes a

just feel so iso-

you could do whatever you want

push and push and push, and see how

to

human

like that's just part of

nature.

I

mean. I'm

sure you've read studies conducted in American prisons where you put a group of people in charge of another group of people, and give

and pretty soon

it

mon." [Can we assume that he so.

the

control over them,

I

saw

it

it's

pretty

com-

referring to the prison at Stanford University.'

[cruelty

If

status as a "real prison."]

for strong leadership to curtail

Lugouranis: "And to. If

is

SPE has assumed an urban-myth

The need

them

turns into cruelty and torture, you know.^ So

abuse

and abuse]

in

is

essential:

every detention

facility

I

went

there wasn't really strong, strong leadership that said. 'We're not going to

tolerate abuse.' ... in every facility there

people

MPs who

the

like

something people do

would have been abuse. And even among

aren't trying to get intel

there,

if

—they

just

do

it

because

it's

they're not controlled either inwardly or from

above."

coming out

After seeing even worse cases of "abuse

Marines

North Babel." Lagouranis couldn't take

in

sworn prisoner statements, and then sent

command. How were

his

all this

charges

of the Force

of the

wounds and

information through the Marine

received.'

As with the complaints

Chip Prederick raised to his superiors about the dysfunctional conditions Cihraib.

no one

in

the Marine

command

Recon

anymore. He began writing

documenting them with photos

reports about the abuses,

chain of

it

responded to the complaints of

at

that

Abu

this inter-

rogator.^^ Uujouriuiis:

to

me about

it.

"Nobody ever came just felt like

1

I

to look at that stuff:

one was investigating them, or they had no way desire.

"

[Such

ollicial silence

Perhaps a reason tor's pleas for

tainty just

and

how

for

adds

its

fecal

to investigate

touch

far "torture

found

To l-BIHQ-

them, or maybe no

to all dissent.]

"

on

at

top agency levels. There were disagreements about

should be allowed to go

in coercive interrogations.

it

considered wrongheaded ways of

dealing with suspects, especially "high-value" ones. is

to talk

nowhere. And no

help and redress in dealing with his assignment was the uncer-

conflict going

tactics

to

higher-ups failing to respond to this young interroga-

The FBI clashed with the CIA over what

CIA

no one ever came

was sending these abuse reports

I

in

One such

critical report of

an IBI memo:

entered interview rooms to

loot in the fetal position to the floor,

liiul

a detainee chained

hand and

with no chair, food, or water. Most

423

Putting the System on Trial

had urinated

times, they

there for

8 to

1

or defecated

on themselves, and had been

left

24 hours or more.

A special case that points out just how far an interrogation team at Guantanamo Prison would go is that documented for "Prisoner 063." His name was Mohammed al-Qahtani. believed to be "the twentieth hijacker" from the 9/11 terrorist attacks. He was abused in almost every imaginable way. He was made to urinate on himself,

was deprived

of sleep

and food

for

ized by a fierce attack dog. His continued resistance

Prisoner

063 was

was met with further abuse.

wear a woman's bra and had a woman's thong placed

forced to

on his head. Literrogators made fim of him. put on a dog leash and

days on end. and was terror-

calling

made him do animal

him a homosexual. They even

tricks.

A

female interrogator strad-

him

for

magazine have

re-

vealed in vivid detail the hour-by-hour, even minute-by-minute log book of

al-

hope

dled al-Qahtani in the

of sexually exciting

him and then

violating his religious beliefs. Investigative reporters for Time

Qahtani's month-long secret interrogation. ^^^

It is

a mixture of crude

tactics

with some sophisticated ones combined with

stupid.

Any

oner

in less

On a

time using

less

immoral

what he considered

government that condones

tial

frame

Mora

and brutal

many that are simply silly or

experienced police detective could have gotten more out of this pristactics.

Xa\y General Counsel Alberto Mora was

learning of this interrogation.

appalled by

castigated

for appreciating

it.

unla\s-ful practices

what

it

not worthy of any military- or

an eloquent statement that provides the essen-

In

means

to

condone such abusive interrogations.

said:

If

cruelty

of policy,

is

no longer declared unlawful, but instead

it

alters the

fundamental relationship of

destroys the whole notion of individual rights. nizes that

man has an inherent right,

is

applied as a matter

man

to

beings, not just in

enemy combatants."

If

America

you make

It

not bestowed by the state or laws, to

personal dignity, including the right to be free of cruelty.

human

government.

The Constitution recog-

It

—even those designated

this exception, the

applies to

all

as "unlawful

whole Constitution

crumbles. Its a transformative issue."'"

What I parison of

ask you to consider now. dear reader in your role as juror

some

the allegedly "perverted minds" of the Tier addition to the is

is

the com-

of these planned tactics with those supposedly originating from

many

1

A MPs as shown

in their photos. In

photos of detainees with women's panties over their heads

the horrific image of Lynndie England dragging a prisoner along the ground

with a dog leash around his neck. panties

on the head, the

rowed from

leash,

It

now seems

reasonable to conclude that the

and that dehumanizing scenario were

their earlier use by the CIA. by General Millers special

gation teams, and had

Gitmo

become generally accepted interrogation war zones. But no photography allowed!

practiced throughout the

all

bor-

interro-

tactics being

424

The Lucifer

Do

Elite Soldiers

It:

82nd Airborne Break Bones, Burn Photos

Perhaps the most impressive witness structure

an

elite

is

i-ffect

for

my

case against the entire

command

Captain Ian Fishback. a decorated West Point graduate and captain of

airborne unit serving in Iraq. His recent

Senator John McCain

letter to

complaining of rampant abuses being perpetrated against prisoners began: I

am

a graduate of West Point currently serving as a Captain in the I

one each

in

ror,

Army

have served two combat tours with the 82nd Airborne Division,

Infantry.

Afghanistan and

Iraq.

While I served

my

the actions and statements of

in the Global

leadership led

me

War on Ter-

to believe that

United States policy did not require application of the Geneva Conventions in

Afghanistan or

Iraq.

During a number of interviews with back revealed

Human

in specific detail the disturbing

Rights Watch. Captain Fish-

consequences of that confusion over

the legal limits imposed on interrogators. His account

supplemented by two

is

geants in his unit at the Forward Operating Base (FOB) of Fallujah.^^ (Although fuller version of

mentioned

and context

for

Camp Mercury

in the previous chapter, here

I

ser-

near

will provide a

Captain Fishback's revelations.)

In his letter to Senator McCain. Fishback testified to habitual beatings to the face

and body of prisoners before

cals

on prisoners'

and forced exercises that

collapse,

stacked prisoners in pyramids, a ing,

and

interrogation, the pouring of burning chemi-

faces, their routine shackling in positions that led to physical

after the

la

led

Abu

them

to lose consciousness.

They even

Ghraib. Such abuses occurred before, dur-

scandal erupted about the abuses at

Abu

Ghraib.

When we were at FOB Mercury, we had prisoners that were stacked in pyramids, not naked but they were stacked in pyramids. We had prisoners that were forced to do extremely stressful exercises for at least

a time.

.

.

.

two hours

at

There was a case where a prisoner had cold water dumped on

him and then he was ported, here

is

left

outside in the night.

|

Again, as Lagouranis re-

the tactic of exposure to extreme elements.] There was a

case where a soldier took a baseball bat and struck a detainee on the leg hard. This

is all

stuff that I'm getting

from

my NCOs [Non-Commissioned

Officers].

Fishback

would be

told.

week.' So

testified that

fuck

them

up.

Fuck them up bad

.

.

"I

last

But you gotta underct7\erijcfit

norms

in par-

to.)

of Fishback's sergeants testified. "Fveryone in

work out your

.

of

men

where some new practice quickly becomes the standard that

must be complied with and conformed

to

and condoned the abuse:

was the norm."* (Recall our earlier discussion

ticular situations

One

directed

|

we would

stand, this

commanders

'These guys were IKD improvised explosive device] trigger

frustration

you show up

at

the

PIC

camp knew

if

tent (prisoners

you wanted were called

425

Putting the System on Trial

PUCs. "persons under

control*']. In

a way.

it

was

One day [another

sport.

ser-

up and tells a PUC to grab a pole. He told him to bend over and broke the guy's leg with a mini-Louisville slugger, a metal bat. As long as no PUCs came geant] shows

up dead,

it

We kept

happened.

it

to

broken arms and

legs."

Amazingly. Fishback reports that his soldiers also digitally documented their prisoner abuses. [At

FOB Mercury]

what happened happened

at

they said that they had pictures that were similar to

at z-\bu Ghraib.

Abu

them. They [the soldiers

same things we were Finally.

and because they were so similar

Ghraib. the soldiers destroyed the pictures. at

Abu

what

Ghraib] were getting in trouble for the

told to do. so

we

destroyed the pictures.

Captain Fishback started a seventeen-month-long campaign of re-

porting his concerns and complaints to his superiors

He went

—with the same absence

of

Anthony Lagouranis and Sergeant Ivan Frederick had which helped to fortify

reaction that Interrogator received.

to

They burned

public v\ith his letter to Senator McCain,

McCain's opposition to the suspension of the Geneva Conventions by the Bush administration.

Of course. Fishback's heroic whistle-blowing has not endeared him superiors.

He was brought home

to Fort Bragg.

there for interrogation by the military. However, he pressure, as If

can be inferred from the

we abandon our

last

to his

North Carolina, and sequestered unlikely to yield to their

is

sentence in his

ideals in the face of adversity

those ideals were never really in our possession.

I

letter to

Senator McCain:

and aggression, then

would rather die fighting

than give up even the smallest part of the idea that

is

'America."

"Torture Chicks" Lap Dance Prisoners in the Gitmo Confessional

Our next witness

reveals a new^ wiinkle in depravity' that the military (proba-

bly in alliance with the CIA) developed in

its

Gitmo

prison. "Sex

w^eapon to create a wedge between the detainee and his Islamic Erik Saar. a military translator

went

to

Guantanamo Bay

full

working

at that prison

was used

as a

reported

faith."

camp. This young

soldier

of patriotic fervor, believing he could help in the

war on terrorism. However, he soon realized that he was not helping at all: that what was happening there was all "a mistake." In a radio interview on Amy Goodman's Democracy Sow show on April 4. 2005. Saar offered vivid details about the sexual tactics used against prisoners, tactics he witnessed firsthand. He elaborated on this interview in a book-length expose. Inside the Wire: Intelligence Soldier's Eyewitness

During the

six

Account of

months he served

translate for the prisoner

what the

Lije at

there. Saar.

official

who

is

"

demanding

Military

fiuent in Arabic,

that he use precisely the proper

had

to

and

said

and then

He was

in a

"Cyrano-

interrogator asked

repeat the prisoner's replies to the interrogator in English.

type role

A

Guantanamo.^'*

words

to

convey the exact

426

The iMcifer Effect

meaning

new

both ihc interrogator's and prisoner's intentions to each other. The

ol

female interrogator. Saar reported: "The

trick involved the use of a seductive

make

female interrogator would sexually entice prisoners being interrogated to

them

unclean.

feel

.

.

She would rub her breast on

.

The prisoner was shocked and

parts

about her body

his back, talk

infuriated."

Saar quit his post because he became convinced that such an interrogation strategy "was totally ineffective

New York

racy."^" The

and not

in

keeping with the values of our democ-

Times columnist Maureen

Dowd coined the nickname "Torwho used sexual lures on

ture Chicks" for the female interrogators at Gitmo

prisoners to gain information and confessions.^ fuller details of

what such an interrogation was

I^t us go "inside the wire" for

^

like.

Saar reports one particularly dramatic encounter that could be

classified

under the military rubric "Invasion of Space by Female." The victim was a twenty-one-year-old Saudi of "high value"

who spent a great deal of time praying

procedure began, the female interrogator. "Brooke." and

in his cell. Before the

Saar were both "sanitized" by taping over their names on their uniforms serve their anonymity. piece of shit

Then Brooke

said.

"The detainee we're going

and we might have to turn things up a

dent. "I'm starting to take shit from above because he's not talking.

something new tonight." This Saudi detainee was believed

to

to talk to

she

bit" because, as

is

a

made evi-

We need to try

have taken

flight les-

when

sons with the 9/11 hijackers, so was very high value. Saar noted "that tary interrogators were questioning a detainee

to pre-

who was uncooperative,

mili-

they very

quickly wanted to 'turn up the heat': shout, be confrontational, play the bad cop. forget building rapport."

Interrogator Brooke continued: solutely

make him praying.

'I

just

need to make him

must cooperate with me and has no other options. feel

so fucking dirty that he can't go back to his cell

We have to put

oner did not respond

up

a barrier

between him and

I

that he ab-

feel

we should

think

and spend the night

his (U)d."''-

When

the pris-

to her questioning, the interrogator decided to turn

up the

unbutton her top

slowly,

heat.

"To

my

surprise," Saar exclaimed, "she started to

teasingly. almost like a stripper, revealing a skin-tight

ing over her chest.

.

.

.

brown Army T-shirt

breasts against his back." She taunted the prisoner:

American Allah

feels

tits.

Fareek.^

about

I

that.'"

see that

you are starting

She then moved around

"Do you

to get hard. to

sit

these big

like

How

do you think

tits.

When the prisoner looked away toward Saar. she challenged "Are you gay.' Why 'do you keep looking at him.- .... He thinks

tlts.^"

linity:

him and

right in front of

placing her hands over her breasts, teased the prisoner with "Don't you big

stretch-

She walked slowly behind him and began rubbing her

1

like

his

these

mascu-

have great

Don't you.'" (Saar nods allirniatively.)

The prisoner

resists, spitting at her.

I

iila/etl.

the interrogator turns up the

screw another notch. As she unbuttons her pants, she asks the prisoner:

427

Putting the System on Trial

"Fareek. did you

panties,

it

time

last

know

appeared as

who

told

fuck." she hissed,

when

Brooke

if it

him

my

said,

.

.

How

.

do you

feel

who

fly,

wiping what he

him

sent

to flight school.]

"You

was menstrual blood on

believed

will

his

think of you in the morn-

standing up. "By the way. we've shut off the water to your cell blood will

the fuck were

for.

.

.

What

.

the fuck did

we

to get the inforI

just do?

What

we doing in this place?

Yes, indeed, a very for

be there tomorrow," she tossed out as

still

She had done what she thought was best

the booth

Saar or

period?

were covered with her blood. She asked him one

to learn to

mation her bosses were asking

for

having

they see an American woman's menstrual blood on your face?"

for tonight, so the left

am

I

"What do you think your brothers

face

ing

that

touching you now?" [As she withdrew her hand from her

me

about

anyone

good question. However, there was never a clear answer

else.

Other Revelations of Gitmo Crimes and Misdemeanors Erik Saar reveals a illegal.

He and

number

the others

were deceptive, unethical, and

of other practices that

on the interrogation teams were under

strict

orders

He was ordered to stay "There were a chunk of them, we

never to speak to the International Red Cross observers.

away from them. Of "ghost detainees" he had no idea how or why they came pability.

dren

at

Many were

There was no evidence of their culHe also reported. "There were also young chilthe main Camp Delta. They had no interrogation

despondent."

Gitmo, kept outside of

value, but

says,

to Gitmo.

were kept there

prisoners at Gitmo,

for a

No one has ever reported on

long time."

who had

children

have been brought there from Iraq and

to

Afghanistan. "False setups" visit to

were arranged when

observe a "typical" interrogation.

visiting dignitaries

A

fictional setting

would make the scene look normal and ordinary. Jewish

camp

It

were scheduled

to

was arranged that

was reminiscent of the model

created by the Nazis in their concentration

camp

at Teresienstadt.

Czechoslovakia, where they fooled the International Red Cross observers and others into believing the inmates scribes that everything

One

of the things

when a

V.I.F. visit

I

was

were

happy with

all

sanitized in the

learned

when

would take

I

place,

their relocation. Erik

Saar de-

"A-OK" setup:

joined the intelligence

meaning

it

team was that

could be a general or could

be an executive from the senior government service, one of the

intelli-

gence agencies, maybe, or even a Congressional delegation, there was a concerted tainee

effort to explain to the interrogators that

who had

they were to find a de-

previously been cooperative and put

tion booth at the time

when

the

V.I.P.

would be

him

visiting

in the interroga-

and

observation room. Essentiallv. thev were to find someone

sitting in the

who had been

428

The Lucifer Effect

cooperative, lar dialogue,

who they were able to sit across a table with and have a reguand someone who would also had in the past provided ade-

quate Intelligence, and then they were to replay that interrogation

for the

visiting V'lP's.

And And

cause

an

essentially, as

don't think

I

I

in the intelligence

in feeling this

community your whole

existence

make

fictitious

And

world so Gitmo [would lookj

in reality

it

was something

this

was

possible for supervisors to

order to

the right decito sim-

to those visiting.

far different, completely

everything that we, as professionals, were trying to do It

in

concept of creating this

one thing

like

is

community,

sions. So. that's really the existence of the intelligence

ply provide the right information.

insulting.

way. to be honest with you. be-

provide policymakers with the right information to

when

was

intelligence professional, this

was alone

undermined

in intelligence.

watch any interrogation through

a

one-way

mirror in each room, but "they rarely did so." according to Saar. Important sessions with high-value detainees were supposed to be recorded

cameras.

If

translator

on concealed video

they had been, senior officers might have been as distressed as this

was by such sexually perverse

tactics

and put a stop

to

them. Not

so.

says Saar:

There were also cameras

in the booths, but the sessions

were not recorded;

General [Geoffrey] Miller thought taping could only cause legal problems.

The video was simply whelming majority

fed to a screen in the observation

of sessions, the only ones

who

room. For the over-

ever

place in the booth [were] the interrogator, the linguist,

knew what took

and the detainee.

"Outsourcing" Torture Additional evidence of the spread of stealth torture as a

gence from resistant suspects

is

means

of forcing intelli-

revealed in secret CIA programs that whisked

prisoners to foreign countries that had agreed to do the dirty job for the United States. In a policy

known

as "renditions." or "extraordinary renditions." dozens,

perhaps hundreds, of "high-value terrorists" (HVTs) were taken

to a

foreign countries, often in business jets leased by the CIA.^' President ently authorized the

CIA

to

have detainees

dered" to countries where the use of torture

Amnesty

International).''"*

term secret detention

them

of

custody "disappeared" or "ren-

well-known (and documented by

Such prisoners were kept incommunicado

facilities in

in long-

"undisclosed UK'ations." In "reverse renditions."

foreign authorities arrestc'd "suspects" in

transferred

in is

number

Bush appar-

into custody, usually to

noncombat. nonhattlefield

Guantanaino Bay

Prison,

settings

and

u ithout the

basic legal protections afforded by international law.

The this

president of the Center for C'onstitutional Rights. Michael Kalner. said of

program:

429

Putting the System on Trial

I

call

outsourcing torture.

it

war on

What

terror, the C.I. A. picks

wants, and

if it

doesn't

it

really

want to engage you want

rogation, whatever term

means

is

up people anywhere in the torture

to use.

it

that in the so-called

world that

in the itself,

it

or in the inter-

send them to another

will

country that our intelligence agencies have a close relationship with. That

can be Egypt,

it

can be Jordan. ^^

One CIA senior officer in charge Scheuer. He reports matter-of-factly:

We took people to the countries of

their origin in the Middle East,

countries had a legal process outstanding for take them. That person

program was Michael

of this rendition

them and were

would be treated according

to the laws of that

country, not to the laws of the United States, but to the laws pick.

of,

take your

Morocco. Egypt. Jordan. ^^

would include

Obviously, the interrogation tactics used in those countries

torture techniques that the

any useful to keep

"Intel"

CIA did not want

to

know about,

coming out of them. However,

such a program concealed

for long.

it is

Some

as long as there

difficult in

outsourcing-torture program.

The

were transported

compounds

my

to Soviet-era

was

our high-tech era

of America's allies have led

a probe into at least thirty flights suspected of being engaged by the

In

those

if

willing to

CIA

in the

investigation has revealed that key suspects in Eastern Europe.^"

judgment, these programs of outsourcing torture indicate not that

the CIA and military intelligence operatives were reluctant to torture prisoners

but that they believed that agents in those countries

knew how

to

do

it

better.

They have been

perfecting the practice of the "third degree" longer than the

Americans have.

I

sive

have outlined here only a small sample of the

abuses heaped upon

all

sorts of detainees in

far

more exten-

American military prisons

in

order to refute the administration's assertion that such abuse and torture were

not "systematic." Autopsies and death reports on detainees held in

facilities

in Iraq

and

Afghanistan reveal that nearly half of the forty-four deaths reported occurred during or after interrogations by Navy SEALs. military intelligence, or the CIA.

These homicides resulted from abusive interrogation ing, gagging, strangulation, beating

deprivation,

the ACLU.

tactics that included

and extreme temperature manipulations. The executive director of

Anthony Romero, has made

it

clear that "There

is

terrogations have resulted in deaths. High-ranking officials torture sat

on

must be held

hood-

with blunt objects, water boarding, sleep

their

no question that

who knew

hands and those who created and endorsed these

accountable."'^^

in-

about the policies

4 30

The Lucifei Effect

TAKING

IT

TO THE TOP: HOLDING DICK CHENEY

AND GEORGE W. BUSH ACCOUNTABLE As became increasingly obvious tos

came

the

in

months

of individual soldiers

(Abu

after the

(ihraibj pho-

abuse did not result from the acts

to public light, this pattern of

who broke the rules.

It

resulted from decisions

made

by the Bush administration to bend, ignore, or cast rules aside. Administration policies created the climate for

detainees worldwide in a

Abu Ghraib and

for

abuse against

number of ways.

summary statement by Human Rights Watch in its report "United States: Away with Torture?" focuses our attention at the very top of the long chain of command all the way up to Vice President Dick Cheney and President This

Getting

—

George W. Bush.

The War on Terror Framed the Torture Paradigm

— "War on Nouns" —on Poverty —the Bush administration declared a "War on Terror" following the

In line with previous presidential failures

and Drugs

attacks of September

rorism that

it

is

1 1

.

in their

200 1 The central premise of .

this

must be opposed by all

that ter-

all

means

necessary. This ideological foundation has

nations as a device for gaining popular and military sup-

port for aggression, as well as repression. ships in Brazil. Greece,

"enemies of the

was used

It

and many other nations

and death-squad executions of state."^'* Italy's

egy of tension" during the

late

classic

example

nomic

collapse of the

is

freely

in the

their citizens

1960s and

who were

political control.

1

9

3()s.

They were the internal

and demanded

program

and

in all

the countries the Nazis occupied.

Fear

is

the State's psychological

sacrificing their basic

threat that justitied

their extermination both in

weapon

curity promised by their all-powerful government. Fear

Iraq

and

ministration policies.

later for the First, fear

sional vote

of

in

mass destruction.

in

"Knowing these

realities."

"evil

first

for a

that

preemptive

"

Orwellian fashion by predicting a

its allies

by

Saddam

Hussein's arse-

For example, on the eve of the congres-

on the Iraq War resolution. President Bush

Congress that Iraq was an

exchange for the se-

mindless maintenance of a variety of Bush ad-

was spread

nuclear attack against the United States and

"weapons

exter-

was the linchpin

and Congress

U.S. public

an

Germany

of choice to frighten citizens into

freedoms and rule-of-law protections

gained the majority support of the

Of course, the

Germany's eco-

that of Hitler's labeling Jews the originators of

of conquest

'7()s to justify

positioned as the

to exaggerate the fear of terrorism by the

nal

war against

by right-wing dictator-

right-wing Christian Democrats used the "strat-

1970s

Red Brigades (radical Communists) as a means of

nal of

new war was

the primary threat to "national security." and to the "homeland." and

been used by virtually

torture

Shift

told the nation

and

nation' that threatened Americas security.

Bush remarked. "Americans must not ignore the

»

431

Putting the System on Trial

we cannot wait for the form of a mushroom over America not by Saddam but by

threat gathering against us. Facing clear evidence of peril,

proof— the smoking gun

final

cloud. "7" That

—that could come

mushroom cloud was

spread

in the

Bush's team.

Over the next several years,

echoed such

warnings

dire

all

Special Investigations Division of the resentative Iraq. It

key members of the Bush administration

A report was prepared

speech after speech.

in

Committee on Government Reform

by the

for

Rep-

Waxman on the Bush administration's public statements on

Henry A.

used a public database of

all

such statements by Bush, Cheney, Rumsfeld,

Secretary of State Colin Powell, and National Security Advisor Condoleezza Rice.

According to the report, these

on the

ing" statements

about 50 of the

for

each

five officials

Iraqi threat in

disciple. In

the

made 237

specific "false

month of September 2002,

9/11 attacks, the Bush administration

50 misleading and deceptive statements

is

the

first

much

of the

of

anniversary

on record as having made nearly

to the public, ^i

In his investigative analysis, Pulitzer Prize-winning author traces

and mislead-

125 public appearances, an average

Bush administration's framing

Cheney's statement right after 9/11. Cheney defined

it:

Ron Suskind

war on

of the

"If there's

a

terror to

1% chance

that Pakistani scientists are helping al-Qaeda build or develop a nuclear wea-

we have

pon,

analysis

.

.

.

to treat

Doctrine, "So,

it

as a certainty in terms of our response.

It's

not about our

about our response." Suskind writes in his book The One Percent

it's

now spoken,

it

stood: a standard of action that

would frame events

and responses from the Administration for years to come." He goes on

to note that

unfortunately, the vast federal government does not operate efficiently or effectively

under new forms of

stress, like this

war on

terror,

and under cognitive

sonance from the unexpected insurgency and rebellion of captive peoples. protective urges,

competing agendas, rules for who does what and

actions to the citizenry, the sovereign, the bosses;

but

is

hides

defined often by

what

it

its

And

it

dis-

has

who represents

accomplishes a great deal, yes,

that

means

it

lies

and dissembles,

can, and sometimes out of self-preservation, because without your

trust [of citizens]

it is

nothing but

A different method of terror

dysfunctions.

"It

office space.

"^^

fearmongering can be seen

in the politicization of the

alarm (color code) warning system by the Bush administration's Depart-

ment of Homeland disaster

warnings

time, the eleven

Security.

I

believe that initially

its

intention

was to serve, as all

do. to mobilize citizens to prepare for a threat.

vague warnings never carried any

realistic

However, over

advice for citizen ac-

Warned of a hurricane, people are told to evacuate: warned of a tornado, we know that we must retreat to the storm cellar: but warned of a terrorism attack coming sometime, somewhere, we are told simply to be "more watchful." and. of tion.

course, to go about our business as usual. There or debriefing

when each

of these

many

was never any

public explanation

threats failed to materialize despite their

alleged "credible sources." Mobilizing national forces for each rise in threat level costs at least a billion dollars a

month and creates unnecessary

anxiety and stress

432 in

The Liuifer Kffect

the populaiit)!!. In ihc end, broadcasting the color-coded threat levels

a valid warning system than the government's costly taining the nation's fear of terrorists

French

makes people think

who

fear,

and

was and

less

sus-

absence of any terror attacks.

in the

from thinking

fear stops people

in abstractions

who

threaten us.

of ensuring

author Albert Camus has pointed out that fear

existentialist

method: terror makes

—

way

about the enemy, the

terrorists, the

a It

insurgents

we begin thinking

thus must be destroyed. Once

is

rationally.

of people

as a class of entities, as abstractions, then they meld into "faces of the enemy."

and primitive impulses

to

kill

and torture them surface even among ordinarily

my

criticism of these

peaceful people."^

am

I

tional

were

on record with

and dangerous, but there

is

and sustaining

tration

was

as dysfunc-

sounding of these warnings. "•* The issue here

closely correlated with the

that by arousing

"phantom alarms'

evidence that increases in Bush's poll ratings

fear of

an enemy

our

at

gates, the

able to position the president as the Almighty

is

Bush adminis-

Commander in Chief

of

a nation at war.

By calling himself "commander

in chief"

and

vastly

expanding the powers

granted him by Congress. President Bush and his advisers came to believe that they were above national and international law and that therefore any of their policies

were

pretation.

legal simply by asserting

The seeds

Abu Ghraib were

them

in a

for the flowers of evil that

newly recast

blossomed

planted by the Bush administration in

official legal inter-

in that

its

dark dungeon of

triangular framing of

national security threats, citizen fear and vulnerability, and interrogation/torture to

win the war on terror

Vice President Dick Cheney as "The Vice President of Torture"

A

Washington Post editorial called Dick Cheney "The Vice President of Torture"

because of his

efforts to defeat

and

finally to

modify the McCain amendment to

the Department of Defense's budget authorization

demanded

humane

the

treatment of prisoners

Cheney had lobbied hard order to enable tion from

it

to use

suspects.

its

to get

an exception

whatever means

Cheney argued

it

in

bill."^

law granted

to the

deemed necessary

that such a

That amendment

American military custody.

bill

would

for the

to extract

lie

CIA

in

informa-

the hands of CIA

and expose them to potential prosecution for their efforts in the global war on terror (And we have gotten a glimpse of how extremely brutal and lethal

operatives

their efforts

The in

can

be.

legislation

proposed by Senator |ohn McCain, a former prisoner of war

Vietnam who himself experienced the horrors of

ture and cruel, also requires

all

military interrogations to

Intelligence Interrogation

Senate,

it

torture,

bans the use of

tor-

inhuman, and degrading treatment by any government agency. conU)rm

to the

(KM 34-52). Not only was the

was endorsed strongly

in a

Army's bill

Field

passed

90

It

Manual on to 9 in the

personal letter to McCain by more than a

433

Putting the System on Trial

dozen top military commanders from the Marines. Army, and Nav>'. They asserted

Army

that the

field

manual

is

the tried and true "gold standard" that should be

followed consistently.

As a

and admirals

postscript, these generals

DoD [Department

other than

of Defense] detain

believe that

and interrogate

"when agencies prisoners, there

should be no legal loopholes permitting cruel and degrading treatment. "^^

McCain

on torture and the need

takes a broad perspectiv^e

America's

to right

moral compass. In a Newsweek magazine essay on "The Truth About Torture,"

McCain held that: This

is

places

a

war of

ideas, a struggle to

advance freedom in the face of terror

where oppressive rule had bred the malevolence that creates

Prisoner abuses extract a terrible

ists.

inevitably

become

standing

public,

toll

on us

in this

war

in

terror-

of ideas.

They

and when they do they threaten our moral

The mistreatment

of prisoners

harms us more than our ene-

mies."" It is

dim Cheney's passionate sup-

unlikely that passage of this legislation will

port for the CIA's use of

all

the

means

at its disposal to get confessions

and

intelli-

gence from secretly held terror suspects. This must be so when we consider Cheney's steadfast adherence to the beliefs televised interview

on NBC's Meet

We also have to work,

he expressed shortly the Press,

after the

though, sort of the dark

side,

if

to spend time in the shadows in the intelligence world.

to be

done here

will

have to be done

9/11 attacks. In a

Cheney made a remarkable statement:

quietly,

you

will.

We've got

A lot of what needs

without any discussion, using

sources and methods that are available to our intelligence agencies,

we're going to be successful. That's the world these folks operate it's

going to be

vital for

us to use any

means

our disposal,

at

if

and so

in,

basically, to

achieve our objective."^

NPR

interview, the former chief of staff for Secretary of State Colin

Powell, Colonel

Lawrence Wilkerson. charged that the Cheney-Bush team of neo-

In

an

conservatives issued directives that led to the prisoner abuses by soldiers in Iraq

and Afghanistan. Wilkerson outlined the path such It

was

clear to

me

that there

was

directives took:

a visible audit trail from the vice presi-

dent's [Cheney's] office through the secretary of defense [Rumsfeld] to the

commanders

soldier in the field

ligence

in the field that in carefully

meant two

and you need

things:

to get that

some ways you can probably

get

couched terms

We're not getting enough good

evidence

down

— that

—and. oh. by the way.

to a

intel-

here's

it.

Wilkerson also referred to David Addington. Cheney's counsel, as "a staunch advocate of allowing the president in his capacity as

commander in

chief to devi-

434

Tlu'Liuifi'rVJfect

ale from the Cieneva Conventions.""*^ This leads us right

up

to the pinnacle of

power.

President George

W. Bush

As commander

charge of an open-ended war on global terrorism. President

in

as "The

Commander

George W. Bush has

relied

basis for a preemptive

war of aggression

on

a

team

in

Chief of

War"

of legal advisers to establish a legitimate

against Iraq, to redefine torture, to create

new rules of engagement, to restrict citizens' freedoms through the so-called PATRIOT Act. and to authorize illegal eavesdropping, wiretapping, and spying on the phone calls of American citizens. As usual, all this is done in the name of protecting the sacred

homeland national

know-what. Bush's

legal advisory

to the president (subsequently

assistant attorney general,

Department of

Justice):

legal adviser. State

war against you-

security in the global

team consisted

promoted

of:

Alberto R. Gonzalez, counsel

John Yoo. deputy

to attorney general):

and jay S. Bybee.

assistant attorney general (both of the

Attorney General John Ashcroft: and William H. Taft

IV.

Department.

Alberto Gonzales offered the following legal judgment to the president

(memo. January 25. 2002): "The nature on other

such as the

factors,

of the

ability to quickly

new war

new paradigm renders obsolete Geneva's strict

ment,

this

ing of

enemy

places a high

obtain information

In

limitations

premium

my judg-

on question-

prisoners."

The Torture Memos

An August "Torture

1.

2002. Department of

Memo. narrowly "

but only in terms of

must be "equivalent jury,

such as organ

its

Justice

referred to in the press as the

most extreme consequences.

in intensity to the

failure,

It

in

necessary that

must have been the

pain accompanying serious physical

"specific intent" of the

would

significant duration, e.g.. lasting for

went on

to assert that the earlier ratification of the

with the president's power as

commander

in chief.

captured

in

suit

de-

harm

of

the administration's purposes

it

1994

would

anti-

interfere

Other guidelines from the Jus-

Department's lawyers gave the president the power

ConveiHions to

it is

or years."

torture statute could be considered unconstitutional because

tice

In line

was narrowly

result in "significant psychological

months

in-

defendant to cause

"severe physical or mental pain or suffering." "Mental torture"

memo

constitutes

order to prosecute anyone charged with torture crimes,

fined to include only acts that

The

it

held that physical pain

impairment of bodily function, or even death."

with this memo, it

memo,

defined "torture" in terms not of what

in

the

to reinterpret the

war on

Geneva

terror. Belligerents

Afghanistan. I'aliban soldiers. al-(jaeda suspects, insurgents, and

all

those rounded up and taken into custody would not be considered POW's. and therefore not granted any of the legal protections to titled.

in

which a prisoner of war is en-

As "enemy noncombalants." they could be held

indefinitely at

any

facility

the world, without coun.sel or specific charges leveled against them. In addi-

435

Putting the System on Trial

apparently approved the CIA's program of "disappearing"

tion, the president

high-value terrorists.

The evidence

is

circumstantial, but

it is

convincing. For example, in his book

and the Bush Administration, James

State of War: The Secret History of the C.I. A.

Risen concludes that there tion officials to insulate

volvement

A his

less

team

in the

is

"a secret agreement

among very senior administra-

Bush and to give him deniability"

in regard to the CIA's in-

new interrogation tactics. ^^^

extreme

gracious description of the relationship between President Bush and

of legal advisers

had thoroughly reviewed The memos read

Anthony

the legal scholar

the available

the advice of a

of the

memoranda.

mob

lawyer to a mafia don on

more deeply disturbing one, prisoners even though

Another theme

.

.

.

is

Lewis, after he

memoranda:

law and stay out of prison. Avoiding prosecution

skirt the

theme

like

came from

all

is

how to

literally

a

memoranda, an even

in the

that the President can order the torture of

forbidden by a federal statute and by the inter-

it is

national Convention Against Torture, to which the United States

is

a

party. 81

Readers are invited to read investigative reports,

memos" by

namo. and Iraq. Abu

report,

the relevant materials

and more) along with

I

have outlined here (the twenty-eight "torture

all

President Bush's legal advisers, Rumsfeld, Powell, Bush, and others

that prepared the

to

ICRC

all

way

for the legitimization of torture in

Ghraib, edited by

Karen Greenberg and Joshua

memoranda

is

lawyers. 8^

provides us with an insight into

It

Afghanistan. Guanta-

In a remarkable 1.249-page volume. The Torture Papers: The Road

laid out.

Dratel. the full paper trail of

exposing the perversion of legal

how such

skills

"skills

much to protect Americans in this most legalized of countries the cause of evil."^^

The

editors conclude in

cance of these documents should be

While the proverbial road nal government

to hell

memos collected

path to the purgatory that

is

is

—can be misused

no uncertain terms what the

for citizens to

signifi-

officials:

paved with good intentions, the inter-

in this publication

Guantanamo

Bay. or

demonstrate that the

Abu

Ghraib. has been

paved with decidedly bad intentions. The policies that resulted in rampant abuse of detainees later in Iraq, cilitate

first in

Afghanistan, then at

Guantanamo

Bay.

were the product of three pernicious purposes designed

and

to fa-

the unilateral and unfettered detention, interrogation, abuse, judg-

ment, and punishment of prisoners: (1) the desire to place the detainees

beyond the reach of any court or law:

(2) the desire to

abrogate the Geneva

Convention with respect to the treatment of persons seized of

armed

policies of

hostilities:

any

and

(

liability for

3)

in the context

the desire to absolve those implementing the

war crimes under

in

understand the motives and in-

and other governm.ent

tentions of their elected leaders

by government

that have done so

U.S.

and international

law.

436

The

iMciji'T Effect

Indeed, any claim of good faith cies is

were merely misguided

tliat

certainly a genuine terrorist threat

more than

tacit

sage that these

acknowledgment

like

who

fornuilated the poli-

—

is

response

in

our system of

what

belied by the policy makers'

of their unlawful purpose.

memoranda convey

makers do not

policy

those

in their pursuit of security in the face of

justice,

is

.

.

.

The mes-

unmistakable: these

with

its

checks and bal-

ances, and rights and limits, that they have been sworn to uphold. That

antipathy for and distrust of our civilian and military justice systems

is

positively un-American.^'*

Law eral's

Army Judge Advocate Genwho prepared these justifithe Nazi era have so many

Professor Jordan Paust (former captain. U.S.

Corps) wrote of George W. Bush's legal advisers,

cations for torture against detainees. "Not since

lawyers been so clearly involved in international crimes concerning the treat-

ment and

interrogation of persons detained during war."

Heading that

of advisers

list

helped develop a legal until the

memo

memo

offering the

disclosed did Gonzales

and President Bush

most extreme conception of

compared

re-

torture. Gonzales's

dedication to expanding presidential powers within the framework of the terror has been

who

Attorney General Alberto Gonzales,

that reinterpreted "torture" as noted above. Not

Abu Ghraib photos were

pudiate this

is

war on

lawyer Carl Schmitt.

to that of the influential Nazi

Schmitt's ideas about freeing the nation's executive from legal constraints in

times of emergency helped suspend Germany's constitution and gave Hitler total power. Gonzales's biographer noted that Gonzales

is

a likable

man who comes

man" without sadistic or psychopathic tendencies. Howinstitutional role, Gonzales's legal memos have been responsible for

across as an "ordinary ever, in his

suspension of

"^^

civil liberties

and brutal interrogation

of terror suspects in viola-

tion of international law."^

Gitmo Interrogations Opposed by the Defense Department's Criminal Investigation Task Force

According

to a recent

MSNBC report,

leaders of the Defense Department's Crimi-

nal Investigation 1 ask Force said that they

gon

officials

(beginning

in early

had repeatedly warned senior Penta-

2002 and continuing

for

years after) that the

harsh interrogation techniques used by a separate intelligence team would not

produce

reliable information,

the nation

when

the>'

could constitute war crimes, and would embarrass

became public knowledge.

Tlie

concerns and advice of

these experienced criminal investigators were largely ignored by

chain of

command

directiilg the interrogations at

all

those

Cwtmo and Abu Ghraib

of their preferred intense, coercive forms of interrogation. Alberto

].

in

the

in favor

Mora, the

former general counsel of the Navy, has gone on record supporting the members of this task force: "V\'hat

that they said.

'We

will

makes me

intensely proud of

not be party to

this,

even

if

we

all

these individuals

are ordered to do

so.'

was

They

437

Putting the System on Trial

are heroes, and there's

mous

no other way

to describe

them. They demonstrated enor-

personal courage and personal integrity in standing up for American val-

ues and the system

we

all live for."

In the end, these investigators were not able to

stop the abuses, but only to slow

Rumsfeld

to roll

them down by

getting Secretary of Defense

of his harshest interrogation tactics. ^^

back some

War on Terror

Obsession with the

We can see that Bush's obsession with the war on terror has propelled him further down

the dangerous path laid out in the late Senator Barry Goldwater's dictum

"Extremism tice

is

no

in the defense of liberty

is

no vice

.

.

.

moderation

mandated warrants.

huge volume

of telephone

In

what amounts

and Internet

sent to the FBI for analysis

to a large

traffic

data-mining operation, a

has been gathered by the

—actually overwhelming

surveil-

Agency (NSA) without

lance of American citizens by the National Security legally

in the pursuit of jus-

Bush has authorized domestic

virtue." Accordingly, President

NSA and

its

capacities for effective

to the

major telecommunica-

processing of such information.*^^

Such surveillance requires "backdoor access" tions switches

on American soil that route international calls and the secret coop-

eration of the nation's largest telecommunications companies, according to a detailed

New York Times report of January 2006.^"^ The

Times expose has revealed

the excesses inherent in vesting such power in the president without the restraints of legal or congressional

checks and balances.

A case has been made for

comparing Bush's sense of being above the law with that of President Richard

who

Nixon,

"unleashed the dogs of domestic surveillance in the 1970s" and de-

fended doing so by his assertion illegal.

"*^^*

"When the President does it.

that

Bush now says the very same thing with the same sense

This sense of being above the law

is

means

it is

not

of impunity.

seen also in Bush's unprecedented use of

"signing statements." In the process of approving a law passed by Congress, the president affirms his prerogative not to follow the law he has just signed. President

Bush has used

this tactic

than 750 times,

more than any other

to disobey statutes passed

president has in U.S. history,

by Congress

when

more

they conflict with

his interpretation of the Constitution. This included placing this personal re-

straint

on the McCain Amendment against

torture.*^'

However. President Bush's assertion of executive power has been challenged in a recent decision of the

Supreme Court

the Bush administration's plans to put

that limits his authority.

Guantanamo

It

detainees on

repudiated trial

before

military commissions (tribunals), because they were unauthorized by federal statute

and they

violated international law. According to The

"The ruling marked the most significant setback

New

York Times,

yet for the administration's

broad expansion of presidential power. "'^Paradoxically. in

administration has

its

itself

an organization that

desire to rid the world of the evil of terrorism, the

become

inflicts

Bush

a glaring exemplar of "administrative evil."

It is

pain and suffering unto death while willingly using

438

The Lucifer Kffect

ibrniiil. rational,

does

and

procedures lo disguise the substance of what

efticient

— ignoring the means

to justify

it

what its members consider to be higher-order

ends.'^^

Other examples of

mechanism

this

ter.

NASA's role

in the Challenger disas-

company execu-

the promotion of addictive cigarettes by American tobacco

and

tives

and the deceptive business practices

their hired "scientific experts."

Enron and other crooked companies. Administrative that

it

exists

beyond any one person once

dures take control. Nevertheless.

I

its

I

for creating or

iors" within

parts

its

its

leaders,

who

also

other sense, however, the individuals

engages

in illegal,

fall

under

who play

evil.

"approved behav-

for

more than the sum

is

powerful influences. In an-

its

key roles

in

creating a system that

on them.

President Bush and his advisers have been able to alter the

1996) by pushing Congress

Act of 2006 (Senate

Bill

39 30) that he signed on October

on Hamdan

decision

new

Military

2006.

1 7.

challenged the administration's use of military tribunals in Prison. This

War Crimes

to pass the United States Military

Supreme Court's

in part to rebuff the

Ciuantanamo

proce-

leaders,

immoral, and unethical conduct should be held accountable

despite the situational pressures

(of

its

maintaining such

sphere of influence. In one sense, the system

and of

and

and agencies whose power

and expectations

rules of

of

systemic, in the sense

is

policies are in place

believe that a system consists of those agents

and values create or modify the

its

evil

would argue, organizations must have

and those leaders must be held accountable

of

work include the

of administrative evil at

Nazis* extermination of Jews in the Holocaust.

Act

Commissions It

was drafted

Rumsfeld that has

v.

trials of

Commissions Act provides

controversial practices relating to the U.S. government's detention

detainees at for a host of

and treatment

of "unlawful cncmij combatants." All those so designated are afforded neither the

military rights of soldiers nor those of civilians in

broad war-time powers to designate anyone as

American

citizens,

only by a military tribunal whose judge tained without a search warrant, thirds majority of tribunal

"

and

may

MPs

at

Abu

given

may use hearsay evidence even when ob-

In addition,

many

harbors

at least

all

"crimes against humanity.

(ihraib are

now

two more

interrogation tactics that qualify as only

retroactively protecting in

of guilt requires only a two-

it

government "

officials

who may

including the murder of inter-

rogated detainees by CIA operatives and others. (Thus, virtually the

is

including

be imprisoned indetinitely. tried

and whose finding

members.

objectionable features: permitting

have been involved

The president

thereby losing their right of habeas corpus and protections

provided by the Geneva Conventions. They

"humiliating.

civil law.

titting that category,

all

the abuses by

allowable because they would qualify as merely

"humiliating." not as torture.) I

pholdiiig the

pensable

War

for all civilized

cYinies Act

and the Geneva Conventions should be

nations that choose to

the rule of power and tyranny.

The

Military

live

indis-

by the rule of law and not by

Commissions

.Act

is

that will be rankeii uilh the low points in -American democracy,

"a tyrannical law

our generation's

439

Putting the System on Trial

version of the Alien and Sedition Acts," according to a

(September 28, 2006). Where

is

New

York Times editorial

the outrage by citizens and freedom loving peo-

ple everywhere?^^

MEMBERS OF THE JURY, YOUR VERDICT, PLEASE You have read here the testimony the

summary

many eyewitnesses

as well as key sections of

reports by the major independent investigative panels, along with

parts of the extensive analyses by

Amnesty

of

International,

Human Rights Watch, the Red Cross, the ACLU.

and PBS's

Frontline

about the nature of the abuse and

torture of prisoners in the custody of the U.S. Military.

Do you now 1

believe that the mistreatment of detainees in

A by Sergeant Ivan

an aberration, an "rogue

"Chip" Frederick and the other

isolated incident

MPs on

Abu

night

Ghraib's Tier

shift

duty was

caused solely by a few "bad apples," allegedly

soldiers".^

Further, do

you now believe that such abuse and torture was or was not part

of a "systematic"

program of coercive

interrogation.^ Did the extent of the abuses

and torture in these interrogations go far deeper and well beyond the limited time, place,

and

set of actors in the

Abu Ghraib Tier 1 A night shift.^ MPs charged with

Given the acknowledged guilt of those abuses, do barrel")

you now

believe that there

were

the photographed

sufficient situational forces (a

"bad

and system pressures ("bad barrel makers") acting on them that should

have mitigated the extent of their prison sentences.^ to make a judgment of complicity in the abuses at Abu Ghraib and many other military facilities and secretly run CIA jails of each of the following high-ranking members of the military command: Major General Geoffrey Miller. Lieutenant General Ricardo Sanchez, Colonel Thomas Pappas,

Are you willing and ready

and Lieutenant Colonel Steven Jordan.?

^^

Are you willing and ready to make a judgment of complicity in the abuses at Abu Ghraib and many other military facilities and secretly run CIA jails of each of the following top members of the political command: former CIA director George Tenet and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.?

Are you willing and ready to make a judgment of complicity in the abuses at Abu Ghraib and many other military facilities and secretly run CIA jails of each of the following top members of the political command: Vice President Dick Cheney

and President George W.

Bush.?

The Prosecution Rests (However, you might also want to look at a note about a recent tribunal that tried the Bush administration for

its

"crimes against humanity. "'^^)

While you arc deliberating, consider

this final section

about a positive attempt by

the military system to acknowledge the necessity of proper guard training

and

ef-

440

The Lucifer Kffect

Icctivc institutional constraints

on abuses of power

Had such procedures been in place from Abu Cihraib would not have happened.

the start,

in interrogating prisoners. likely

is

it

that the abuses at

THE SPE GOES TO ABU GHRAIB AS A TRAINING GUIDE AGAINST POWER OVERLOAD AND HUMANITY OUTAGES On

the long flight from Hawaii to Baghdad.

Army

Colonel Larry James watched

DVD of the Stanford Prison Experiment. Quiet Rage, over and over, maybe "as many as twenty-four times." "What did Zimbardo do wrong.^" "What should he the

have done differently to prevent the abuses tions because he

was en route

He

in his prison.'"

to a special mission: Fix

Abu

raised these ques-

Ghraib! Dr. James

is

a

who for years was chair of the Department of Army Medical Center. He was given this unique task in May 2004, at the command of Major General Geoffrey Miller, with whom he had distinguished clinical psychologist,

Psychology, Walter Reed

worked

in the

strategies

Guantanamo Bay

and

tactics

Prison. (Yes. the very

had done so much damage

same general whose earlier

in the prisons in

both Cuba and

Iraq.)

As chief behavioral science director. James reported directly to Major General Miller. As one of the highest-ranking officers in the prison. James was able to get and procedures enacted almost immediately. had given James

his policies sets of

I

our newly made

suggested that

with him.

ment

I

I

join

him on the mission, but I was too

would have gladly joined him had

that existed in that prison

his return, asking

it

and throughout

fearful of the

was

In general, his goal

good order and discipline

new

to set

abuses.

up procedures

Iraq.

I

interviewed James upon best set of prevention

that

Army

would create and maintain

and would meet the

American Correctional Association. He arranged by an

to go

'*"

in this prison setting

Camp Bucca

danger

not been for the lethal environ-

him what he had decided would be the

strategies to safeguard against

Prison and also at

several

DVD when I learned he was headed to Abu Ghraib. He had

criteria of the

Abu Ghraib who was the chief

for site visits at

lieutenant colonel

of the Behavioral Science Department. Disciplinary Barracks (Leavenworth.

Kansas), and also by a All of their findings

site

reviewer for the American Correctional Association.

and recommendations were implemented. Because of

survey of conditions, a mental health hospital was built large

team

of mental health professionals

services to detainees

—

1.

Do

IK)

detailed to

Abu Ghraib

their

and a

to provide

for the lirst time.

Next, he established

2.

was

for the prisoners

some

basic grouiui rules for himself:

harm.

Keep everything

safe: physically

and psychologically: health care should

mirror the standarcis adopted by the American Correctional Association.

441

Putting the System on Trial

3.

Keep everything

legal;

meet

all

principles of the

Uniformed Code of

Mili-

tary Justice. 4.

Keep everything ask. "Did

I

ethical;

do anything

be sure no one

is

ever harmed, and continually

to violate the ethical standards of the

American

Psychological Association.?" 5.

Make

interrogations effective; create conditions that transform "interro-

gations" into detectivelike "interviews" of inmates that are designed to

acquire the intelligence necessary to save American

lives in

nonabusive

ways.

random

Colonel James walked the grounds at night and at

with guards and

staff,

inconsistent with good order

lems or misconduct,

times, talking

always being cognizant of abuses, wrongdoing, or conduct

or. if

and

He worked

discipline.

he could not resolve any

personally to stop prob-

issue,

reported his concerns

directly to the general.

After examining every aspect of the prison. Colonel James established the

fol-

lowing seven layers of Prison Oversight and Rules Governing the Treatment and Interrogation of Prisoners at

other

1.

Abu Ghraib

Prison, presumably to be extended to

facilities;

There must be supervision by senior

officers at all times,

including night

shifts.

2.

"Interrogations"

must be replaced by "interviews" following the model

a U.S. detective investigation at a police headquarters.

must never conduct the

interviews; there

must be

way they can check on each

A

two present

at least

the interview booth, the interviewer and translator, at a

3.

of

One person alone in

minimum. This

other and have dual feedback available.

written "no-go" policy must

make

explicit

what actions are prohibited

and what are permitted during these prisoner interviews, eliminating any ambiguity about what can and cannot be done or 4.

Mandatory

"mission-specific training"

justified.

must be required

of

all

those in-

volved in these interviews. 5.

Interview booths must be open to surveillance through one-way observation mirrors enabling viewing

and

all

from

hall corridors by officers

and

others,

interviews must be videotaped for subsequent analysis and admin-

istrative review. 6.

Military police will regularly rove the entire facility at

reporting regularly to higher-ups and

random

intervals,

making guards and interviewers

aware that they are always under surveillance. (James also arranged for two military psychologists to be his "roving ambassadors" in this way.) 7.

Multiple layers of supervision and oversight are required, with medical inspection of each prisoner interviewed, pre-

and again postinterview.

to

442

The Lucifer J^Jfect

report any signs of

view procedure.

changed medical status as a consequence

Similarly, a military attorney

must review

along with other layers of regular supervision

Although

MPs

aged the

was not part

it

to

all

of the inter-

procedures,

built into the system.

of these official procedures. Larry James encour-

watch Quiet Rage: The Stanford Prison Experiment and discuss

message about abuse of power as

it

might

new

relate to their

role of being a

its

guard

within that prison setting.

Would he have been

able to install such strong oversight procedures before

the revelation of the abuses.'

would have even thought in place,

is it

less likely

It's

hard to

say.

but

I

to create this mission.

think

Had

it is

anyone

unlikely that

this set of

procedures been

the abuses would have occurred.? That seems certainly to

be so because such conditions would have eliminated the confusion and the diffusion of responsibility, while also

making

it

apparent that everyone's behavior was

under surveillance. (Of course, that also extends pening

to

what should have been hap-

at the SPE.)

It's good that many seemingly effective practices are in place, but have they made a difference.' James's answer was "My dependent variable is there have been

no abuses since these

rules have been put in place [as of

Since then, the Pentagon has decided to shut releasing

some

Baghdad

airport. Britain's top legal adviser

of

its

759

the prison at

detainees and transferring others to

States to close the prison at total of

down

November 2005]."

has recently called

Guantanamo Bay (which

prisoners, according to the

that this detention center has

Abu

Camp Cropper,

Ghraib.

near the

for the

United

over the years has held a

Department of Defense). '^^ He

become an international symbol of

believes

injustice. Attor-

ney General Peter Goldsmith said that the reliance of that camp on military bunals does not meet the British commitment

tri-

to the principle of "a fair trial in

accordance with international standards. '"^"^ Spain's most prominent investigative magistrate,

this prison, as

Baltasar Garzon. also called on the United States to shut

"an insult

He

to countries that respect laws."

down

says Spain learned

the lesson from the evils of the Inquisition that "torture and degradation do not

work

as investigative techniques."""'

Colonel Larry James was awarded the Bronze Star for this special military service.

It is

powered

to

me to be able to end this chapter celebrating this my colleague and friend. wish that he had been em-

a great pleasure for

singular accomplishment of

do so a few years

I

earlier.

LET THE

SUNSHINE

IN

Well, weveniack'it to the end of our long joiirncN' together.

ing power to contiiiiu' on despite these confrontations with in

human

abuse

nature.

in the

It

has been especially

Stanford Prison Experiment.

dillicull for It

me

I

appreciate your stay-

some

of

what

is

worse

to revisit the scenes of

has also been tough to face up to

my

443

Putting the System on Trial

ineffectiveness in helping achieve a better resolution in the case of Chip Frederick.

As a perennial optimist, facing all the evils of genocide, massacres, lynchings, torture, and other horrible things that people do to other people is starting to dim my positive outlook

on the human condition.

we

In the final phase of our journey,

these dark corners of the

human psyche.

eliminate the negative.

shall

how

reasoned advice on don't need but that

I

also

derstanding

make

sunshine in to illuminate

time to accentuate the positive and

It is

do so in two ways.

First,

you

to resist the social influences that

bombard you, and most of

power of situational texts,

I

will let the

forces to influence

evident that

we

most

us, daily.

of us to

some

will get

well-

you don't want and

While acknowledging the

behave badly

are not slaves to their power.

in

It is

many

con-

through un-

how such forces operate that we can resist, oppose, and prevent them

from leading us into undesirable temptation. Such knowledge can liberate us from subjugation to the mighty grasp of conformity, compliance, persuasion, and other forms of social influence and coercion.

Having explored the weaknesses, of

human

frailties,

character throughout our journey,

celebrating heroism

and heroes. By now

I

and

all-too-easy transformations

we end on a most

positive note

hope you are willing

by

to accept the

premise that ordinary people, even good ones, can be seduced, recruited, initiated into behaving in evil forces. If so, are

you

ways under the sway

of powerful systematic

and

also ready to endorse the reverse premise: that

a potential hero waiting for a situation to arise that wifl enable us to

we have heroes.

"the right stuff ".^ Let's

situational

any of us

show

is

that

now learn how to resist temptation and celebrate

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

Resisting Situational Influences

and Celebrating Heroism Every

exit is

an entry somewhere

else.

—Tom Stoppard. Roscncrantz and Guildcnstern Are Dead

We have come to the end of our journey through the dark places that imprison We

the minds of our fellow travelers.

human

the brutal side of tent to

have witnessed the conditions that reveal

nature and have been surprised by the ease and the ex-

which good people can become so cruel

to others.

Our conceptual

focus

how such transformations take place. Alwe have looked most closely into its breeding

has been on trying to understand better

though

evil

ground

in prisons

can

exist in

any

setting,

and wars. They

typically

become crucibles,

in

which

authority,

when covered over by secrecy, suspend qualities we humans value most: caring, kind-

power, and dominance are blended and.

our humanity, and rob us of the ness, cooperation,

Much created in

of

and

love.

our lime was spent

in the

simulated prison that

my colleagues and

the basement of Stanford University's Psychology Department. In

a few days

and nights the

ford University

symptoms

became

virtual paradise that

a hellhole. Healthy

is

I

just

Palo Alto. California, and Stan-

young men developed pathological

that reflected the extreme stress, frustration,

and hopelessness they

were experiencing as prisoners. Their counterparts, randomly assigned

to the role

of guards, repeatedly crossed the line from frivolously playing that role to seri-

ously abusing "their prisoners." In less than a week, our

mock

prison, receded into the

background of our

little

"experiment." our

collective consciousness, to be

replaced by a reality of prisoners, guards, and prison staff that seemed remarkably real to

The

all. It

was

a prison

detailed scrutiny that

which have never before

run by pswhologists rather than by the 1

brought

Fieeii fully

close as possible to that special place

tutional power.

I

trietl

to

convey

a

to the

elaborated,

is

Slate.

nature of these transformations,

aimed

where we can

pit

at

bringing each reader as

person power against

insti-

sense of the unfolding processes by which a

host of seemingly minor siluational variables, such as social roles, rules, norms.

Resisting Situational Influences and Celebrating

and uniforms, came

to

have so powerful an impact on

all

445

Heroism

those caught up in

its

system.

At a conceptual

more weight

level,

I

to situational

have proposed that we give greater consideration and

and systemic processes than we

typically

do when we

and seeming personality changes.

are trying to account for aberrant behaviors

Human behavior is always subject to situational forces. This context is embedded within a larger, macrocosmic one. often a particular power system that signed to maintain and sustain ing those in legal, religious,

itself.

is

de-

Traditional analyses by most people, includ-

and medical institutions, focus on the actor as the sole

causal agent. Consequently, they minimize or disregard the impact of situational variables

and systemic determinants that shape behavioral outcomes and trans-

form actors.

and supporting information

Hopefully, the examples

in this

book

will chal-

lenge the rigid Fundamental Attribution Error that locates the inner qualities of

people as the

main source

of their actions.

We have added the need to recognize

both the power of situations and the behavioral scaffolding provided by the Sys-

tem that crafts and upholds the

social context.

We have journeyed from a make-believe prison to the nightmare reality that was

Abu Ghraib

Iraq's

all-too-real one. In

man.

Abu

to

work

in

both of those prisons, the

Chip Frederick,

who made

social

mock one and

Ghraib, our analytical spotlight focused on one

Staff Sergeant Ivan

good soldier

emerged between the

Prison. Surprising parallels

psychological processes at

the

young

a dual transformation: from

bad prison guard and then to suffering prisoner. Our analysis

re-

vealed, just as in the Stanford Prison Experiment, the dispositional, situational,

and systemic

factors that played a crucial role in fostering the abuse

that Frederick

and other military and

civilian

and torture

personnel heaped on the prisoners

in their custody. I moved then from my position as an impartial social science researcher to assume the role of a prosecutor. In doing so, I exposed to you. readers-as-jurors. the

crimes of the top brass in the military that

make them

command and

in the

Bush administration

complicit in creating the conditions that in turn

such wide-ranging wanton abuse and torture throughout most ons. ity

As noted

of these

repeatedly, the

MPs, nor

ing

what were the ways

Punishing

is

—

on the

elicit

soldiers

can lead

to proac-

such unacceptable behavior.

not enough. "Bad systems" create "bad situations" create "bad ap-

even

last time, let's detine

actor on the stage of

makeup

and understanding do not excuse

the events happened and appreciat-

situational forces operating

ples" create "bad behaviors."

For the

how

modify the circumstances that

to

possible

view I have provided does not negate the responsibil-

their guilt: explanation

such misdeeds. Rather, understanding

tive

made

U.S. military pris-

life

in

good people.

Person. Situation, and System.

whose behavioral freedom

genetic, biological, physical,

is

The Person

is

an

informed by his or her

and psychological. The Situation

is

the be-

446

The Lucifer^ffect

havioral coiUexl ihal has ihc power, through to give

meaning and

whose

the agents and agencies

and

for

status.

The System consists of

and power create situations and

ideology, values,

and expectations

dictate the roles

reward and normative tunctions,

its

identity to the actor's roles

approved behaviors of actors within

its

spheres of influence.

phase of our journey, we

In this, the tinal

time.

We

will explore

how

to resist intluences that

We

that rain

upon us

we must

learn methods of resisting

daily.

we

neither

come

to try to

how

to

of us from time to

all

want nor need but

are not slaves to the power of situational forces. But

and opposing them.

In

have explored together, there were always a few. a minority, time has

about

will consider advice

prevent or combat negative situational forces that act upon

expand

their

the situations

all

who

stood tirm.

we

The

numbers by thinking about how they were

able to resist. If

I

have

in

some measure brought you

cumstances You might behave

conditions outlined here and in the real prison of sider

Abu

Ghraib.

now. could you also accept a conception of You as a Hero.'

also the good in

human

under some

to appreciate that

cir-

in the w^ays that participants did in the research

nature, the heroes

I

ask you to con-

We will celebrate

among us. and the heroic imagination

in all of us.

LEARNING

HOW TO

RESIST

UNWANTED INFLUENCES

People with paranoid disorders have great difficulty in conforming with, or responding to a persuasive message, even

meaning

therapists or loved ones. Their cynicism

barrier that shields

them from involvement

when and

most

in

it

is

to.

complying

offered by their well-

an

isolating

social encounters.

Because

distrust create

they are adamantly resistant to social pressures, they provide an extreme model for

immunity

to influence,

though obviously

end of the scale are the overly

gullible,

easy marks for any and every scam

Among them dence games

at

are the

many

some time

at great psychic cost.

jority of those

should prevail,

is

are

people

who fall prey to frauds, scams, and confiA full 1 2 percent of Americans are de-

in their lives.

shared by people

defrauded are over

many

who

artist.

frauded by con-artist criminals each year, sometimes losing their likely that this figure

At the other

unconditionally trusting people

people of

fifty

all

in

life

savings.

It is

most nations. .Mlhough the ma-

years old.

at

a time of

lile

when wisdom

ages are reguhirl>' duped by tricksters

in tele-

marketing, health care, and lottery scams.'

Remember the a

ph()n>' authority

hoax perpetrated on an innocent teenager at

McDonald's restaurant that was described

yourself. this

"How could she and

same hoax was effective

in

chapter

12.-

Surely you asked

those adults duped by this caller be so stupid.'" Well.

in getting

to follow that false authority blindly.

many other fast-food restaurant personnel

How many.'

Recall in a dozen different restau-

rant chains in nearly se\entv different establishments, in thirty-two states!-

We

^

447

Resisting Situational Influences and Celebrating Heroism

noted that one assistant manager in a McDonald's restaurant,

duped by the phony caller-con man, asks us

would

all,

how do you know what you would

at that time,

who was

totally

"Unless you are in that situation,

You don't know what you

do?

do. "^

The point

is

that instead of distancing ourselves from the individuals

—

were deceived by assuming negative dispositional attributes in them

—we need

naivete

seduced.

Then we

to

why and how

understand

will be in a position to resist

people

and

like

who

stupidity,

us were so completely

to spread

awareness of meth-

ods of resisting such hoaxes.

The Duality of Detachment Versus Saturation

A basic duality exists in the human condition of detachment versus saturation, of cynical suspicion versus engagement. Detaching ourselves from others in the fear of being "taken in"

open we are

an extreme defensive posture, but

is

to other people's persuasion, the

more

likely

we

are to be swayed by

them. Nevertheless, open, passionate involvement with others

human

happiness.

We want

neously,

and

connected to others.

At

some

least

don our

to feel

is

essential to

to feel strongly, to trust completely, to act sponta-

we want

of the time,

more

true that the

it is

primitive fearful reserve.

to

We want to be fully "saturated" in living.

suspend our evaluative

We want

to

faculties

and aban-

dance with passion along with

Zorba the Greek. Yet.

we must regularly assess the worth of our social involvements. The chal-

lenge for each of us

and distancing

and be

to support

is

loyal to a

delicate question that ple

aim

how

we

all

to use us. In that

what they

best to oscillate

appropriately.

between two

Knowing when

poles,

to stay involved

immersing

with others,

cause or a relationship rather than dismissing face regularly.

We live in

a world in which

it. is

a

some peo-

same world are others who genuinely want us

believe are mutually positive goals.

fully

when

to share

How to tell which is which.^ That is

the question, dear Hamlet and dear Ophelia.

we begin to deal with specific means for combating mind-controlling we must consider another possibility: the old illusion of personal invulnerabilitif. ^ Them.^ Yes. Me.^ No! Our psychological journey should have convinced Before

influences,

you

to appreciate

how

the array of situational forces that we've highlighted can

suck in the majority of people. But not You.

right.' It is

hard to extend the lessons

we have learned from an intellectual assessment to affect our own codes duct. What is easily applied in the abstract to "those others" is not easily in the concrete to oneself. tical patterns,

We

are different, lust as

no two people have

no two

of con-

applied

fingerprints have iden-

identical genetic, developmental,

and personal-

ity patterns.

Individual differences should be celebrated, but in the face of strong, situational forces, individual differences shrink

and are compressed.

can predict what the majority knowing nothing about the particular people who comprise stances, behavioral scientists

common

In such in-

of people will

do

a group, only the

448

The Liuifcr YJject

nature

ol ihcir

behavioral context.

how each and

chology can predict

some degree

tion: for.

distribution.

defenses

should be clear that not even the best psy-

of individual variance always exists that cannot be accounted

Therefore, you

may

reject the lessons that

you are the

ble to yourself:

It

every individual will behave in a given situa-

know

However,

we

are about to learn as inapplica-

end of the

special case, the special

down and your tail

that

you do so

at

tail

of the

normal

the cost of being caught with your

twisted.

My advice about what to do in case you encounter a

scoundrel."

"dirty, rotten

many demany personal experiences. As a scrawny, sickly kid trying to survive on the mean streets of my South Bronx ghetto, had to learn basic street smarts: these consisted of figuring out quickly how certain people would be likely to act in

disguised as a nice guy or a sweet old lady, has been accumulated over

cades from

I

certain situations.

I

to get

when

Then

how

character in drag, on hats and coats

good enough

got

the team, or the class.

I

to deceive

tipping

in overdosing kids to

I

was not

required.

free versions

and thereby

was

I

sales to,

I

sell

tips

became ex-

were available

their parents

if

also trained to

were not

magazines door

sympathetic tenement dwellers.

studied formally the tactics police use to get confessions from suspects,

want from

that state-sanctioned torturers use to get anything they

and that

boss, a Fagin-like

into checking their

As her apprentice.

with loads of candy and drinks

our candy counter.

to door, eliciting pity from,

Later on,

Broadway theatergoers

show programs when

perienced in selling expensive

and

a leader of the gang,

they did not want to and to manipulate them into paying

them back, when

chaperoning them

become

at the skill to

was trained by an unscrupulous

their victims,

cult recruiters use in seducing the innocent into their dens.

ship extended to studying the

mind control

methods used by the Chinese Communists

tactics

in the

My scholar-

used by the Soviets and the

Korean War and

in their

massive

national thought reform programs. also studied our own homegrown mind maI

nipulators in the CIA. the state-sponsored lethal charismatic

power over

MKULTRA

program.^ and Jim Jones's

his religious followers (described in earlier

chap-

ters). I

have both counseled and learned from those

periences. In addition.

I

have engaged

who

survived various cult ex-

in a lifetime of investigative research

persuasion, compliance, dissonance, and group processes. these topics includes a training

manual

War, as well as several basic texts

for

on

My writing on some of

peace activists during the Vietnam

on attitude change and

social inlluence."

These

credentials are offered only to bolster the coniniuiiicalor credibility of the infor-

mation provided next.

Promoting Altruism Let us

lirst

altruistic

Lxperiment

imagine a "Heversc-Milgram" authority cxperimeni. Our goal

ate a setting in to do good.

via the \'irtuous Authority

which people

will

comply with demands

is

to cre-

that intensify over time

The participants would be guided gradually to behave

in

ever-more-

ways, slowly but surely moving further than they could have imagined

— 449

and Celebrating Heroism

Resisting Situational Influences

toward ever-more-positive, prosocial actions. Instead of the paradigm arranged

we could substitute a paradigm for a slow aswe formulate an experimental setting in which

to facilitate a slow descent into evil,

How

cent into goodness. that

was

that

we arrange

possible.^ Let

range from

way

to

us design such a thought experiment. To begin, imagine

each participant a hierarchy of experiences or actions that

more

slightly

more-extreme the

for

could

positive acts

"good" actions.

than he or she

The extremes of

engaging in actions that

at first

virtue

used to doing to ever-

is

push him or her upward

all

seemed unimaginable.

There might be a time-based dimension in the design

for those

busy

citizens

who do not practice virtue because they have convinced themselves that they just don't have time to spare for good deeds.

The

first

"button" on the "Goodness Gen-

erator" might be to spend ten minutes writing a thank-you note to a friend or a get-well card to a colleague.

The next

level

might demand twenty minutes of

giv-

ing advice to a troubled child. Increasing the pressure in this paradigm might

then entail the participant's agreeing to give thirty minutes of his time to read a story to

an

illiterate

housekeeper.

Then

the altruism scale moves

spending an hour tutoring a needy student, then to babysitting allow a single parent to kitchen, helping

upward

her sick mother, working for an evening in a soup

to the zoo. being available to talk

with returning wounded vet-

and on and on upward, a step-by-step commitment to giving precious time

every week to ever-more-worthy causes. Providing social models along the

who up

to

few hours to

unemployed veterans, devoting part of a day to taking a group of

orphaned children erans,

visit

for a

are already engaged in the requested task, or

to the next level, should

should

it

not.^ It's

worth a

work

try.

to

who

way

take the initiative to ante

encourage obedience to virtuous authority,

especially since, as far as

I

know, nothing

like this

experiment has ever been done. Ideally,

our experiment

in social

goodness would end

when

the person

was

doing something that he or she could never have imagined doing before. Our goodness track could also include contributions to creating a healthy and sustainable environment that might go from cling to ever

more substantial

activities,

involvement to "green" causes.

domains

in

which

society

I

would

invite

minimal acts of conservation or recy-

such as giving money, time, and personal

you

benefit as

to

expand on

more

doing good without any supporting ideology,

for.

this

citizens

as

theory, beliefs follow behavior. Get people to perform

notion in a host of

"went

all

the way"

we know from dissonance good actions, and they

will

generate the necessary underlying principles to justify them. Talmudic scholars are supposed to have preached not to require that people believe before they pray,

only to do what lieve in

is

what and

needed to

to get

them

to begin to pray: then they will

come

to be-

whom they are praying.

Research Supports a Reverse-Milgram Altruism Effect

As noted,

this

reverse-Milgram experiment has never been done. Suppose

tually attempted to

perform such an experiment

we

ac-

in the laboratory or. better yet. in

'

4 so

The Lucifer

our homes and

coinnuiiiilies.

and of the situation and the

ings

to

Would

it

iiffect

work? Could we use the power of authority

produce virtue? Based on what

principles of social inlluence.

I

am

I

knou about human

confident that

we could do

be-

a bet-

bringing about righteousness in our world, employing basic principles of

ter job ol

social influence (see Notes for

some

references).**

The reverse-Milgram experiment described here combines three simple documented by

fluence tactics that have been extensively studied and

and

psychologists: the foot-in-the-door tactic, social modeling,

them together

helpfulness. I've merely brought

social

self-labeling of

one situation

in

in-

for

promoting

altruism. Moreover, researchers have found that these tactics can be used to pro-

mote

all

sorts of prosocial behavior

— from donating one's hard-earned money

to

charity to increasing recycling and even to giving blood at the next Red Cross

blood drive.

Our "slow ascent

into goodness step by step

"

makes use

what

of

chologists call the "foot-in-the-door" (FITD) tactic. This tactic begins by

someone to do on

to ask

a small request (which

them

actual goal

all

to

comply with a

The

along). ^

first

asking

most people readily perform) and then

related but

classic

social psy-

much

bigger request (which

demonstration of

this tactic

later

was the

was done more

than forty years ago by Jonathan Freedman and Scott Fraser.^"They asked suburbanites to put a big. ugly sign urging "Drive Carefully" in their nice suburban yard. Fewer than twenty percent of the

fourths of the

homeowners agreed

homeowners

had taken a small step and posted

earlier they

three-inch sign urging safe driving.

in their

if

two weeks

windows an unobtrusive

The same approach works with other

pro-

have found that merely signing a

peti-

social behavior. For example, researchers

tion leads to increased

did so. However, three

to place that sign in their yards

monetary support

of the handicapped, tilling out a brief

questionnaire increases the willingness of people to donate their organs to others after death,

conserving a small amount of energy induces homeowners to subse-

quently conserve more energy, and making a small public commitment increases the recycling of paper products.

' '

What

is

more,

this

FITD

effect

can be enhanced

by chaining together a series of increasingly larger requests, putting two the door

—

just as in

feet in

our reverse-Milgram experiment on promoting altruism.'

Our reverse-Milgram experiment would age prosocial behavior. In the SPH and

also

employ

Abu Ohraib

social

models to encour-

Prison, there

was an abun-

dance of negative models that supported abusive behavior. Turning the power of social

models around

to

enhance

positive acts

can be as

effective in

achieving the

opposite, desirable outcomes. Researchers have found that altruistic role models

increase the likelihood that those around behavior. Here to increase

a

flat lire:

duce to

is

just a

them

will

sampling of findings: social

engage

role

in positive, prosocial

models have been shown

donations to the SaUation Army; to promote helping a stranger with

to

lower rates of aggression and protnote nonviolent responses: to re-

littering:

and

to increase

donating money to poor children and a willingness

share one's resources with others.'^ But one word of advice:

Remember

to

451

Resisting Situational Influences and Celebrating Heroism

practice

what you preach. Models persuade

far

more

effectively

than words. For

example, in one set of experiments, children were exposed to an adult model that

preached either greed or charity to them in a persuasive sermon. However, that

on

adult then went

The

to practice either greedy or charitable actions.

results

showed that the children were more likely to do what the model did than what the model had

said. ^^

The wisdom

of the

Talmudic scholars previously mentioned

consistent

is

with another social influence principle underlying our reverse-Milgram experiment: Give someone an as

someone who

tell

will

identity label of the

a person that he or she

likely to

do

kind that you would

then do the action you want to

and

helpful, altruistic,

is

helpful, altruistic,

and kind behaviors

like

them to have

When you

from them.

elicit

kind, that person

more

is

for others. In the Stanford

we randomly assigned young men to the roles of prisoner and

Prison Experiment,

guard, and they soon took on the manners and the behaviors of those roles. So, too,

if

we tell someone that he or she is a helpful person, he or she will take on the

manners and

actions consistent with that identity label. For example, researchers

have found that

telling

someone

that he or she

is

"a generous person" increases

compliance with a request to make a large contribution to prevent multiple rosis;

giving people feedback that they are kind

someone who has dropped a

large

identity as "blood donors" are

more

to a stranger

One of

of cards;

likely to

continue to donate their

the great advantages of our species

this book,

I

is

is

to

help

salient

own blood

^

the ability to explore

we know

scle-

make our

and underlives better.

we have seen the power of the situation to produce evil. I take those same basic principles and use the power of the

situation to produce virtue. this point

and those given a

whom they don't expect ever to know or meet.^

now argue that we can

likely to

number

stand our social world and then to use what

Throughout

makes them more

a failure or

1

humanity

fear for the future of

if I fail

in

if

my argument on

making my argument acceptable

to you.

Might

suggest that you take a small step today in carrying out the reverse-Milgram ex-

periment role

in

model

your

own

life.^ I

for others in

ture. If not you,

think you are just the person to do

and

to serve as a

then who.?

A Ten-step Program to

Resist

Unwanted Influences

If we consider some of the social psychological principles we saw during the course of our journey, then once again

Goodness Generator example

in constructing the

—

principles to get people to accentuate the positive their lives. Given the tailor resistance to

different tactics

it

transforming our world to one with a more positive fu-

that fostered the evils

—as we have

let

just

done

us use variants of those

and eliminate the negative

range of different types of influence,

it

would be necessary

in

to

each type. Combating wrong dissonant commitments requires

from opposing compliance-gaining strategies used on

fronting persuasive speeches and powerful

ent principles than

we need

for dealing

communicators

with those

us.

Con-

forces us to use differ-

who would dehumanize

us or

452

Thi'Liuilfr4-:ffect

Ways

dcindividuate us.

of undercutting groupthink are also different from

ways

of modifying the impact of intense recruiters. i

and

have de\'eloped such a compendium

specilics

than

available to

all

is

you

however,

for you:

free,

more depth

offers

online in the special website developed as a

www.LuciferKffect.com. That way. you can read

this book:

it

possible to deal with in this chapter. The solution

on which

it

at

is

make

to

companion

your

it

to

leisure, take

and contemplate

sce-

narios in which you will put these resistance strategies into practice in your

life.

notes, check out the reference sources

Also, after

you have encountered a particular

or on others you know, you can turn to this to

do next time around

Here fluences

is

it is

based,

social influence tactic

handy guide

to be in a better position to

for solutions

at the

about what

master that challenge.

my ten-step program for resisting the impact of

and

used on you

same time promoting personal

undesirable social in-

resilience

and

civic virtue.

It

uses ideas that cut across various influence strategies and provides simple, effective

modes

of dealing with them.

The key

to resistance lies in

development of the

three Ss: self-awareness, situational sensitivity, and street smarts. You will see

how *7

they are central to

made a mistake!"

many

of these general strategies of resistance.

I^t's start out

by encouraging admission of our mistakes,

is human. You have made an error in judgment; your decision was wrong. You had every reason to believe it was right when you made it. but now you know you were wrong. Say the

first

six

to ourselves,

then to others. Accept the dictum that to err

magic words: "I'm sorry":

will learn

"I

apologize"; "Forgive me." Say to yourself that

you

from your mistakes, grow better from them. Uon't continue to put your

money, time, and resources into bad investments. Move on. Doing so openly duces the need to

justify or rationalize

give support to bad or

immoral

our mistakes and thereby

to

re-

continue to

actions. Confession of error undercuts the motiva-

when a reality check when is wrong long-term gain. Consider how

tion to reduce cognitive dissonance; dissonance evaporates

occurs. "Cutting bait" instead of resolutely "staying the course"

has an immediate

many

cost, but

years the Vietnam

tion officials,

it

always results

War continued

in

long after top military and administra-

such as Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara. knew that the war

was wrong and could not be won."' How many thousands such wrongheaded resistance, when acknowledging saved them.'

it

How much

good could come to

able to admit their similar errors in Iraq.'

all

It is

failure

of lives

were

lost to

and error could have

of us were our political leaders

more than

a political decision to

"save face" by denying errors instead of saving soldiers' and civilian lives

—

it

is

a

moral imperative.

"/ (ini

miiuilul." In niiiny sellings smart people do

to attend to key features in the tice

dumb

things because they

words or actions of influence agents and

obvious situational clues. Too often we function on automatic

outworn

scripts that

have worked

for

fail

fail

to no-

pilot,

using

us in the past, never stopping to evaluate

Resisting Situational Influences

whether they are appropriate in the here and now.

^

"

Following the advice of the

Harvard researcher Ellen Langer, we must transform our usual inattention into "mindfulness." especially in

when we

a wake-up shot to your cortex;

fire

new

state of mindless

situations. ^^ Don't hesitate to

are in familiar situations old habits

continue to rule even though they have become obsolete or wrong.

reminded not to reflect

to live

our

on automatic

lives

on the meaning of the immediate

453

and Celebrating Heroism

pilot

We need to be

but always to take a Zen

moment

situation, to think before acting.

Never

go mindlessly into situations where angels and sensible people fear to tread. For

Ask

the best results, add "critical thinking" to mindfulness in your resistance. ^^

demand

evidence to support assertions:

for

rated to allow

the

you

to separate rhetoric

recommended means

game scenarios of

that ideologies be sufficiently elabo-

from substance. Try

to

determine whether

ever justify potentially harmful ends. Imagine end-

the future consequences of any current practice. Reject simple

solutions as quick fixes for complex personal or social problems. Support critical

thinking from the earliest times in children's

TV

ads. biased claims,

and

lives,

alerting

them

to the deceptive

distorted perspectives being presented to them. Help

them become wiser and warier knowledge consumers.^" "/

am

responsible." Taking responsibility for one's decisions

and actions puts the

actor in the driver's seat, for better or for worse. Allowing others to their

own

responsibility, to diffuse

makes the car move

more

it.

ahead without a responsible

recklessly

compromise

makes them powerful backseat driver.

and

drivers

We become

resistant to undesirable social influence by always maintaining a sense of

personal responsibility and by being willing to be held accountable for our actions.

Obedience to authority

is

less blind to

the extent that

we are aware

that

dif-

fusion of responsibility merely disguises our individual complicity in the conduct of questionable actions.

Your conformity

to antisocial

group norms

the extent that you do not allow displacement of responsibility, to spread responsibility

around the gang, the

corporation. Always imagine a future time

no one doing

"/

will accept

refuse

the shop, the battalion, or the trial

and

your pleas of "only following orders," or "everyone

else

was

today's deed will be

it."

will assert

my

unique identity." Do not allow others

viduality: politely state

same behavior and

glasses), tity

when

undercut to

on

put you into a category, a box. a

the

frat.

is

when you

Find

offer

your

slot, to

name and your credentials,

in others.

Make

to deindividuate you. to

turn you into an object. Assert your indi-

eye contact (remove

loud and clear. Insist on all

eye-concealing sun-

information about yourself that reinforces your unique iden-

common ground with dominant others in influence situations and use it

enhance

similarities. Anonymity and secrecy conceal wrongdoing and undermine the human connection. They can become the breeding grounds that gener-

to

ate dehumanization. and. as

ground

we now know, dehumanization provides the killing and tyrants. Go a step beyond self-

for bullies, rapists, torturers, terrorists,

454

TheLucifari-ffect

individuation.

anonymous.

Work

change whatever

to

make

social conditions

Instead, support practices that

make others

people

feel

so that they

feel special,

too have a sense of personal value and self-worth. Never allow or practice nega-

words,

tive stereotyping:

"I

and jokes can be

labels,

destructive,

if

mock

they

others.

respect just aitthoritif but rebel acjainst unjust authoritij." In every situation,

work ures

between those

to distinguish

wisdom,

who. because of their

in authority

seniority, or special status, deserve respect,

who demand our

expertise,

and the unjust authority

fig-

Many who asconfidence men

obedience without having any substance.

sume the mantel of authority are pseudo-leaders, false prophets, and women, self-promoters who should not be respected but rather disobeyed and openly exposed to

They should be

and

critical evaluation. Parents, teachers,

should play more active roles polite

in

teaching children this

and courteous when such a stance

wise children by resisting those authorities

religious leaders

critical differentiation. is

justified, yet

whose priori-

so will reduce our mindless obedience to self-proclaimed authorities

are not in our best interests.

ties

*7

want group acceptance, but value group

in Lord of the Rings.

The power

do almost anything

my

is

We

that of the mythical golden ring

of that desire for acceptance will

make some

peo-

and go to even further extremes to avoid re-

to be accepted

jection by the Croup.

independence." The lure of acceptance

more powerful than

into a desired social

ple

be good,

who do not deserve their respect. Doing

are indeed social animals,

and usually our

social

connections benefit us and help us to achieve important goals that we could not

when conformity

achieve alone. However, there are times

counterproductive to the social good. the

norm and when

to reject

tary splendor, and therefore

pendence regardless of the

young people with with that of their

it.

It is

Ultimately,

we must

we

live

them

Pressures on

it

we step

back, get outside opinions, and find

"/

group

artist.

W ho

The way issues are framed

arguments within frames

is

to follow

minds, in

soli-

not easy, especially for

"team

What

irresistible.

new groups will

is

isomorphic

player." to sacrifice peris

required

is

that will support our

always be another,

different,

for us.

will be tfiorc jraitu'-vifjilinit."

con

It is

whose self-image

to be a

independence and promote our values. There belter

when

own

within our

may elicit.

sonal morality for the good of the team, are nearly that

group norm

be willing and ready to declare our inde-

social rejection

a shaky self-image or adults

job.

to a

imperative lo determine

at all. just

makes the frame becomes the

is

often

more

influential

their boundaries. Moreover, effective frames

sound

bites, visual

artist,

or the

than the persuasive

can seem not

to be

images, slogans, and logos. They influence us

without our being conscious of them, and they shape our orientation toward the ideas or issues they promote, lor example, voters benefits tor the rich

were urged

who favored

reducing estate tax

to vote against a "death tax": the tax

was exactly

455

Resisting Situational Influences and Celebrating Heroism

the same, but

defining term

its

being "scarce," even

when

was

We desire things that are framed as We are averse to things that are

different.

they are plentiful.

what

is

presented to us as a gain, even

the ratio of positive to negative prognoses

is

the same.^i

framed as potential

losses

cent chance of losing

and

prefer

X over Y,

but

we do want the 60

Y over X. The linguist George Lakoff to be

aware of frame power and

clearly

shows

when

We don't want a 40 per-

percent chance of gaining

in his writings that

to be vigilant in order to offset

its

it is

crucial

insidious influ-

ence on our emotions, thoughts, and votes. ^^

*7 will

really

my

balance

what we

time perspective."

panded present

ments and our sense of future

can be

led to

ourselves to relying

do things that are not

become trapped

on our sense

we open

liabilities,

temptations to engage in Lord of the

when

We

when we allow moment. When we stop

believe in

of past

in

an ex-

commit-

ourselves to situational

By not "going with the flow"

Flies excesses.

others around you are being abusive or out of control, you are relying

on a temporal perspective that stretches beyond present-oriented hedonism or present-oriented fatalism.

You are

likely to

engage

in a cost-benefit analysis of

may

your actions in terms of their future consequences. Or you

resist

by being

sufficiently

conscious of a past time frame that contains your personal values and

standards.

By developing a balanced time perspective

future can be called into action depending will

on the

in

which

situation

be in a better position to act responsibly and wisely than biased toward reliance

at

and

hand, you

when your time per-

on only one or two time frames. Situational

spective

is

power

weakened when past and future combine

is

past, present,

and task

to contain the excesses of the

present. 2^ For example, research indicates that righteous Gentiles

who

helped to

hide Dutch Jews from the Nazis did not engage in the kind of rationalizing their

neighbors did in generating reasons

for not helping.

These heroes depended upon

moral structures derived from their past and never

lost sight of a future

time

when

they would look back on this terrible situation and be forced to ask them-

selves

whether they had done the right thing when they chose not

fear

and

"/ will

need

is

a powerful determinant of

not, influence peddlers gain

be safe from

sonal or

tle

to

human behavior. We can be manipwhen

faced with alleged

threats to our security or the promise of security from danger.

power

succumb

not sacrifice personal or civic freedoms for the illusion of security." The

for security

ulated into engaging in actions that are alien to us

will

to

social pressure. ^"^

civic, to

to save

harm if you

will just

that authority

you depends upon

for the

and the security

often than

surrender some of your freedom, either per-

The Mephistophelian tempter all

the people

making small

right or that small freedom. Reject that deal.

freedoms

More

power over us by offering a Faustian contract: You

Never

will

argue that his

sacriticcs of this

lit-

sacrifice basic personal

promise of security because the sacrifices are real and immediate is

a distant illusion. This

is

as true in traditional marital arrange-

"

456

The Lmilcrliffect

nicnts as

when

its

it is

in (lie coiiiinilincni ol

lective sacrifice of

Escape from in a

"I

reminds us that

}'rci'dot}i

can oppose unjust

we have

to the interests of their nation

and national security at the cost

of a col-

suspending laws, privacy, and freedoms. Hrich Fromm's

nominally democratic

systems

good citizens

leader promises personal safety

this

is

the

lirsl

classic

step a fascist leader lakes even

society.

sif stems."

Individuals falter in the face of the intensity of the

described: the military

and prison systems as well as those of

gangs, cults, fraternities, corporations, and even dysfunctional families. But individual resistance in concert with that of others of the

combine

to

make

a difference.

The next

same mind and

viduals

who changed

whistle

on corruption within them or by constructively working

may

Resistance

which

all

can

systems by being willing to take the risk of blowing the to

change them.

involve physically removing one's self from a total situation in

information, rewards, and punishments are controlled.

It

challenging the groupthink mentality and being able to document of wrongdoing.

resolve

section in this chapter will portray indi-

It

may involve getting help from other authorities,

may

all

involve

allegations

counselors, in-

vestigative reporters, or revolutionary compatriots.

Systems have enormous

power

assault.

to resist

change and withstand even righteous

where individual makers are

acts of heroism to challenge unjust systems

is

one place

their

bad barrel

Here

and

best performed by soliciting others to join one's cause.

The system can

redefine individual opposition as delusional, a pair of opponents as sharing afolie a deux, but with three

on your

side,

you become a

force of ideas to be reckoned

with.

This ten-step program resistance

and communal

mate attempts

at

is

really only a starter kit

toward building individual

resilience against undesirable influences

and

illegiti-

persuasion. As mentioned, a fuller set of recommendations and

relevant research-based references can be found on the Lucifer Effect website

under "Resisting

Influence (hiide.

Before moving ism.

I

would

like to

to the final stop in

add two

final

our journey, celebrating heroes and hero-

general recommendations.

First,

from venal sins and small transgressions, such as cheating,

be discouraged

lying, gossiping,

spreading rumors, laughing at racist or sexist jokes, teasing, and bullying. They

can become stepping-stones facilitators for

to

more

serious

falls

from grace. They serve as mini-

thinking and acting destructively against your fellow creatures.

Second, moderate your in-group biases. That means accepting that your group special but at the saiTie time respecting the diversity that other

appreciate the spective will

wonder of human

variety

and

its

variability.

groups

offer.

is

Fully

Assuming such a

per-

help you to rrduce group biases that lead to derogating others, to

prejudice and stereotyping, and to the evils of dehumanization.

457

and Celebrating Heroism

Resisting Situational Influences

THE PARADOXES OF HEROISM A young woman challenges an authority older than she, forcing him to recognize his complicity in reprehensible deeds that are being perpetrated

on his watch. Her

confrontation goes further and helps to terminate the abuse of innocent prisoners

by their guards. Does her action qualify as "heroic." given that scores of others

who had witnessed the prisoners' distress all failed to act against the system when they realized

its

excesses.^

We would like to celebrate heroism and heroes as special acts by special people.

However, most people

who

are held

up

to this

higher plane

insist that

what

they did was not special, was really what everyone should have done in the situa-

They

tion.

refuse to consider themselves "heroes."

from the ingrained notion we cut or

have

more above the common

work. Perhaps, rather,

it is

Maybe such

a reaction comes

—that heroes are supermen and -women, a

breed. Perhaps

more than

our general misconception of what

their it

modesty

is

at

takes to be heroic.

now look at the best in human nature and the transformation of the or-

Let's

dinary into the heroic.

We will examine alternative conceptions and definitions of

heroism and propose a way to rate

all

on some examples that

classify different kinds of heroic action;

fall

into these categories;

contrasts between the banalities of evil

and

and

of heroism.

finally

But

then elabo-

design a table of

first, let's

go back to

the person and the act that started this section and ended the Stanford Prison Experiment. Recall (from chapter 8) that Christina

Maslach was a recently graduated

Ph.D. from the Stanford Psychology Department with

mantically involved. toilet

whom

with bags over their heads as guards shouted orders

nessed

my apparent indifference to their suffering,

Her

later

I

had become

account of what she

felt at

at

them and she

the time, and

how

she interpreted her

What he [Zimbardo]

got was an incredibly emotional out-burst from me (I am usually a rather contained person). was angry and frightened and in I

tears.

I

said

something

like,

"What you

are doing to those boys

is

a terrible

thing!

So what

is

the important story to emerge from

nator" of the Stanford Prison Experiment.^ I

would

like to highlight. First,

Contrary to the standard (and

Experiment Rather,

it is

is

however, trite)

I

let

say what the story

not a story about the lone individual

some contact with the prison study and

role as "the Termi-

is

not.

American myth, the Stanford Prison

a story about the majority

consultants, family,

my

think there are several themes

me

wit-

she exploded.

good deal about the complex phenomenon of heroism.-^

actions, tells us a

ro-

When she saw a chain gang of prisoners being carted to the

who defies the

majority.

—about how everyone who had

(participants, researchers, observers,

friends) got so completely

sucked into

it.

The

458

The Lucifer Effect

power of the situation

overwhelm personality and the

to

So why was facts:

I

was a

my

late

everyone

like

reaction so different?

intentions

ol'

else.

had no

I

else.

I

bit

by

bit.

I

lies in

two

"outsider."

Un-

think,

in the study.

along as

day. being carried

Thus the

end of the week was not truly the "same" as

at the

I

was an

socially defined role within that prison con-

was not there every

the situation changed and escalated

—

I

had not been a consenting participant

I

Unlike everyone

else

The answer.

entrant into the situation, and

else.

Unlike everyone text.

situation

it

was

for

1

entered

everyone

lacked their prior consensual history, place, and perspective. For

them, the situation was construed as being malcy: for me.

As an I

best

the key story line here.

is

it

was not

outsider.

could disobey, so

situation

itself.

but at the time

I

—

it

was

a

still

within the range of nor-

madhouse.

did not have the option of specific social rules that

my

dissent took a different form

—

of challenging the

This challenge has been seen by some as a heroic action, it

did not feel especially heroic. To the contrary,

scary and lonely experience being the deviant, doubting

was

it

a very

my judgment

of

my worth as a research social

both situations and people, and maybe even psychologist.

Christina then raises a profound qualification. For an act of personal defi-

ance to be w^orthy of being considered "heroic."

it

must attempt

to

change the sys-

tem, to correct an injustice, to right a wrong:

back of my mind what might do if Phil conmy determined challenge to him. Would have gone to the higher authorities, the department chair, dean, or Human can't say for sure, and am Subjects Committee, to blow the whistle on I

had

to consider also in the

1

tinued with the SPE despite

1

I

it.^ I

glad

it

never came to that. But

essential in translating

plains about

some

in retrospect, that action

would have been

my values into meaningful action. When one com-

injustice

and the complaint only

results in cosmetic

modifications while the situation fiows on unchanged, then that dissent

and disobedience are not worth much. She expands on a point that was raised search,

where

"teacher." to

it

was argued

make him

feel

thai

in

our discussion of the Milgram

belter about the terrible things he

"learner." Hcluivionil disolwdiciuc

was necessary

the Milgram experiment case there

than a

in

wrbal dissent was only ego balm

was never disobedience more

silent retreat as eac+i teacher-perpetrator exited

tion without

changing

it

in

was doing

to challenge authority.

re-

for the

to his

However,

significant

from the distressing situa-

any meaningful way. Christinas take on what the

heroic minority should ha\e done after they opposed the authority figure has

never been framed so eloquently:

What did

it

459

and Celebrating Heroism

Resisting Situational Influences

matter to the classic original Milgram study that one third of

the participants disobeyed and refused to go

all

the way? Suppose

it

was

not an experiment; suppose Milgram's "cover story" were true, that researchers were studying the role of punishment in learning and

and would be ments

to

testing about

answer

one thousand participants

their practical questions about the educational value of

judiciously administered punishment. tinue, got paid,

next

999

memory

in a host of experi-

and

left silently,

If

you disobeyed, refused

your heroic action would not prevent the

participants from experiencing the

impact unless

isolated event without social

to con-

same distress. it

and assumptions

step of challenging the entire structure

It

would be an

included going to the next of the research.

Disobedience by the individual must get translated into systemic disobedi-

ence that forces change in the situation or agency

some operating conditions.

It is

itself

tentions of good dissidents or even heroic rebels by giving their deeds

What

Is

and a

and not

just in

too easy for evil situations to co-opt the in-

gift certificate for

them medals for

keeping their opinions to themselves.

the Stuff of Heroism and Heroes?

When does a person who engages in an action that qualifies as a heroic act, on the basis of criteria

we

will lay

out next, not become a "hero".? Further, under what

circumstances might her or his act be considered not heroic but cowardly.? Christina's action

that

had

tended

had the

positive

spiraled out of control

at its inception.

consequence of terminating a situation

and began

to

do more harm than had been

in-

She does not consider herself a hero because she was sim-

and

ply expressing her personal feelings

principal investigator) into the

beliefs that

were translated (by

me

as

outcome she desired. She did not have to "blow the

whistle" to higher authorities to intervene in order to stop the

runaway

experi-

ment.

Compare her condition

to that of

two potential heroes

in that study. Prisoner

Clay-416 and Prisoner "Sarge." Both of them openly defied the authority of the guards and suffered considerably

for

doing

so. Clay's

hunger

eat the sausages challenged the guards' complete control his peers to stand

up

scenities despite the

did not.

and

refusal to rallied

for their rights. It did not. Sarge's refusal to utter public ob-

harassment by Guard "John Wayne" also should have been

viewed as heroic defiance by his peers and It

strike

and should have

Why not.? In both cases,

rallied

them not

to yield to

such abuse.

they acted alone, without sharing their values

or intentions with the other prisoners, without asking for their support and recognition. Therefore,

and

to

it

was easy

for the

guards to

brand them as the culprits responsible

rest of the prisoners.

for the

label

them "troublemakers"

guards' deprivations of the

Their acts could be considered heroic, but they cannot be

considered heroes because they never acted to change the whole abusive system

by bringing other dissidents on board.

460

The Lucifer Kffect

Another aspect

of heroism

is

raised by their example.

status arc always social attributions.

Someone other than

honor on the person and the deed. There must be

and meaningful consequence

nificance for its

of

an

agent to be called a hero. Wait! Not so

who is killed

in the act of

and demonic status

tus in Palestine

fast!

A

murdering innocent Jewish

it

the actor confers that

consensus about the

social

act for

Heroism and heroic

to be

deemed

Palestinian suicide civilians

is

sig-

and

heroic,

bomber

given heroic sta-

in Israel. Similarly, aggressors

may

be con-

strued as heroic freedom lighters or as cowardly agents of terrorism, depending

on who

is

This

conferring the attribution.-^

means

bound. To

that definitions of heroism are always culture-bound

this day.

children in remote villages of Turkey. In the towns where his

were set up and

and time-

puppeteers enact the legend of Alexander the Great before

with

his soldiers intermarried

villagers.

command

Alexander

is

but in towns that were simply conquered on his relentless quest to rule the world, Alexander

is

portrayed as a great

villain,

posts

a great hero,

known

more than a thousand years

after

his death.-"

What

more, to become part of any culture's history a hero's acts must be

is

recorded and preserved by those history or to pass

it

on

in

an

who are literate and who have the power to write

oral tradition. Poor, indigenous, colonized, illiterate

people have few widely acknowledged heroes because there

is

no record

of their

acts.

Defining Heroes and Heroism

Heroism has never been systematically investigated Heroes and heroism seem to be best explored by Multiple data sources cides,

crime

phrenia

document the

ills

rates, prison populations,

in a

activities are

of

come

by.

We

existence: homicides

levels,

and the base

compassion occur

don't keep records of in a

Only occasionally do we learn of a heroic us to believe that heroism

renewed

is

rare

interest in the

ture has arisen from the

act.

community

movement has

risk

and

human

research and

created a paradigm

shift

rates lead

truly exceptional. Never-

importance of addressing the good

new

acts of

course of a year.

Such apparently low base

and that heroes are the

sui-

rate of schizo-

how many

in the

in

human

na-

empirical rigor of the Positive

Psychology movement. Spearheaded by Martin Seligman and

human

myth, and cinema.

given population. Similar quantitative data for positive

not easy to

charity, kindness, or

theless,

human

poverty

in the behavioral sciences.-^

literature, art,

his colleagues, this

toward accentuating the positive

in

nature and minimizing psychology's long-held focus on the negative.-*^

Currently accepted conceptions of heroism emphasize primarily

its

without adequately addressing other components of heroic

such as no-

bility

of purpose

analyses of

and nonviolent

human

acts of personal sacrifice.

virtues by positive psychologists

is

acts,

physical

Emanating from the

a set of six major categories

of virtuous behavior that enjoy almost universal recognition across cultures. classification includes: wisdom and knowledge, courage, humanity,

justice,

The

tem-

461

Resisting Situational Influences and Celebrating Heroism

perance. and transcendence. Of these, courage, justice, and transcendence are

the central characteristics of heroism. Transcendence includes beliefs and actions that go beyond the limits of

self.

Heroism focuses us on what

is

human

right with

We

nature.

care about

heroic stories because they serve as powerful reminders that people are capable of resisting evil, of not giving in to temptations, of rising

heeding the

call to action

and

to service

when

others

Many modern dictionaries describe heroism as these in turn are described as courage, heroics. However, older dictionaries

fering subtle distinctions

1913

the

to act.

"gallantry" or "bravery,"

and courage returns

were

at pains to

among words used

and

once again, to

us.

break dowTi the concept,

of-

example,

to describe heroic acts. For

Unabridged Dictionary associates heroism viith

Revised

Webster's

above mediocrity, and of

fail

courage, bravery, fortitude, intrepidity, gallantry, and valor. ^" As part of the entry

each of these words, the dictionary's editor

for

understood

Courage out

is

that firmness of spirit

Bravery

fear.

tried to

ensure that the reader

how they differed. is

ward continually

and

swell of soul, that meets

daring and impetuous courage,

in

like

that of one

view and displays his courage in daring

often been styled "passive courage"

and

bat: is

war

figuratively. Intrepidity

Valor

spirit.

and cannot be applied

(against living opponents)

never used

it is

is

firm,

show courage,

to single

may

be

shown

in the contest of

in single

arms. Valor be-

combat: gallantry

manifested either in attack or defense: but in the latter case, the defense

turned into an attack. Heroism It is

spirit.

man may common pursuits of life, as well as in

and gallantry are displayed

longs only to battle; bravery

courage.

com-

unshaken courage. Gallantry

to elaborate, in footnote examples, that a

fortitude, or intrepidity in the

war. Valor, bravery,

courage

is

adventurous courage, which courts danger with a high and cheerful

The dictionary goes on

has

acts. Fortitude

consists in the habit of encountering

danger and enduring pain with a steadfast and unbroken exhibited in

danger with-

who has the re-

may

call into exercise all these

is

may

be

usually

modifications of

a contempt of danger, not from ignorance or inconsiderate levity but

from a noble devotion to some great cause and a just confidence of being able

meet danger

in the spirit of

to

such a cause. ^^

Military Heroes Historically,

most examples of heroism have emphasized acts of courage that

in-

volved bravery, gallantry, and risk of serious physical injury or death. According to the psychologists Alice Eagly

and

nobility of purpose

than sive.

just

is

epics to

in

courage alone.'- The idea of nobility

Generally the risk of

spicuous.

and Selwyn Becker, the combination

more likely to result

The heroic

life

and limb or

ideal of the

of courage

someone being considered a hero in

heroism

is

often tacit

of personal sacrifice

war hero has served as

a

is

and

elu-

much more con-

theme from ancient

modern journalism.

Achilles,

commander of Greek forces in the Trojan War.

is

often held

up as an

— 462

The

archetypal war hero.

ment

to a military

^ ^

Achilles'

Litcifer Effect

engagement

combat was based on

in

code that defined his actions as gallant.

heroic, his overriding motivation

was the pursuit

commit-

his

Yet. while his acts

were

and renown that would

of glory

make him immortal in the minds of men after his death. The historian Lucy Hughes-Hallett argued that "A hero may sacrifice himself so that others might live, or so that he himself may live forever in other's memories.

.

.

Achilles will give anything, including

.

ness, to

endow

his particular

fife

may seem

exchange

own

unique-

modern

it still

The

^-^

for lasting recognition across

a relic from another era. yet

ation in our evaluation of

to assert his

with significance, and to escape oblivion."

desire to risk one's physical being in

erations

life itself,

gen-

warrants serious consider-

heroic behavior.

This historical view of the hero also suggests that there special about heroes. Hughes-Hallett WTote. "There are

is

something innately

men. wrote

Aristotle, so

godlike, so exceptional, that they naturally, by right of their extraordinary gifts,

transcend

embraces

all

moral judgment or constitutional control: There

men of

ism arises from spirit. It is

law.' "

that cafiber: they are themselves

this Aristotelian conception: "It

is

One

is

no law which

definition of hero-

the expression of a superb

associated with courage and integrity and a disdain for the cramping

compromises by means

which the unheroic majority manage

of

momentous

—the defeat

an enemy, the salvation of a

of

their lives

[Heroes are] capable of something

attributes that are widely considered noble

a political system, the completion of a voyage

race, the preservation of

— which no one

else [italics

added]

could have accomplished."^^ This concept of conspicuous service that distinguishes a warrior from his

The U.S. Department of Defense number of medals for acts considered to be The highest of these is the Medal of Honor,

peers persists to this day in our military services.

recognizes heroism by awarding a

above and beyond the

call of duty.

which has been awarded

Honor emphasize the

to

about 3.400

role of gallantry

soldiers.

and

^^

Rules governing the Medal of

intrepidity, the willingness to enter

into the heart of a battle without flinching that clearly distinguishes the indi-

vidual's performance from that of his fellow soldiers.

tary awards the Victoria Cross as

conduct 1

in

its

^"

Similarly, the British mili-

highest medal for heroism, defined as valorous

the face of an enemy. ^^

he ideal of the military hero

cludes those

who

is

clearly

routinely risk their health

police officers, firefighters,

service that Knights of Malta were its

in

other contexts, and

lives in

acknowledgment

sworn

and from 1919

Medal of Honor, the Tiffany Cross.

lo

1942

in

in-

firefighters

is

a

of the creed of heroic

to live by in the Middle Ages.

original fopm remains a symbol of gallantry

British Victoria Cross,

it

the line of duty, such as

and paramedics. The insignia worn by

version of the Maltese Cross, a symbolic

tese Cross in

echoed

and

The Mal-

for the military in the

the U.S. Navy's version of the

Resisting Situational Influences and Celebrating Heroism

Civilian If

463

Heroes

Achilles

is

the archetypal

hero. His teaching

war

hero, Socrates holds the

was so threatening

same rank

to the authorities of

as a civic

Athens that he be-

came the target of government censure and was eventually tried and sentenced to for refusing to renounce his views. When we equate the military heroism of

death

Achilles with the civil heroism of Socrates,

are usually ciety,

made in

it

becomes

clear that while heroic acts

service to others or the fundamental moral principles of a so-

the hero often works at the nexus of constructive

and destructive

forces.

Hughes-Hallett suggests that "the wings of opportunity are fledged with the feathers of death." She proposes that heroes expose themselves to mortal danger in pursuit of immortality.

Both Achilles and Socrates, powerful exemplars of

heroism, go to their deaths in service of the divergent codes of conduct by which

they chose to

live.

Socrates' choice to die for his ideals serves as of the

power of

civil

heroism.

an eternal normative reminder

We are told that at the hour of Socrates' sentencing,

he invoked the image of Achilles

in defending his decision to die rather

than to

submit to an arbitrary law that would silence his opposition to the system he opposed. His example brings to

mind the

similar heroism of the U.S. Revolutionary

War patriot Nathan Hale, whose defiant dying stand will later be used to illustrate one type

of heroic action.

Consider the daring deed of the

"unknown

rebel"

who

confronted a line of

seventeen oncoming tanks that were aimed at smashing the freedom rally of the

Chinese Democracy Movement at Tiananmen Square. Peking, on June

5.

1989.

464

The Lucifer^Jfect

This young utes

man

stopped the deadly advance of a column of tanks for thirty min-

and then climbed atop the

"Why are you stop killing tional

here?

lead tank, reportedly

demanding

of

its

driver.

My city is in chaos because of you. Go back, turn around and

my people." The anonymous "Tank Man" became an

symbol of resistance: he faced the ultimate

test of

instant interna-

personal courage with

honor and delineated forever the proud image of an individual standing

in defi-

ance against a military juggernaut. The image of that confrontation was broadcast

around the world and made him a universal hero. There are

stories

about what happened to him as a consequence of his

act.

conflicting

some reporting

imprisonment, others his execution, others his anonymous escape. Regardless

his

what became

of

was acknowledged when the

of him. his status as a civil hero

Tank Man was included

in the

list

of Time magazine's

100 most

influential people

of the twentieth century (April 1998).

The

physical risk

demanded

of civilians

dier's or first responder's heroic acts,

who act

heroically differs from a sol-

because professionals are bound by duty and

a code of conduct and because they are trained. Thus, the standard for duty-

bound and non-duty-bound gagement and potential Civilian heroes

physical-risk heroism

sacrifice the action

who perform ^'^

British

is

differ,

but the style of en-

very similar.

immediate physical

acts that involve

recognized in awards, such as the Carnegie Hero the George Cross in Britain.

may

demands

Award

in the

risk are

United States and

and Australian authorities

also recognize

heroic actions that involve groups.^" For example. Australia recognized "a group of students

on a

who tackled and restrained an armed offender after a crossbow attack

fellow student at

Tomaree High School. Salamander.

2005 by awarding a group bravery citation. The citation bravery, by a

group of persons

in

is.

New

South Wales"

extraordinary circumstances, that

worthy of recognition." Once again, a seemingly simple concept from the behavior of a solitary hero

in

"For a collective act of

to that of a collective hero,

is

considered

is

broadened

which we

will

con-

sider shortly.

Physical-Risk Heroes Versus Social-Risk Heroes

One definition offered by psychologists cites physical risk as the defining feature of heroes. For Becker

behalf of one or

and

Kagly. heroes are "individuals

more other people,

who choose

to take risks

on

despite the possibility of dying or suffering se-

rious physical consequences from these actions."**' Other motives for heroism,

such as principle-driven heroism, are acknowledged but not elaborated on.

It

seems curious that psychologists would promote so narrow a prototype of heroism and exclude other forms of personal

such as

A

risks to one's career, the possibility of

challenge to their definition

noted that ity

it

came from

singled out only heroes

component

tariat. *-

risk that

might qualify as heroic

imprisonment,

the psychologist Peter Martens,

who stood for an

acts,

or the loss of status.

idea or principle

of heroism that betokens the Aristotelian hero

— the

among

who

nobil-

the prole-

Resisting Situational Influences

who resisted giving any military infor-

Senator John McCain, himself a hero

mation in

465

and Celebrating Heroism

being subjected to extreme torture, believes that the concept of

spite of

heroism might be broadened beyond physical

risk

tends that "the standard of courage remains, as

I

and

think

it

suffering.

McCain con-

should, acts that risk

life

or limb or other very serious personal injuries for the sake of others or to uphold

—a standard

a virtue

not limited to martial valor.

civil

heroism while pointing out

of heroism also roughly

map onto ideas of courage,

and transcendence that Seligman and system

their classification

courage

erected

is

his colleagues developed as part of

and strengths. For example, the virtue of

for virtues

on four character strengths that include

authenticity, bravery

(roughly similar to intrepidity), persistence (similar to fortitude), and is

certainly

between them.

The various conceptions justice,

is

Each of these descriptions of heroic behavior

"-^^

equates the characteristics found in physical and critical differences

one that

often upheld by battlefield heroics but

zest. Justice

noted as another virtue. Fairness, leadership, and teamwork are subsumed

within this virtue. In practice, the concept of service to a noble cause or ideal

is

often ultimately a matter of justice, for example, the abolition of slavery. Finally,

transcendence

is

another of the virtues that touches on heroism insofar as

the strength that forces connection to the larger universe and gives

it is

meaning

to

our actions and existence. While not articulated in the literature on heroism, transcendence

may be related to Webster's 1913 conception of fortitude in heroic may allow an individual involved in a heroic act to re-

behavior. Transcendence

main detached from the negative consequences, anticipated or associated with his or her behavior. In order to be heroic, one

immediate

risks

and

perils that

heroism necessarily

revealed, that are

must

entails, either

rise

above the

by reframing

the nature of the risks or by altering their significance relevant to "higher-order" values.

A New Taxonomy of Heroism Stimulated by thinking about the heroic behaviors associated with the Stanford Prison Experiment. logues with

my

ception of heroic finally rifice

I

began a

fuller

exploration of this intriguing topic in dia-

psychology colleague Zeno Franco.

generated a

risk,

We

first

broadened the con-

then proposed an enhanced definition of heroism, and

new taxonomy of heroism. It seemed apparent that risk or sac-

should not be limited to an immediate threat lo physical integrity or death.

The risk component

in

heroism can be any serious threat

to the quality of

example, heroism might include persistent behavior in the face of

term threats

economic

to health or serious financial

status: or to ostracism.

considerably,

it

also

Because

seemed necessary

consequences: to the

this

to rule

life.

known

For

long-

loss of social

or

broadens the definition of heroism

out some forms of apparent heroism

that might, in fact, not be heroic but "pseudoheroic."

In his book The Image: deflates the

A

Guide

modern confluence

to

Pseudo-Events

in

America, Daniel Boorstin

of heroism with celebrity.

"Two

centuries ago

4hh

The Lucifer Kffect

when

a grcal

man

appeared, people looked for Ciod's purpose in him; today

look for his press agent

— Among

we

none is more

the ironic frustrations of our age.

tantalizing than these efforts of ours to satisfy our extravagant expectations of

human

we make

greatness. V^ainly do

nature planted only a single

hero."-*'*

Another example of what heroism

American heroes that to a

group of

grow where

scores of artilicial celebrities

can be seen

not

is

offers fifty examples.'*'' Its stories of

activities or roles that are

in a children's

book on

heroism actually point

necessary but insufficient to warrant true

heroic status. All of the examples are role models upheld as worthy of emulation,

but only a fraction meet the definitional requirements of hero status. Not ericks, warriors, or saints are heroes.

liberate nobility

status

when

and

The hero must embody

potential sacrifice.

a

mav-

all

combination of de-

Sometimes individuals are accorded hero

not deserved by their actions, but they become so for

some purpose of

an agency or government. These "pseudoheroes" are media creations promoted by powerful systemic forces. •*^

Heroes are rewarded

various ways for their heroic deeds, but

in

if

they antici-

pate secondary gain at the time of their act they must necessarily be disqualified

from heroic

status.

However,

if

secondary gains are accrued subsequent

act without prior anticipation of or motivation to attain them, the act fies

as heroic.

The point

is

that a heroic act

is

sociocentric

Heroism can be defined as having four key voluntarily; (b)

it

must involve a

and not

features: (a)

risk or potential sacrifice,

it

to their

still

quali-

egocentric.

must be engaged

in

such as the threat of

death, an immediate threat to physical integrity, a long-term threat to health, or

the potential for serious degradation of one's quality of

ducted (d)

in service to

must be without secondary,

it

Heroism

(c)

it

in service of a

must be cona whole:

and

extrinsic gain anticipated at the time of the act.

noble idea

is

usually not as dramatic as physical-risk

heroism. However, physical-risk heroism

moment

life:

one or more other people or the community as

is

often the result of a snap decision, a

of action. Further, physical-risk heroism usually involves a probability,

not the certainty, of serious injury or death. The individual performing the act generally removed from the situation after a short period of time.

hand,

it

might be argued that some forms of

civil

On

is

the other

heroism are more heroic than

physical risk forms of heroism. People such as Nelson Mandela. Martin Luther

King.

Jr..

and

Dr.

Albert Schweitzer willingly and knowingly submitted to the

als of heroic civil activity

day

after

day

for

much

the risk associated with physical-risk heroism involved in

civil

heroism

is

considered

of their decisions. Ilach

oned because the

t

re\'ievv their

peri},

while the risk

have

actions and to weigh the consequences

might have chosen

intli\

termed

line-limited. Typically, civil heroes

cost of his or her actions

did not. 1-ach of these

better

sucrificc.

Sacrifice entails costs that are not

the opportunity to carefulK'

is

tri-

of their adult lives. In this sense,

to retreat

from the cause he champi-

had become too burdensome,

iduals risked their

tiualil\'

of

life

on many

yet they

levels.

Their

I

467

Resisting Situational Influences and Celebrating Heroism

had serious consequences:

activ^ities

imprisonment, torture, and risk to

arrest,

family members, and even assassination.

Returning to Webster's 1913 definition of heroism, we ing the highest

civil

Taking physical

risk

ideas in the face of danger

only one

is

countered in performing heroic

means acts.

is

of meeting the dangers that

We

are reminded that heroism

tempt of danger, not from ignorance or inconsiderate

some

devotion to

meet danger

threatening, or at the

great cause [italics added],

in the spirit of

and a

levity,

can be en"is

a con-

but from a noble

just confidence of being able to

such a cause." The danger

may be insidious.

it

may say that uphold-

the core concept of heroism.

may

be immediately

life

Consider one of Nelson Mandela's statements

beginning of his twenty-seven-year-long imprisonment

for

opposing the

tyranny of apartheid:

During

my

people.

I

lifetime

black domination. ety in

which

an

have dedicated myself to the struggle of the African

this

persons

live

together in

which I hope

which

more

taxonomy

I

have fought against

have cherished the ideal of a democratic and

I

ideal

ideal for

Based on a working

all

an

nities. It is it is

I

have fought against white domination, and

I

free soci-

harmony and with equal opportu-

to live for

and

to achieve. But.

if

needs be,

am prepared to die."^'

flexible definition of

heroism. Zeno Franco and

I

created

that includes twelve subcategories of heroism, distinguish-

ing two subcategories within the military, physical-risk heroic type and ten subcategories with the civilian, social-risk

t^^pc.

In addition, the

taxonomy

identifies

discriminating characteristics of each of the dozen hero types, as well as the form of risk they encounter,

and

gives a few

examples drawTi from historical and con-

temporary sources.

The taxonomy was developed a It is

that

is

open

and

additions.

to modification It

will

emplars offered are largely

priori,

based on reasoning and literature re-

neither empirically grounded nor

views.

by

new

fiixed

but

is

rather a working model

research findings and readers' qualifications

be obvious that the subcategories, definitions, all

risks,

and

ex-

deeply culturally and temporally bound. They reflect a

European-American, middle-class, adult, postmodern perspective. Incor-

porating other perspectives will surely expand and enrich

it.

Vw lAuijcr l^ffect

4f)8

Subtype

Definition

Exemplars

Risk/ Sacrifice

1.

u O

si

.2

Military

and

Other Duty-

Individuals

Serious Injurv

involved in

Death

Achilles

bound

military or

Medal of

Physical-Risk

emergency

Honor

response

recipients

Heroes

careers that

Jf'

Hugh Thompson

involve

repeated

1

exposure

rl

to

Adm. James

high-risk

Stockdale

situations:

ant

lilit

heroic acts

^ = O

must exceed the call of

duty

E

1 X

who

2. Civil

Civilians

Heroes—

attempt to

Non-duty-

save others

bound Physical-Risk

from physical harm or death

Heroes

while

Serious Injury

Death

knowingly putting their

^

own

U

5.

Religious

figures

life

at risk

Dedicated,

life-

long religious

Sacritice of self in ascetic

ftT

Mohammcxi

itud

ity

TB

£ & 1

B S

t

-c

1 ^ = 2

1^

Upsetting

highest

religious

principles or

orthodoxy

breaks

new

religious/ spiritual

ground. Often serves as a

teacher or public

exemplar of service

Buddha

path

service

embodying

t:

Carnegie heroes

St.lYancisof .'\ssisi

Mother Teresa

469

Resisting Situational Influences and Celebrating Heroism

Subtype

Definition

Risk/

4. Politico-

Religious

Assassination

Religious

leaders

figures

have turned to

Exemplars

Sacrifice

who

Mohandas Gandhi

Imprisonment Martin Luther

politics to

King.

wider change, or affect

Jr.

Nelson

politicians

Mandela

who have a deep spiritual belief system that informs

Rev.

Desmond

Tutu

political

practice

^ 'E.

5.

Martyrs

t

Religious or

Certain or

Jesus

political

near certain death in the

Socrates

who

figures

knowingly (sometimes

service of a

cause or ideal

deliberately)

put their

2 3 O

Joan of Arc Jose Marti

lives

in jeopardy in

U

the service of

oOs

a cause

Steve Biko

^^

u

6. Political

or

Typically lead

Assassination

Abraham

1 1

E

u

X is

Military

a nation or

leaders

group during

,2

Opposition

Robert

a time of

E.

Lee

Being voted difficulty:

serve to unify

vision,

out of office

Franklin Roosevelt

nation.

Smear

provide shared (/)

Lincoln

campaigns

and

may embody qualities that

are seen as

necessary for the group's survival

Winston ChurchUl

Imprisonment Vaclav Havel

470

The Lucifer Effect

Subtype

Definition

Risk/

Exemplars

Sacrifice 1

7.

Adventurer/

Explorer/

Discoverer

Odysseus

Individual

I'hysical

who explores unknown

health

geographical

Serious injury

Great

Death

Amelia

Alexander the

area or uses novel and

Earhart

un proven

Opportunity

transportation

methods

costs (length

Yuri Gagarin

of journey)

8. Scientific

Individual

Inability to

(Discovery)

who explores unknown area

convince

of science.

importance of

uses novel and

findings

Madam Curie

research

Professional

Einstein

methods, or

ostracism

heroes

^

others of the

Galileo

Edison

unproven

!§ "a.

t c

discovers

new Financial

scientific

information

5P

losses

seen as

2 9

valuable to

U

humanity

-a

3 4-1

9.

Good

Individuals

Punitive

Holocaust

who

sanctions from

rescuers

1 1

B

Samaritan

step in to

help others in

o u

authorities

Harriet

need: situation

X

Arrest

Tubman

involves

"^

considerable disincentives

o

Torture

Death

for altruism:

V5

may

not

involve

Richard Clark

Opportunity costs

immediate physical risk

•

Albert

Schweitzer

Richard Resct)rla

Ostracism

Resisting Situational Influences

Subtype

471

and Celebrating Heroism

Exemplars

Definition

Risk/

Individuals

Failure

Horatio Alger

Rejection

Helen Keller

Scorn

Eleanor Roosevelt

Sacrifice 10.

Odds

beater/

who overcome

Underdog

handicap or adverse conditions and

succeed in

Envy

spite of

Rosa Parks

circumstances

and provide model for others

11. Bureau-

Employees

cracy heroes

large

in

leopardize

Louis Pasteur

carefully

i^

organizations

groomed

!h

in

career

Edward Tolman

arguments

Professional

Barry Marshall

within or

ostracism

controversial *•>

C

between 61)

agencies;

3 O

typically

Loss of social status

involves

U

Financial

standing firm

on

T3

^s

losses

principle

despite intense

Loss of

pressures

credibility

u

Risk to health 1

B 75

s

Individuals

leopardize

Ron

who are aware

carefully

Ridenhour

"{3

of illegal or

groomed

'u

unethical

a;

X ^ebraska Symposium on Motivation, ed. J.

collectivist.

on how these different perspectives influence conceptions of the

V.

Murphy-Berman and

Differences in Perspectives on Self (Lincoln: University of

Nebraska

200 3).

of the best references

Susan Gelman. The

on the concept of essentialism as used by psychologists

Essential Child: Origins of Essentialism in Everyday Li/f

is

found

(New York: Ox-

ford University Press. 2003).

Another valuable source on the ways

which our mind-set about

intelligence as es-

sential (fixed) versus incremental (variable) qualities affects success in

many domains is Xew

found

in

A

summary of her decades of original {Sew York: Random House. 2006).

Carol Dweck's

Psychology of Success 7.

in

research. Mindset: The

constructive approach for dealing with such school violence

psychological colleague

Elliot

Aronson. He uses the power of

is

found

in

the work of

social psychological

my

knowl-

map for changing a school's social environment so that compassion and cooperation replace competition and rejection: E. Aronson, Sobody Left to Hate: Teach-

edge to offer a road

ing Compassion After Columbine 8.

{New York: Worth. 2000).

Heinrich Kramer and Jakob Sprenger, The Malleus Maleficarum of Kramer and Sprenger ("The Witches' Hammer"), edited and translated by

Rev Montague Summers (New York:

492

Notes,

»

German Dominican monks. An interesting summary is commentary of Stephanie du Barry 1994). hltp://users.bigpond

Dover. 1486/1948). VVritlcn by available online in the

(

.net.au/greywing/Malleus.htm. 9.

We

must

credit this ill-fated flight of theological fancy for the legacy of violence against

women. The

Anne Barstow

historian

male violence against women

to

its

that started this "witch craze" in

traces the systemic use

Anne

L.

Barstow, Witchcraze:

Witch Hunts (San Francisco: HarperCollins. 199

Wright

in.

C.

11.

Sam

Mills.

The Power

Elite.

and widespread acceptance of

endorsement by male powers behind church and

A Sew

state

History of European

5).

(New York: Oxford

University Press. 1956). pp. 3-4.

Keen. Eaces of the Enemy: Reflections on the Hostile Imagination (enlarged ed.)

(New

& Row. 1986/2004). Also see the powerful companion DVD produced by Bill Jersey and Sam Keen. Further information is available at www.samkeen.com. York: Harper

12.

W. Simons. "Genocide and the Science of Proof." National Geographic. January 2006.

L.

28-35. See also the E. 0.

insightful analyses of

mass homicides

Genocide." Aggression and Violent Behavior,

lection

is

group

to

political

and

in military massacres, genocide,

historical factors

and

shape the

se-

That

se-

political slaughter.

based on a belief of prior unfair advantage taken or received in the past by that

target group. Violence

is

then

justified as

revenge against

that perception justifies killing nonviolent people

and danger

to the offender group,

on the

"cancerous group." In turn,

this

basis of their

assumed future

risk

now the offensive attackers.

Some of the sad story of using rape as a weapon of terror revolves around one woman, who has been called "The Minister of Rape" by the investigator Peter Landesman in his thorough 2003 report in The New York Times Magazine. September 15. 2003. pp. 82-ff. 1

14.

the chapter by D. G. Dutton,

10 (May-June. 2005): 4 37-473.

vol.

These psychological scholars argue that lection of a target

1 3.

in

Doyankowski. and M. H. Bond. "Extreme Mass Homicide: From Military Massacre

31. (All the following quotes are

from

Jean Hatzfeld. Machete Season: The

this report.)

Killers in

Rwanda

Speak.

(New

York: Farrar. Straus and

Giroux. 2005).

Hands with the

The Eailure of Humanity

Rwanda

1 5.

R. Dallaire with B. Beardsley. Shake

16.

(New York: Carroll and Graf. 2004). The psychologist Robert Jay Lifton, author of The Nazi Doctors, argues that rape is often a deliberate tool of war to set into motion continuous suffering and extreme humiliation that will affect

not just the individual victim but also everyone around her. "A

a symbol of purity.

on

Devil:

The family

that, stigmatizing

them

all.

revolves

around that symbol. Then here

1

7.

iris

as

the brutal attack

among

worse than death." Landesman.

Women

in

Bosnia-Herzegovina

Nebraska Press, 1994).

Chang. The Rape of Nanking: The Eorgotten Holocaust of World War

Books. 1997). 18.

is

125. See also A. Stiglmayer, ed. Mass Rape: The War Against

(Lincoln: University of

woman is seen

All this perpetuates the humiliation, reverberating

survivors and their whole families. In this way. rape p.

is

in

II.

(New

York: Basic

p. 6.

A. Badkhen, "Atrocities Are a Fact of All Wars. Even Ours," San Erancisco Chronicle. August 1

3.

2006.

E1-E6. and

pp.

D.

.\ngcles Times.

Au-

Fromson. "Disinhibition of Aggression Through

Dif-

Nelson and N.Turse. "A Tortured Past." Los

gust 20. 2006. pp. Al.ff. 1

9.

A. Bandura. B. Underwood, and M. fusion of Responsibility

9

(

1

E.

and Dehumanization

of Victims." Journal of Research in Personality

9 7 5 ): 2 5 3-69. Participants believed the other students allegedly

being shocked by their

Iev{;r presses:

no shocks were given

in the next

room were

to the fictitious "animals." or

others.

20.

Quoted

in a

New

York Times article

on our study of moral disengagement among

all

those pri.son personnel associated with death penalty executions. Benedict Casey, "In the Execution

2006.

Chamber

the Moral C\)mpass Wavers." The

Sew

York Times. February 7,

— 493

Notes

See M.

J.

21.

I

& P. G. Zimbardo, "The Role of Moral Disengagement in

Osofsky. A. Bandura.

the Execution Process.

Law and Human

"

9 7 Award that I received on October ident of the Czech Republic

and

"Liberation Psychology in a

Time

29 (2005): 371-93.

Behavior,

my acceptance speech for the Havel Foundation Vision

recently explored these themes in

2005, on the birthday of Vaclav Havel, former pres-

5.

heroic revolutionary leader. See Philip G. Zimbardo,

its

of Terror." Prague: Havel Foundation.

2005. Online:

u'vi^'.zimbardo.com. havelawardlecture.pdf.

22.

Rabindranath Tagore. Stray Birds (London: Macmillan, 1916),

CHAPTER TWO: 1.

Human

24.

Sunday's Surprise Arrests was summarized

This early research and theory on deindividuation

"The

p.

my 1970

in

and Chaos." 1969 Nebraska Symposium on Motivation, ed. W. J. Arnold and (Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. 1990). pp. 237-307. A more recent vandalism can be seen gagement."

chapter

Choice: Individuation. Reason, and Order Versus Deindividuation. Impulse,

in

in

G. Zimbardo.

P.

D. Levine article

"Urban Decay. Vandalism. Crime and

Schrumpfende Stddte I Shrinking

Cities, ed.

on

Civic En-

Bolenius (Berlin: Philipp Oswalt,

F.

2005). 2.

Graduate researcher Scott Fraser

Bronx research team, and

led the

his counterpart.

Ebbe

Ebbesen. led the Palo Alto research team. 3.

"Diary of an

4.

We

had

bors' 5.

Abandoned Automobile,"

to get local police approval to

concern about the abandoned car

The "Broken Windows Theory"

I

now

had helped develop a program

1968.

being stolen

they notified

me of

the neigh-

—by me.

of reducing crime by restoring neighborhood order

March 1982.

Safety" The Atlantic Monthly,

1.

this field study, so

presented in James Q. Wilson and George

first

6.

Time, October

do

to train

L. Kelling.

was

"The Police and Neighborhood

22-38.

pp.

antiwar

activists to create citizen

support for peace

candidates in upcoming elections, using basic social psychological strategies and tactics of

persuasion and compliance. Bob Abelson. gether in an operational manual: R.

Manual For

P.

my former Yale teacher, and I put these ideas toP. G. Zimbardo. Canvassing for Peace: A

Abelson and

(Ann Arbor. Mich.: Society

Volunteers

for the Psychological

Study of Social

Is-

sues. 1970). 7.

The

of these violent police-campus confrontations took place at the University of Wis-

first

consin in October 1967. ical,

maker

the

civilians in lice to

when students protested the on-campus recruiting by Dow Chemnapalm firebombs that were scorching the earth and

of the infamous

Vietnam. There

too. the university president acted in haste, relying

contain the student demonstrators,

bashing, and all-out

mayhem.

I

who

instead inflamed

recall a particularly vivid

them with

on

city po-

tear gas. baton

media image of a dozen cops

beating up a single crawling student, most with their identities concealed by tear gas masks or having removed their identifying jackets. ter.

The

spin-off of that event

Anonymity

plus authority

Most of them were students who had been nonpolitical and uninvolved unlike their European counterparts, their

is

a recipe for disas-

was the mobilization of students across the United

governments" restrictions on

who had

gone

literally

free access to public

to the

in

such

ramparts

States.

activities

in defiance of

education and other complaints of

injustice. It

was May Day 1970

at

the escalation of the Vietnam

Some

students set the

occupy the campus, vision.

remark

"We

ROTC

Kent State University Ohio,

War

building on

fired tear

when

fire.

A

thousand National Guardsmen, ordered

toward the students

the conceptual

groundwork

for

who were creating the problem

tion or reconciliation.

to

gas at protesters. Ohio Governor James Rhodes said on tele-

arc going to eradicate the problem, not treat the

set in place

students began protesting

by Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger into Cambodia.

symptom." That unfortunate

extreme reactions by the Guardsmen

—

to be "eradicated."

without negotia-

494

Notes-

hen

\\

group of unarmed students gathered on May 4 and was moving toward a

ii

group of seventy (aiardsmen with bayonets readied on

and

icked

tired directly at

Guardsmen shooting students were

killed:

them. In a blind

flash, there

their

fire.

Some,

wounded, some

eral

pan-

most other

were

Four

fired!

Included in the dead and injured

seriously.

who was

soldiers

volley by

way to class, but 400 feel away. and.

in the dis-

their

shot

ironically.

student, were also shot, not protesting, but just victims of "collat-

damage."

One

"My mind was telling me this is not right, but tired on the inNo one was ever held responsible for these murders. An iconic photo

soldier later said.

dividual, he dropped."

of this event It

Sandra Schewer.

like

ROTC

Schroeder. an

Bill

one of the

at the students. In three seconds, sixty-seven shots

eight were

were some not even near the scene of confrontation, on tant line of

rifles,

was a sudden

showed

I

young woman screaming

a

horror over the body of a fallen student.

in

also mobilized further antiwar sentiment in the United States.

was a

Less well-known than the Kent State massacre

days later

Jackson State College

at

wounded by hundreds

twelve

in Mississippi,

of shots fired

similar event occurring only ten

where three students were

killed

and

on black students by National Guardsmen oc-

cupying their campus. In contrast to these lethal encounters, most of the activities during the nationwide

May 1970 were relatively peaceful, although there were some cases of many cases, state authorities took measures to avert violence. Governor Ronald Reagan shut down all twenty-eight campuses of the uni-

student strikes in

disruption and violence. In In California. versity

and

state college systems for four days.

Guardsmen were

sent onto the

campuses

of

the universities of Kentucky. South Carolina. Illinois at Urbana. and Wisconsin at Madi-

Maryland

son. There were confrontations at Berkeley, the University of

and other

places.

At Fresno State College

in California, a

at College Park,

firebomb destroyed a million-

computer center.

dollar

This program was started by a Stanford faculty and student group and supported by the

8.

Palo Alto City Council, before which

I

had appeared

town

in a

hall

meeting to urge proac-

tive reconciliation efforts.

This description of the preparations for the Sunday arrests by the Palo Alto police

9.

quent

recall

blended with the intention of creating a reasonable story

line.

is

my

not on documented recordings of our transactions at that time but rather on

My depiction of

the experimental procedures and theoretical rationale for our research combines

had previously explained gage

its

my

addition to what

attempt to convey this

what

I

TV executive at station KRON to enthe cameraman before we got to the po-

Captain /urcher. to the

to

cooperation in filming the arrests, and to

lice station, in

based subse-

1

recall

saying to the arresting officers that morning.

information to the reader without engaging

vital

lime-out to do so formally. The

full

reason

for

conducting

this

in a

It is

pedantic

study was based on more

theoretical grounds, that of testing the relative impact of dispositional, or personality, factors versus situational factors in understanding behavioral transformations In novel be-

havioral contexts. That will 10.

mock

prisoners from their

observations in

made at

CHAPTER .

in

subsequent chapters.

initial

background information and

the time of their

Sunday

arrests. Clearly.

later interviews, I

some

parallels with their

of video footage

been modified

all

prisoner and guard dialogue

made during

the exjxTiment. The

is

B€\i»in

taken from verbatim transcripts

names

of prisoners

to conceal their true identities. Stanford Prison

ferred to in this book,

and

all

\\v will see

subsequent behavior as mock prisoners.

THRF.E: Let Sunday's Degradation Rituals

Unless otherwise noted,

along with

have taken creative license

extending that information to form these imaginative scenarios. However.

that there are

1

become evident

The following three scenarios were created based on available information on three of our

original data

and guards have

Hxperiment materials

and analyses, are preseved

at

re-

the Archives of the

495

yiotes

History of American Psychology in Akron. Ohio. Future materials will also be donated and

permanently housed will

the Archives as the Philip Zimbardo Papers.

at

The

installment

first

be devoted to the Stanford Prison Experiment. Contact information for the Archives

The SPE has been the

v^'WTV.uakron.edu or [email protected]. discussion, this

the

is

and some of the participants have chosen time

first

ence. Therefore.

I

to disclose their identities.

have written about the experiment

in

have determined to change the names of

I

such

all

is

media

subject of extensive

However,

detail for a general audi-

prisoners and guards to con-

ceal their true identities. 2.

These rules were an expansion of those that Jaffe and his fellow students had developed their project in

my Social Psychology in Action course the past spring,

mock prison in their dormitory. periential projects that in institutions,

I

For that course, students chose from

suggested, each of

which would

such as elderly entering homes

cialization into the roles of prisoners

chose prisons as their

topic,

weekend

it.

among a set of ten ex-

investigate aspects of individuals

and a dozen or

Jaffe

for

they created a

for the aged, people joining cults,

and guards.

and as part of

prison in their dormitory over a

hi

their research, they designed

— with dramatic

and the so-

so other students

and ran a mock

results that stimulated the pres-

ent formal experiment. In the

know what

mock

prison arranged by these students.

provided

I

weekend.

after their prison

I

was amazed

at the intensity of the feelings, expressed

before a large lecture class, of anger, frustration, shame, ior

and that

where

it

some advice but

did not

they had experienced until they presented their course project in class the day

of their friends in their

became evident

new roles.

that the situation

I

followed

and confusion about

openly

their behav-

up with a debriefing of

all

of them,

had packed a wallop. But given the self-selection

it was not clear if there was something unusual about them or about the prisonlike setting. Only a controlled experiment with random assignment to the roles of guards and prisoners could separate dispositions from situational factors. That became one of the instigations for designing this experiment that we did the

of these students into this topic,

following summer. Jaffe's final

report of the group study

on May

1

5-1 6.

1

971

.

is

entitled simply "A

Sim-

ulated Prison." I'npublished report. Stanford University. Spring 1971. 3.

Guard's Shift Report.

4.

Prisoner's taped final evaluation.

5.

First

week's planned meals with food services

I.Sunday

at Stanford's Tressider

Beef stew

2.

.Monday

Chili

3.

Tuesday

Chicken Pot Pie

4.

Wednesday

Turkey a

5.

Thursday

Corn

6.

Friday

Spaghetti with meatballs

Beans

la

King

Fritters

with bacon strips

Breakfasts: 5 oz. juice, cereal or hard-boiled eggs,

Lunches: 2 erwurst.

1

Student Union:

slices of

An

and an

apple.

bread with one of the following cold cuts

— bologna, ham. or

liv-

apple, a cookie, milk or water.

6.

Prisoner's retrospective dairy.

7.

Prisoner's retrospective dairy.

8

Prisoner's retrospective dairy

9.

Prisoner's letter in archives.

0.

Guard's quote from

NBC

Chroiwloc] interview, aired

November 1971.

1 1

Guard's retrospective diary.

12.

\'erbatim transcript from video footage of the guards' meeting. See D\'U Quiet Racic:

Sumford Prison Expiriment.

Tlie

496

Notes.

CHAPTER FOUR: Monday's 1

The quotes

.

in this

»

Prisoner Rebellion

and the other chapters on the Stanford Prison Kxperiment come from

variety of data sources that

try to identify specifically

I

when

pertinent.

Among

a

these

archival data are verbatim transcripts of video footage filmed during various times of the

experiment: Cluard

vShift

which some guards wrote

Reports,

at the

interviews at the end of the study; final evaluation reports

went home and returned, usually within a few weeks; retrospective

them sent

end of

made

their shift; final

after the participants diaries,

which some of

to us at various times subsequent to the termination of the study: audiotaped in-

terviews: interviews

done

for

an NBC TV program. Chronolog. September 1971

(aired

No-

vember. 1971): and personal observations, as well as subsequent recollections that Craig

Haney. Christina Maslach. and

I

made in a published chapter. This quote comes from a final

evaluation report. 2.

Unless otherwise noted, these and other prisoner and guard dialogues are taken from ver-

3.

Guard's Shift Report.

batim transcripts of video footage made during the experiment.

4.

Guard's retrospective diary.

5.

Guard's retrospective diary.

(S.

This utterance by Prisoner

8612

is

one of the most dramatic events

In order for this simulation to work, everyone

must agree

to act as

in the entire study.

if it

were a prison and

not an experimental simulation of a prison. In a sense, that involves a

censorship of tacitly agreeing to frame

all

communal

self-

events in prison metaphors and not experimen-

knowing it is all just an experiment but all acting as if it were 8612 shatters that frame by shouting out that it is not a prison, only a simulated experiment. Amid the chaos surrounding that moment, there was a sudden silence when he added a concrete, but strange, example of why this was not a prison because in real prisons they dont take your clothes and bed away. Then another prisoner openly challenges him by simply adding. "They do." After that exchange, the self-censorship rule is re-

tal

ones.

It

involves everyone

a real prison.

—

inforced, limit

and the

rest of the prisoners, guards,

on expressing the obvious

and

staff all

An Invitation to Social Thomson Wadsworth. 2006).

censorship, see Dale Miller's recent text.

Censoring the SV//( Belmont. CA: 7.

Prisoner's retrospective diary.

8.

Prisoner's taped interview.

9.

Not clear what the "contract" means at

www.prisonexp.org

for

go on with the self-imposed

truth. For a full presentation of the operation of self-

in this case.

Psiiclwlogii: Expressing

and

Sec the prison study website information

the following experimental materials:

The

description of the re-

search given to the participants: the consent form they signed: and the application to the

Human

Subjects Research Committee at Stanford.

10.

Prisoner's retrospective diary

1

Prisoners retrospective diary.

1

.

1

2.

I

J.

Prisoner's retrospective diary.

Quoted from our chapter on our subsequent recollections of the SPK: C.

formations. Consequences." In ed.

\Ulgram Paradigm. (Mahwah, 14. 1

S.

Ibid., p.

.

Nj:

T. Blass.

Obedience to Authority: Current Perspectives on the

Eribaum, 1999). pp. 19 3-237.

^

FIVE: Tuesday's Double Trouble: Visitors and Rioters

Unless otherwise noted, of video footage

2.

G. Zimbardo.

229.

Prisoner's final interview.

CHAPTER 1

P.

Maslach. and C. Haney "Reflections on the Stanford Prison Kxperiment: Genesis. Trans-

Guards

all

prisoner and guard dialogue

made during

Shift Report.

the experiment.

is

taken from verbatim transcripts

—

.

497

Notes

3.

NBC

4.

Guard's retrospective diary.

Chronolog interview (November 1971).

5.

Prisoner's retrospective diary.

6.

Spy's taped final interview with Dr. Zimbardo.

7.

Prisoner's retrospective diary.

8.

Prisoner's retrospective diary.

9.

This O.N.R. grant funded

my deindividuation research

to cover the prison experiment.

10.

See Leon Festinger.

A

Press. 1957). See also

It

was O.N.R.

grant:

(see chapter 13) and was extended N001447-A-01 12-0041.

Theory of Cogtiitive Dissonance (Stanford. CA: Stanford University

my edited volume of

me. Philip G. Zimbardo.

ed..

research by

my NYU students,

colleagues,

The Cognitive Control of Motivation (Glenview.

IL: Scott.

and

Fores-

man. 1969). 11.

See Irving Janis and Leon Mann. Decision Making:

CHAPTER SIX: Wednesday 1.

A

Psychological Analysis of Conflict,

and Commitment (New York: Free Press. 1977).

Choice,

Is

All of the dialogue in these

Spiraling

Out of Control

exchanges between guards, prisoners,

from our verbatim transcripts composed from videos taken log notes

my personal recollections. The priest's name

and

identity but everything else about

him and

his interactions

staff,

at the time,

and the

priest

is

supplemented with

has been changed to mask his

with the prisoners and

me is as

accurate as possible. 2.

We will see the same exact reaction in Chapter erick at

Abu

3.

Guard's Shift Report.

4.

Prisoner's retrospective diary.

5.

Spy's final taped interview with Dr. Zimbardo.

6.

NBC

7.

As an

aside,

I

note that one person

George Jackson. to be

who was

who did

see

I

got a letter from

me discussing the issues of

for the

famous black radical

lockdown

in

On

984).

him on Saturday afternoon (August 21. 1971 inviting his client, who was going to trial soon for the al)

nearby San Quentin Prison's solitary confinement, ironically

in

Maximum Adjustment

Center" (perhaps borrowing from George Orwell's

Saturday, events conspired to prevent

Jackson was

killed in

an alleged escape, but

federal trial challenged the

ishment." In addition.

I

was

also

I

me

from accepting

with

its

Adjustment Center as a place of "cruel and unusual pun-

an expert witness

in a

second

Prisoner's final evaluation.

9.

We had a Parole Board

1 1

came to be known

hearing earlier on Wednesday that will be presented

the next chapter. However, as referring

their

that

Maximum Adjustment Center.

8.

0.

trial

Marin County Courthouse

elegant lines designed by Frank Lloyd Wright presenting an almost comic contrast

to those of the

to.

Maybe

tions.

his invitation, since

did get heavily in\'olved in several later trials.

as the "San Quentin Six" murder-conspiracy case, held at the

1

prisoner dehu-

political prisoner

an expert witness on behalf of

"The

called

is

what was permissi-

murder of a guard in the Soledad Brothers case. He wanted me to interview his client,

leged

One

a real guard. Staff Sergeant Fred-

Chronolog interview (November 1971).

manization and guard power was the lawyer

1

when

do to the prisoners.

ble to

me

14.

Ghraib. complains about the lack of clear guidelines as to

no prisoners were actually paroled,

1

in full detail in

am not sure what Sarge

other than that two prisoners were released because of extreme stress reac-

the guards told the rest of the prisoners that they had been paroled to keep

hopes up.

"Maximum security" must mean

they are in the Hole.

Prisoner's final evaluation.

When

I

replay the tape of this scene again.

I

suddenly realize that this guard,

made famous by Strother Martin as the and moves more like actor Powers Boothe

who is acting

warden

out his version of the role

cruel

Hand

playing the infamous

Luke, actually looks

in Cool

..

498

Notes,

movie Cuiiana

Rev. Jim Jones in the

years

Tragedif.

,

That monstrous tragedy would occur only

Donn

Cool lUiml Luke (1967). screenplay by

later.

Newman as Luke Jackson. Guiiana Tragedy

berg, featuring Paul

six

Pearce. directed by Stuart Rosen-

980). directed by William

1

(

Graham.

CHAPTER SEVEN: The Power to 1

Parole

Carlo Prescott opened the day with the following monologue to the other board members: "Parole boards have been

have come

in to the

down because

known

down

ideal candidates for parole, that

he's poor, because he's a repeated offender, because the

comes from doesn't

give

him any support, because

have any means of income,

And then

the finger.

to turn

just

who seem most

— and they turn him down come back

who

pletely

shaped and confused by the prison setting that they

released a great deal

sounds ers.

more

what

it

The people who come

prison, there's too

tences

.

.

many

when you

.

likely to

swiftly

and can manage

crazy, but

who

than individuals

to

into prison

this

is

and

who

effect,

five,

and

six times.

com-

never reenter society, are

will

who

never get into

to stay out of prison.

Now. that

— prison's a big business. Prisons need prison-

get their

heads together are not coming back into

things they can do. But people

them

guy

neighborhood he

arc most likely to be

act naturally,

enough

to thieve or hustle

amounts

say to

games." you're saying, in

to prison,

who

has never been any

three, four.

kids,

this

or because he shot a cop in

like his face,

Young

trouble,

guys

because he doesn't

his parents are dead,

because they don't

they take some guy who's an ideal prisoner

trouble ... an ideal prisoner

any

is

board having taken school, therapy, counseling. They turn

[as a Parole Board].

that the parole board

"I

who come have

this

on

indefinite sen-

much

leeway to play

in

must not look

at the

most obvious

circumstances, which are ..." 2

Unless otherwise noted, of video footage

all

prisoner and guard dialogue

made during

is

taken from verbatim transcripts

the experiment: this includes

all

the quotes from the Parole

Board hearings. 3.

I

number

attended a

of California Parole Board hearings in Vacaville Prison as part of a

San Francisco law

public defender project headed by the project

was designed

ing system that

was then

five to

serving the

Department of Correc-

in contested operation in the California

tions. In that system, judges

such as

Sidney Wollinsky. The

offices of

to assess the function of parole boards in the indeterminate sentenc-

could establish a range of sentence lengths for a conviction,

ten years, instead of a fixed sentence. However, prisoners typically ended

maximum

up

time, not the average of the range times.

It was chilling and sad for me to observe each prisoner desperately trying to convince two-man Board that he deserved to be released, and doing so in the few minutes' time allotted to his appeal. One of the board members was not even paying attention because he

the

was reading the

file

of the next prisoner in the long line that

and the other was glancing

at his

most often was. the prisoner had

file

for

to wait

perhaps the

another year

first

to

had

time.

crime, the victim, the

However,

if

trial,

If

to the Board.

was

or troubles in the prison system

he was questioned about what he was doing

now

be that the parole officer had already

past crime

more

salient.

If.

why

made up

his

a prisoner did

it

My notes

time dimension

—

details

about the

— there would be no parole. that

was constructive

early release or his future plans after release, the likelihood of parole

question to get more evidence of

in the

were about the prisoner's past

it

each day.

was denied, as

parole

come back

indicated that a major determinant of the probability of parole

framed by the opening question.

to be processed

If

was increased.

to gain It

may

mind and unconsciously framed his not deserve parole by his making the

on the other hand, he saw some promise

in

the prisoner's

file,

a

focus on the future would enable the prisoner a few minutes' time to elaborate on this optimistic potential. 4.

Jane

Klliotl's

blue-eyes/brown-eyes demonstration

is

told in:

W. Peters.

/\

Class Divided. Then

and \(nv (Hxpanded Edition) (New Haven. (T: Yale riiiversitv Press.

1971/198S).

.

499

Notes

was involved

Peters

both prizevvinning documentaries, the

in the filming of

documentary "The Eye

of the Storm" (available from

and the follow-up PBS

Frontline

Guidance Associates.

ABC News New York)

documentary, "A Class Divided" (available online

at

ww^w.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/etc/view.html). 5.

This extended quote from Carlo

from an

is

NBC

Chronolog interview by producer Larry

Goldstein, recorded at Stanford in September 1971. typed by sotte. 6.

my secretary Rosanne Saus-

but sadly not used in the final program that was aired.

George Jackson. Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson (New York: Bantam Books. 1970). pp. 119-20.

CHAPTER EIGHT: 1

Thursday's Reality Confrontations

Lucid dreaming

coming

phenomenon

esting

Guide

a state of semiawareness that the

is

to control, his or

Awakening

to

is

in

her dream as

found in

it is

my colleague's

Your Dreams and

in

dreamer has of monitoring, and even

unfolding.

Your

2.

Prisoner's taped interview with Curt Banks.

3.

Guard's

4.

Prisoner's final evaluation.

book.

A good recent reference to this interS.

A

LaBerge. Lucid Dreaming:

Life (Boulder.

Concise

CO: Sounds True Press. 2004).

final evaluation.

5.

Guard's

final evaluation.

6.

Guard's

final evaluation.

7.

Guard's

final evaluation.

8.

NBC Chronolog interview. November

1971. "\'arnish" was a third-year graduate student in

economics.

1

9.

Guard's

0.

Guard's retrospective diary.

1 1

"Work

final evaluation.

to rule" (for a basic definition, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wikl/VVork_to_rule):

a policy, the work to rule

was organized

Because emergency workers such as police ately or replaced first

if

U.S precedent

they were to

strike,

officers

no right

was the famous 1919 Boston

to strike against the public safety

widely quoted.

He gained

popularity,

and eventually presidency lanta Police Department

down"

tactic,

and

Police Strike.

men

which seems

would be

strike

and

which helped catapult him

a

was a case

identical to the

work

to rule.

in

1969

.M. Levi.

now

jammed

activists

made

it

for better

issues),

and other

tickets to "hippies"

the administrative system and

were

was a widely ac-

virtually impos-

the police force to continue working effectively. At the time, there

See

is

involving the At-

wages and hours (among other

about an outbreak of crime, and the police eventually bargained ditions.

"There

into the vice presidency

At the time, "hippie"

"slowdown" by issuing massive numbers of

mild transgressors, which sible for

of Mass-

stated.

the Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) used a similar "slow-

cepted, yet unofficial policy. Protesting for better

FOP started

immedi-

by anybody, anywhere, anytime." which

usually not arrested and were given lenient treatment by the police, which

the

fired

The then-governor

because of the

of the United States. There

when

firefighters

they had to find other alternatives. Apparently, the

achusetts. Calvin Coolidge. dismissed 1.200 is

As

labor's alternative to striking for public servants.

was a scare

wages and con-

Bureaucratic Insurgency: The Case of Police Unions (Lexington.

MA:

Lex-

ington Books. 1977). and International Association of Chiefs of Police. Police Unions and

Other Police Organizations no. 4. 1

2.

1 5.

14. 1

5.

(New

York:

Arno

Press and The \fu' \vrk Times.

1971

)

(Bulletin

September 1944).

Prisoner's final interview.

Prisoner's postexperiment questionnaire. Prisoner's final evaluation.

The tactic of using hunger strikes as a political tool is traced by the political historian Sheila Howard to the first-ever hunger striker. Terence MacSwiney. MP (Member of Parliament).

He was

a newly elected lord

mayor

of Cork,

who

died during a

hunger

strike in

1920

in

500

Notes.

»

Adams

search of political status as a prisoner. Gerry

(the leader of Sinn Fein) notes that

MacSwiney directly inspired Mahatma Gandhi (see Foreword in Bobby Sands's book). Between 1976 and 1981 there were various periods of such hunger strikes among Irish political prisoners, the last of which became the most famous when ten men died as a result. They included seven members of the IRA. notably one of its leaders. Bobby Sands, and three members of the INLA (Irish National Liberation Army). Republican (i.e.. IRA/INI^) prisoners went on a hunger strike in Lxjng Kesh Prison (the "Maze" prison), just south of

Among

Belfast.

other protests they conducted during their hunger strike was a "blanket

protest": they refused to

wear prison uniforms because they were a symbol of ones crimi-

nal status: instead, they wore blankets to keep

Bobby Sands wrote a

series of inspiring

have inspired international support

them warm during their hunger strike. poems and other pieces from prison: they

for the political

cause of occupied peoples, notably

in

Iran and in Palestine in the Middle East. Likewise. Palestinian flags are flown alongside Irish tricolors in

Derry town (predominantly Catholic/nationalist/republican) and

in

areas

of Belfast.

Some relevant references are Shelia Howard.

Britain

and Ireland 1914-1923 (Dublin:

GiU and Macmillan. 1983): Gerry Adams. Foreword to Bobby Sands Writings from Prison (Cork: Mercier Press. 1997):

and Michael Von Tangen Page.

Prisons. Peace,

Penal Policy in the Reduction of Political Violence in Northern Ireland.

Basque Country.

968-1997 (New York:

1

St.

16.

Prisoners

final evaluation.

1 7.

Prisoners

final interview, also

1 8.

Guard's retrospective diary.

19.

Prisoner

20.

Prisoner's postexperiment questionnaire.

2

1

.

22.

retrospective diary.

s

Prisoner's retrospective diary.

Haney and

myself:

P.

G. Zimbardo. C. Maslach.

and

Haney. "Reflections on the Stanford Prison Elxperiment: Genesis, Transformations. Con-

sequences," in Obedience

T 24.

Martin's Press. 1998).

This extended quote and the following one are from Christina Maslach's essay in a collec-

C.

3.

and Terrorism:

and the Spanish

source of next extended quote.

tion of three, along with those of Craig

2

Italy,

(Mahwah. pp. 216-17.

Blass

Ibid.,

NJ:

Bruno Bettclheim centration

camp

up trying

193-2 3 7. Quote

is

phenomenon among

on

camps became extermination camps. He

to survive,

becoming

like

of Their Face." in his

pp.

214-16.

prisoners in the Nazi con-

which he was interned during the early stages relates

of the Holocaust, before

how some inmates gave

zombies. His moving description of survival and sur-

render under horrendous conditions

"Owners

pp.

reports on a similar

in

the concentration

Current Perspectives on the Milgram Paradigm, ed.

to Authority:

Erlbaum. 1999).

is

worth including

in full.

It is

from part of

his essay

book Surviving and Other Essays {New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

1979):

My in

the

failed

reading of Paul Celan's poem was informed by what had learned about survival camps from observing others and myself: even the worst mistreatment by the SS that is. as long as one could muster the wish to go on to extinguish the will to live I

—

and maintain one's to permit the

as

much

rage,

Then

this

to go

tortures could even strengthen one's resolution not

mortal enemy to break one's desire to survive, and to remain true to oneself

as conditions permitted.

and

mined

self-respect.

Then the

on

living, so as to

... All this

ability to give positive

much

alive.

It

be able someday to defeat the enemy.

worked only up

someone, or the world

make one livid with made one all the more deter-

actions of the SS tended to

gave one the feeling of being very

at large,

meaning

to a pv)int.

If

there

was no or only

was deeply concerned about the

to signs

little

indication that

fate of the prisoner, his

from the outside world eventually vanished and he

.

501

Sotes

felt

forsaken, usually with disastrous consequences for his will

vive.

Only a

that one received this only very rareh'. at least

and with

it

his abilit>' to sur-

—and the SS saw the extermination camps —

demonstration that one was not abandoned

ver>' clear

and not

momentarily, hope even to those

who had reached the utmost

at all in

who otherwise by and

state of depression

into walking corpses because their

life

drives

lims" (Muselmannerl could not believe in

to

it

restored,

had

large

lost

But those

it.

and disintegration, those who had turned

had become inoperative

—the

so-called

what others would have viewed

"Mus-

as tokens that

they had not been forgotten" (pp. 105-6).

CHAPTER NINE:

Friday's Fade to Black

1

Guard's retrospective diary.

2.

Ceros was an eighteen-year-old freshman

who was

thinking about becoming a social

worker. 3.

Guards

4.

Unless otherwise noted,

incident report.

of video footage

all

prisoner and guard dialogue

made during

is

taken from verbatim transcripts

the experiment.

5.

Public defender's letter to me. August 29. 1971.

6.

Critical Incident Stress Debriefing (CISD)

has been the primary treatment in dealing with

victims of traumatic stress, such as terrorist attacks, natural disasters, rape, and other abuses. However, recent empirical evidence challenges to instances

tional

where

component

of the stress.

B. Litz.

tus

Having people vent

some

their emotions, in

cases, serves to

references include

M. Gray

and Future

therapeutic value, even pointing

thoughts rather than relieve them.

revivify the negative

Some relevant

its

counterproductive by increasing and prolonging the negative emo-

it is

R. Bryant,

and A.

Adler. "Early Intervention for Trauma: Current Sta-

Directions." Clinical Psychology: Science and Practice 9 (2002):

R. VIcNally R. Bryant,

and A.

covery from Posttraumatic

Ehlers. "Does Early Psychological Intervention

112-34.

Promote Re-

Stress.'" Psychological Science in the Public Interest

4 (2003):

45-79. 7.

Prisoner's retrospective diary.

8.

Guard's retrospective diary. The participants were paid for only a

ond week, which was terminated,

at the rate of

SI 5.00

for

full

week, not for the sec-

each day served as prisoners

and guards. 9.

Guard's retrospective diary.

10.

Prisoner's final evaluation.

11.

Prisoner's final evaluation.

12.

Prisoner's retrospective diary.

1 3

Guard

1

4.

1 5. 1

6.

s

retrospective diary.

Prisoner's final evaluation. Prisoner's retrospective

Guard's

diar}'.

final interview.

1 7.

Guard's postexperiment questionnaire.

1 8.

Guard's retrospective diary.

19.

Guard's retrospective diary.

20.

Prisoners postexperiment questionnaire.

2

Guard's retrospective diary.

1

22.

Guard's audio interview.

2

Guard's retrospective diary.

3.

24.

Transcript of inter\iew for Quiet Rage: The Stanford Prison Experiment.

25

NBC

.

Chronolog interview. November 1971.

.

502

"

Notes

lb.

Guards

27.

Guard's retrospective diary.

28.

Guard Hellmann's nickname. "John Wayne." has an

retrospective diary.

my

from

Sonoma

interesting parallel that

and a Holocaust

State Iniversity

Buchcnwald concentration camp

was

survivor,

When

for several years.

as a teenager a prisoner in

he learned that our prisoners

had nicknamed one of the worst guards "John Wayne." he recounted a

own experience:

Officer."

who was the most

vicious of

we gave him

all.

the people for no reason, killing them, and pushing

was

like a

Tom Mix was

parallel

with his

camps were all anonymous to us. We called them but they had no name, no identity. However, one of

"Well, the guards in the

'Herr Lieutenant" or Mr. S.S.

the guards,

lence

learned

I

colleague John Steiner. John Steiner. an emeritus professor of sociology at

Tom

Wild West cowboy. So we called him

the tough movie

cowboy

nickname too. He was shooting

a

them

into the electric fence. His vio.Mix."

but only behind his back."

and "40s that John Wayne subse-

of the 19 3()s

quently became for future generations. 29.

Guard's

30.

Guard's postexperiment questionnaire.

3 1

Guard's postexperiment questionnaire.

final evaluation.

CHAPTER TEN: The

SPE's Meaning and Messages: The

Alchemy

of Character

Transformations 1

The concept of learned helplessness originally came from animal research by Martin Seligman and his associates. Dogs in conditioning experiments that were given inescapable shocks that they could do nothing to avoid soon stopped trying to escape, seemed to give

and took the shocks

up.

—even when they then were given the opportunity

noise, did

nothing to stop a

stressful

and spouses, prisoners

also evident in clinical depression, abused children

some

residents of nursing

On

Helplessness:

(1974): 187-9

homes

for the aged.

Some

3:

J.

of war.

and

references include M.E.P. Seligman.

Freeman. 1975);

Depression, Developninit and Death (San Francisco:

Hiroto. "Loss of Control

2.

to escape

humans who. having experienced inescapable new noise when they could have done so. Parallels are

Later research revealed parallels with

easily.

D. S.

and Learned Helplessness." Journal of Experimental Psychology 1 02

Buie.

"

'Control' Studies

July

1988.

The

best reference for the data

Bode Better Health

APA

Aging."

in

Monitor.

20.

p.

we

scientific article

we

and

collected

its

statistically

published: Craig Haney. Curtis Banks,

and

analyzed results

is

the

first

Philip Zimbardo. "Interper-

sonal Dynamics in a Simulated Prison." International journal of Criminology and Penology

(1973): 69-97. This journal

is

now defunct

Psychological Association, there ticle is

C.

is

not an available archive. However, a

available at www.prisonexp.org

Haney, W.

Prison." The

Banks, and D.

C.

Jaffe.

and www.zimbardo.com. See "The \iind

Ww York Times Magazine. April 8.

ogy of Imprisonment," Society h 1972): (

3.

T.

W. Adorno,

Frenkel-Brunswick,

K.

1

and. not being a publication of the American

197

a Formidable

is 3,

pp. 36ff:

and

PDF

also

Jailer:

P.

file

P.

A

of that ar-

G. Zimbardo.

Pirandellian

G. Zimbardo, "Pathol-

4, 6, 8.

D.

I.

Ix'vinson,

and

R. N. Sanford, The .Authori-

tarian PersonaUty (.New York: Harper. 1950). 4.

R. Christie,

and

F.

L. Geis, eds.

Studies in Machiavellianism

(New

York:

Academic

Press,

1970). 5.

A.

I.

vice. f).

Comrey. Comrey l^rsonality Scales iSim Diego: Educational and Industrial resting Ser1970).

Figure 16.1. "Guard and Prisoner Behavior," in andljfe. 14lh ed..

7.

B. Bettelheim,

8.

J.

(New

P. ti.

York: HarperCollins, 1996),

The Informed Heart: .Autonomy

in a

Zimbardo and p.

Mass

R.

I.

Gerrig. Psychology

587. AgeiGk'UCix.'.

IL:

Free Press,

Frankel. "Kxploring Ferenczis Concept of Identification with the Aggressor:

Its

1

960).

Role in

.

503

Sotes

Trauma. Everyday

Life,

and the Therapeutic Relationship." Psychoanalytic Dialogues 12

(2002): 101-39. 9.

E.

Aronson. M. Brewer, and

Handbook of

J.

M. Carlsmith. "Experimentation Lind2ey and

Social Psychology, vol. 1 ed. G. .

in Social Psychology." in

Aronson

E.

Erlbaum.

(Hillsdale \J:

1985). 10.

K. Lewin. Field Theory in Social Science

(

New York:

Harper.

1

9

51

).

K. Lewin. R. Lippitt.

and "

R. K. White. "Patterns of Aggressive Behavior in Experimentally Created Social Climates.'

Journal of Social Psychology 1 1

Basic Books. 1986). 1

2

13.

10(1939): 2 71-99.

Robert Jay Lifton. The ^azi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide

(

New York:

194.

p.

The movie Cool Hand Luke was released in the United States in November 1967. P G. Zimbardo. C. Maslach. and C. Haney "Reflections on the Stanford Prison Experiment: Genesis. Transformations. Consequences." in Obedience to Authority: Current Perspectives on the p.

Milgram Paradigm,

ed. T. Blass

(Mahwah.

NJ: Erlbaum. 1999). pp. 19

14.

Prisoner's final interview.

15.

R.J. Lifton. Thought

16.

L.

Ross,

and

1 7.

L.

Ross.

"The

August 19. 1971.

Reform and the Psychology of Totalism

R. Nisbett. The Person and the Situation

Academic See the

fuller

The

1969).

\'ol.

in the Attribution

10. ed. L. Berkowitz

iNew York:

173-220.

account of these role transformations

Manor Acclimated."

New York: Harper.

and His Shortcomings: Distortions

Intuitive Psychologist

Press. 1977). pp.

(

(New York: McGraw-Hill. 1991).

Process." Advances in Experimental Social Psychology.

18.

3-2 37: quote on

229.

Sew York

Times.

in

Sarah Lyalls description

May 26. 2002.

Ufton. The \azi Doctors (1986) pp. 196. 206.

210-1

in

19.

R.

20.

Zimbardo. Maslach. and Haney. "Reflections on the Stanford Prison Experiment."

21.

A. Zarembo. "A Theater of Inquiry

J.

"To the

12.

p. 1.

and EvU." Los Angeles

Times. July 15.

p.

2004.

226.

pp.

Al.

A24-A25. 22.

1957): ence

G.

P.

(New

3.

\'.

VV.

and

L.

F.

P.

Depth, eds. R. Perruci 5.

H.

I.

Lief

and

(New York:

Ottenberg, and

fense in Relation to

2

1991

C.

Change and Social

Influ-

G. Zimbardo. The Cognitive Control of Motivation

Holt. 1968).

and M.

"

"Dehumanization:

I.

A Composite Psychological De-

in The Triple Revolution Emerging: Social

Pilisuck (Boston: Little.

R. C. Fox. "Training for

Maslach.

P

Redl.

F.

Modern War."

chological Basis of Practice, ed. H.

196 3):

):

Jacobson. Pygmalion in the Classroom: Teacher Expectation and Pupils'

Development

Bernard.

R. Leippe. The Psychology of Attitude

Foresman. 1969).

IL: Scott,

R. Rosenthal Intellectual

24.

Theory of Cognitive Dissonance (Stanford. CA: Stanford University Press.

Zimbardo and M.

York: McGraw-Hill.

(Glenview. 2

A

L. Festinger.

Brown. 1968).

Detached Concern'

Lief.

\'.

E

Lief,

and

in

pp.

Problems

in

16-30.

Medical Students." in The Psy-

N. R. Lief

(New York: Harper & Row.

'Detached Concern* in Health and Social Service Professions." paper

presented at the American Psychological Association annual meeting. Montreal. Canada.

August 26.

P.

30. 1973.

G. Zimbardo. ".Mind Control in Orwell's 19^4: Fictional Concepts

Realities in Jim Jones' Jungle Experiment." in

]

baum. J. Goldsmith, and A. Gleason (Princeton. pp. 127-54. 27.

Quote from Feynman's Appendix

to the Rogers

Become Operational

9^4; Orwell and Our Future, eds.

What Do You Care What Other

Character {as told to Ralph Leighton)

28.

G. Ziemer. Education for Death: The

1972).

volume of

his auto-

People Think.' Further Ad\'entures of a Curious

(New York: Norton. 1988). the Sazi (New York:

Making of

Nuss-

2005).

Commission Report on the Space Shuttle

Challenger Accident. See his discussion of this ex-perience in the second

biographical

.M.

NJ: Princeton University Press.

Farrar. Staus

and Giroux.

.

Notes

S()4

29.

K.

Kogon.

Langbcin. and A. Kutkcrl,

J.

eds.. Sazi

Mass Murder: A Documcnlary History of

Use of Poison Gas (New Haven. CT: Yale University Press. 199 M).

I

jfton. The Sazi Da^tors

CHAPTER ELEVEN: The 1.

1

(

986). pp. 2

1

2.

3).

the

pp. S. 6.

2 13.

SPE: Ethics and Extensions

The concept of "total situation as one that exerts a powerful impact on human functioning was used by Krving Goffman in depicting the impact of institutions on mental patients and prisoners, and by Robert Jay Lifton in describing the power of Chinese Communist interrogation settings. Total situations are those in which one is physically and then psychologically confined to the extent that all information and reward structures are contained within its narrow boundaries. Craig Haney and have extended that conception to cover high schools, which sometimes act as prisons. See E. Goffman. Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates (New York: Doubleday. 1961 R. ]. Lifton. Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism (New York: Norton. 1969): C. Haney and P. G. Zimbardo. "Social Roles. Role-playing and Education: The High School as Prison." Behavioral and Social Science Teacher vol. 1 (1973): 24-45. "

I

):

2.

P.

G. Zimbardo. Psychology and

We Can Go Wrong."

"Ways 3.

L.

p.

12th ed. (Glenview.

Life.

IL: Scott.

Foresman. 1989). Table

689.

Ross and D. Shestowsky. "Contemporary Psychology's Challenges to Legal Theory and

Practice." Northwestern

Law Review ^7 (200 i): 108-14.

New York:

Harper & Row.

9 74 ).

4.

S.

.Milgram. Obedience to Authority

5.

D.

Baumrind. "Some Thoughts on Ethics of Research: After Reading Milgram's 'Behavioral

Study of Obedience.' 6.

"

(

1

American Psychologist 19 (1964): 421-23.

H. B. Savin. "Professors and Psycho-logical Researchers: Conflicting \'alues in Conflicting Roles." Cognition

Human

2(1973): 147-49.

My reply

to Savin

is

"On the

Ethics of Intervention in

Psychological Research: With Special Reference to the Stanford Prison Lxperi-

ment." Cognition 2(1973): 21 3-56. 7.

See copy of the

Human

Subjects Research Review approval at www.prisonexp.org. under

Links. 8.

See

L.

Ross.

.VI.

R. I^cpper.

and W. Hubbard. "Perseverance

in Self-Perception

and Social

Per-

ception: Biased Attribulional Processes in the Debriefing Paradigm." Journal of Personality

and Social Psychology 32 (1975): 88()-92. 9.

10.

L.

(New York: Harper & Row.

Kohlberg. The Philosophy of Moral Development

how

basic research

can pay applied dividends: N.

search on Animals." American Psychologist

E. Miller.

Psychologist P.

).

ed.

N. E. Miller. "Intro-

Scientific Process."

American

47(1992): 848-50.

G. Zimbardo. "Discontinuity Theory: Cognitive

Normality

12.

98 1

"The Value of Behavioral Re-

40 (1985): 423-40: and

ducing and Teaching Much-Needed Understanding of the

11.

1

See Neal Miller's research on biofeedback and autonomic conditioning and his examples of

— May

Ix-ad to

Madness."

in

Advances

and Social Searches

in

for Rationality

Kxperimental Soiial Psychology,

vol.

and 5 1

M. Zanna (San Diego: Academic Press. 1999). pp. 345-486.

Details about The Quiet Rage video:

(co-writer

and co-pnxlucer).

P.

G. Zimbardo. (writer

and

prcxiucer)

and

K.

Musen.

Quiet Rage: Tlie Stanford Prison Kxperiment (video) (Stanford.

CA: Stanford Instructional Television Network. 1989). 1

3.

14.

Personal communication.'e-mail. )une C.

2005.

5.

Haney. "Psychology and U-gal Change: The Impact of a Decade." Liw and

ior

1

7

(

99

1

3

):

3

lation." Sational Prison Project Journal 8

Capital .Vlurder: SiKMal Histories

view 35

(

Human

Behav-

The Psychological Effects of Iso3-21: C. Haney "The S(X'ial Context of Capital Mitigation." Santa Clara Imw Re-

7 1 -98: C. Haney. "Infamous Punishment:

and the

(

199

3):

Ix)gic of

1995): 547-609: C. Haney. Reforming Punishment: Psychological Limits

to the Pain

505

Notes

American Psychological Association. 2006);

of Imprisonment (Washington. DC:

and

G. Zimbardo.

P.

"The Past and Future of

U.S. Prison Policy:

C.

Haney

Twenty-five Years After the

Stanford Prison Experiment," American Psychologist 53 (1998): 709-27. 15.

P.

G. Zimbardo. C. Maslach,

and

Haney. "Reflections on the Stanford Prison Experi-

C.

ment: Genesis. Transformations. Consequences." in Obedience on the Milgram Paradigm, ed.

tives

T.

(Mahwah.

Blass

to Authority:

Current Perspec-

Erlbaum. 1999), quote pp. 221.

NJ:

225. 16.

Ibid., p.

17.

C.

220.

Maslach, "Burned-out,"

Human

Jackson, and M.

P.

Leiter.

September 1976,

Behavior.

Burnout: The Cost of Caring (Englewood

Cliffs.

pp.

16-22:

C.

Maslach.

NJ: Prentice-Hall. 1982); C. Maslach. S. E.

The Maslach Burnout Inventory. (3rd ed.) (Palo Alto. CA: Consult-

and M. P

ing Psychologists Press, 1996): C. Maslach.

Leiter.

The Truth About Burnout (San

Francisco: Jossey-Bass. 1997). 18.

Maslach,

C.

Stapp.

J.

and

R. T. Santee, "Individuation: Conceptual Analysis

and Assess-

ment." journal of Personality and Social Psychology 49 198 5 ): 729-38. (

19.

Curtis

Banks went on

in only three years

African American to be a tenured professor in

first

Princeton University's Psychology Department.

and

versity

academia. obtaining his Stanford Ph.D.

to a distinguished career in

and becoming the

He then moved on to teach at Howard Uni-

also to perform valuable services at the Educational Testing Service

and as

founding editor of the Journal of Black Psychology. Sadly, he died prematurely in 1998 from cancer.

David

now

Jaffe likewise

moved on from

the

SPE

to a distinguished career in medicine,

serving as director of the Emergency Medicine Department at the

dren's Hospital

and associate professor

of pediatrics at

Washington

Louis Chil-

St.

University. St. Louis,

Missouri.

20.

P.

G. Zimbardo. "The Stanford Shyness Project," in Shyness: Perspectives on Research and

Treatment, ed. pp.

1

W H. Jones.

J.

M. Cheek, and

7-25: R G. Zimbardo. Shyness: What

Wesley 1977): P G. Zimbardo and

R

P

G. Zimbardo.

Today.

May 1975,

Condition:

Pilkonis. pp.

and

69-70, 72:

21.

San Francisco

22.

A. Gonzalez and

CJironicle.

R. Briggs,

What

to

(New York: Plenum

Do About

Radl. The Shy Child

Norwood, "The

L.

The Stanford Model."

R. Crozier (eds.) (Sussex,

S.

R.

S.

It Is.

It

(Reading.

Press. 1986),

MA: Addison-

(New York: McGraw-Hill. 1986);

Silent Prison of Shyness," Psychology

Henderson and P

G. Zimbardo. "Shyness as a Clinical

In International Handbook of Social Anxiety, L.

UK: John Wiley

& Sons),

pp.

Alden and

43 1-47.

February 14. 1974.

P G. Zimbardo. "Time in Perspective: The Time Sense We Learn Early Affects How We Do Our Jobs and Enjoy Our Pleasures." Psychology Today. March 1985, N. Boyd. "Putting Time in Perspective: A Valid. Reliable pp. 21-26: P. G. Zimbardo and J.

Individual-Differences Metric." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

77 (1999):

1271-88. 2

3.

G. Jackson. Soledad Brother: The Prison Letters of George Jackson

1970). 24.

P

p.

G. Zimbardo.

S.

Andersen, and

mental Paranoia." Science 2 1 2

(

1

L.

G. Kabat. "Induced

98 1

):

1

529- 3 1 P :

digm." Journal of Abnormal Psychology 102 5.

P

G. Zimbardo. "A Passion for Psychology:

(

1

99

5):

Teaching

ing and Research Synergistically and Writing

About

Psychology: Survival Tips from the Experts, ed. R.

J.

Hearing

G. Zimbardo.

"Physiological Consequences of Unexplained Arousal:

2

(New York: Bantam Books.

111.

A

466-7

Deficit S.

Generates Experi-

LaBcrge. and

L.

Butler.

Posthypnotic Suggestion Para3.

It

Charismatically Integrating Teach-

It

Engagingly"

in Teaching Introductory

Sternberg (Washington, DC: American

Psychological Association. 1997). pp. 7-34. 26.

P.

G. Zimbardo.

no.

1

5.

"The Power and Pathology of Imprisonment." Congressional Record,

October 25. 1971. Hearings Before Subcommittee No.

ludiciary.

House of Representatives. Ninety-Second Congress,

3

of the

serial

Committee on the

First Session

on Corrections.

.

506

Notes

Part

Prisons. Prison

11.

Government Printing 27.

G. Zimbardo.

P.

*

Reform and Prisoner's Rights: Calilornia (Washington. DC:

Office.

U.S.

1971).

"The Detention and

Jailing of Juveniles." (Hearings Before U.S.

Senate Com-

mittee on the Judiciary Subcommittee to Investigate Juvenile Delinquency. September 10.

and

11.

28.

197 3) (Washington. DC:

17.

Government Printing OfHcc. 1974).

U.S.

Advocacy

G. Zimbardo. "Transforming Experimental Research into

P.

in Applications of Social Psychology, eds.

pp.

141-61.

for Social

Change."

M. Deutsch and H. A. Hornstein

(Hillsdale. NJ: Erl-

baum. 1983). 29.

Zimbardo (consultant and on-screen performer). Larry Goldstein (producer), and

G.

P.

Garrick Utley (correspondent): "Prisoner 8 1 9 Did a Bad Thing: The Stanford Prison Experiment." Chronolog. NBC-TV. 30.

November 26. 1971.

Zimbardo (on-screen performer). Jay Kernis (producer), and l^sley Stahl (correspondent). "Lxperimental Prison: The Zimbardo Effect." 60 Minutes, NBC-T\: August 30. 1998: P.

G.

P.

G.

Zimbardo (on-screen performer). "The Stanford Prison Experiment Living Danger-

ously" series. National Geographic TV. 31.

Alex Gibney. writer-director. "The

June 32.

1.

Behavior Experiments." Jigsaw Productions.

2006. Sundance channel.

Newton, and

J.

May 2004.

Human

1975. (Also published 33.

ONR

in Adolescence

Policy,

and Im-

Technical Report Z-13. February

2i {7b) [Winter 1984]: 91

1.)

Pogash. "Life Behind Bars Turns Sour Quickly for a Few Well-Meaning Napa Citi2ens."

C.

San Francisco Examiner, March 25. 1976. pp. 10-1

34

on Research.

G. Zimbardo. "Corrections: Perspectives

P.

pact." unpublished report. Stanford University.

1.

Personal e-mail communication from Glenn Adams.

May

2004

4.

(reprinted with permis-

sion).

35.

H. Lovibond. X. Mithiran. and

S.

W G. Adams. "The Effects of Three Experimental Prison

Environments on the Behaviour of Non-Convict Volunteer Subjects." Australian Psycfwlo(1979): 27 3-87.

gist

36.

A. Banuazizi and logical Analysis."

3 7.

N.

J.

pp.

Mock Ward: A Study

0. Milton

and

1

in a

Simulated Prison:

in Simulation." in Behavior Disorders: Perspectives

R. G. Wahlers. eds. (3rd ed.. Philadelphia: Lippincott. 1973).

"When They

4.

Played Guards and Prisoners in the US.

May

Friends." The Daily Telegraph.

M. G. Bloche and

November

J.

2002.

3.

H. Marks. "Doing unto Others as

It

Got Nasty. In Britain.

p. 3.

They Did

to Us." The

Sew York

Mayer. "The Experiment." The

New Yorker.

and

2005.

60-7 1

J.

41.

Gerald Gray and Alessandra Zielinski. "Psychology and U.S. Psychologists

War

in

July

"The Schlesinger Report."

in

2005

1

8.

pp.

1

).

pp.

970-7

1

.

We will 1

have

in

Torture and

30-31.

The Torture Papers, eds. K. Greenberg and

ings of this independent investigation in chapter 3.

1 1

the .Middle East." Turf im- 16(2006): 128-33. quotes on pp.

bridge University Press.

4

Times.

2005.

40.

42.

A Methodo-

52-60.

162-70.

D. Derbyshire.

They Became 39.

Movahedi. "Interpersonal Dynamics

American Psychologist 17(1975):

Orlando. "The

and Trends,

38.

S.

J.

Dratel (UK:

much more to say about

Cam-

the find-

5.

Richard Alvarez, review of Stanford Prison Experiment.

Cover,

September

1

995.

p.

34.

March 24. 2002. online. March 22, 2002.

44.

Philip French, review of "Das Experiment." The Observer, online.

45.

Peter Bradshaw. review of "Das Experiment." The Guardian,

46.

Roger Ebert. review of "Das Experiment." Chicago Sun-Times, online. October 25. 2002.

47.

Blake Gopnik. "A Cell with the Power to Transform." The Washington pp.

48.

Post.

lune 16. 2005.

C1.C5.

W. Mares. The \Uirine Machine: The Making of day. 1971).

the L'nited States

Marine {\cw York: Double-

507

Notes

CHAPTER TWELVE:

Investigating Social Dynamics: Power, Conformity,

and

Obedience 1.

Lewis (1898-1963). professor of medieval and Renaissance English at Cambridge

C. S.

University, u^as also a novelist, a writer of children's books,

and

and a popular speaker on moral

best-known book. The Screwtape

religious issues. In his

he imperson-

Letters (1944).

ated a veteran devil in Hell that writes letters encouraging the efforts of a novice devil hard

2.

at

work on Earth. "The Inner Ring" was the Memorial Lecture

of

London, delivered to the students in 1944.

R.

F.

at King's College. University

Baumeister and M. R. Leary, "The Need to Belong: Desire

ments as a Fundamental

Human

Motivation."

for Interpersonal

Psychological

Attach-

117 (1995):

Bulletin

427-529. 3.

R. B. Cialdini.

ment

M. R. Trost. and

of a Valid

J.

Newsome. "Preference

T.

for Consistency:

The Develop-

Measure and the Discovery of Surprising Behavioral Implications," Journal 69 (1995): 318-28: Also see

of Personality and Social Psychology

L. Festinger.

A

Theory of

Cognitive Dissonance (Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 1957). 4.

Zimbardo and

G.

P.

A. Andersen. "Understanding

S.

Mental Manipulations," 1

99 3

count 5.

):

in Recovery from Cults, ed.

see also A. W. Scheflin

(New York: Paddington

and E. M. Opton.

The

Mind Manipulators: A Non-Fiction Ac-

"One of the Group.'

Felt Like

200 3

to

2004

October

of the

main

Social Psychology. E.

Pronin.

lusion of

"

in the rural

Self-serving, egocentric,

summary

"

Mom'

'Cool

The report town

is

51 (1955):

Guilty of Sex with Schoolboys: She Said of her sex

and drug

parties

from October

of Golden. Colorado.

and above-average

effects across

many

biases have been investigated extensively. For a different

domains

of application, see D. Myers.

8th ed. (New York: McGraw-Hill. 2005). pp. 66-77.

Kruger. K. Savitsky. and

J.

and wisdom.

Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology

Associated Press (July 26. 2005).

She

to provide valuable information

Gerard. "A Study of Normative and Informational Social Influence

B.

upon Individual Judgement." 629-36.

8.

and Mundane

Press. 1978).

work because people can serve

M. Deutsch and H.

7.

Control: Exotic

In addition to normative, social pressures to go along with others' views, there are rational forces at

6.

Jr..

Mind

M. Langone, (New York: W. W. Norton,

Asymmetric

L.

Ross.

"You Don't Know Me. but

I

Know You: The Il-

Insight." Journal of Personality and Social Psychology

81 (2001):

639-56. 9.

M.

Study of Some Social Factors

Sherif. "A

in Perception." Archives of Psychology

27

(1935):pp.21()-ll. 10.

S. E.

Asch. "Studies of Independence and Conformity:

mous

Majority." Psychological

Monographs 70

and Social Pressure."

Scientific

11.

M. Deutsch and H.

Gerard (1955).

12.

G. S. Berns.

J.

B.

(

1

9

51

):

A

Minority of

November 1955.

American.

Chappelow. C. E Zin. G. Pagnoni. M.

One Against

whole no. 4 1 6; pp.

S. E.

31-35.

Martin-Skurski. and

E.

a Unani-

Asch. "Opinions

J.

Richards,

"Neurobiological Correlates of Social Conformity and Independence During Mental Rotation." Biological Psychiatry

People Say

58 (August

May Change What You

1.

See."

2005): 245-5

New

3:

Sandra Blakeslee. "What Other

York Times, online:

www.nytimes.com/20()5

/()6/28/science/28brai.html. June 28. 2005. 13.

S.

Moscovici and C. Faucheux. "Social Influence. Conformity Bias, and the Study of Active

Minorities." in Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, vol. 6. ed. L. Berkowit2

(New

York: Academic Press. 1978). pp. 149-202. 14.

E.

Langer. Mindfulness. (Reading.

15.

C.

1.

Ncmeth.

MA: Addison-Wesley.

"Differential Contributions to Majority

R«T/£'w93 (1986): 23-32.

1

989).

and Minority Influence," Psychological

508

1

b.

Moscovici. "Social Inlluencc and Conformity.

S.

cd.. cds. G. 1 7.

Lindzey and

Obedieuce to

T. Blass.

Erlbaum. 1999). 18.

*

Notes

In

p.

Aittlwritii:

Handbook of

to

me in

make something

senior class at James

skinny kids

situationists.

had

I

just returned to

North Hollywood High School, where

was

later learned, there

ior class.

years

I

later, at

and

at Yale

wanted

rumor

discussed once

I

how

NYU.

at

to be smart.

So

it

was from a New York in

1

Monroe High Schools

I

fabricated a

starting out I

really

that

I

I

did with Irving Sarnoff to test

It

on

so-

basement of the building where we taught

In-

had the

delightfully British

in their effects

name

Linsly-Chittenden

and the SPH were conducted

also interesting that both his experiments

It is

him

constructed a basement laboratory that

earlier for a study

lab in the

little

troductory Psychology courses. Hall.

We

which Milgram's Yale obedience experiments were

had done so a few years

I

sen-

When we met

made about another commonality

initially

Freudian predictions about the differences between fear and anxiety cial affiliation.

I

Sicilian Mafia

he could no longer use the elegant interaction laboratory of sociologist

(after

0. K. Moore).

horrible year at

friendless (because, as

much for unfulfilled desires.

later modified to be the site in

conducted

Monroe High from a

I

Even then

turned out that Stanley really wanted to be popular and

was the one who

I

New

in the confines of

life

Yale University in 1960. as beginning assistant professors,

me

NJ:

and a

that transformation could have happened.

should also mention a recent discovery

1

I

Bronx.

of ambition

to for social advice.

had been shunned and

circulating that

in the

had not changed but the situation was what had mattered.

shared with Stanley.

was

a

I

chosen "Jimmy Monroe," the most popular boy

Stanley and

agreed that

(Mahwah.

to for authoritative answers.

was the tall popular one. the smiling guy other kids would go

family), to be

347^12.

pp.

full

we might escape from

whom we went

smart one

little

Monroe High School

We were both

of ourselves so that

our ghetto. Stanley was the

we were budding

Social Psychologif. Jrd.

Current Perspectives on the Mih(}ram Paradigm

was my classmate Stanley Milgram.

desire to

in The

62.

949. seated next

1

York,

"

Aronson (New York: Random House. 198 5).

E.

in base-

ments. Blass. The

Man Who Shocked the

World {New York: Basic Books. 2004). p. 1 6. (New York: McGraw-Hill. 2001). Eraser. "Compliance Without Pressure: The Foot-in-the-Door Tech-

19.

T.

20.

See R. Cialdini. Injluence.

21.

J.

L.

Freedman and

S. C.

1

nique." Journal of Personality and Social Psiichologij 4(1966): 19 5-202; also see

"Another Look

Shocks." Personalitif and Social 22.

E.

Fromm.

S.

The Role of the Ciraduated 690-9 5. 4 198

the Milgram Obedience Studies:

at

Psiicholoiiii Bulletin

(New

Escape from Freedom

1

(

J.

Gilbert.

Series of

):

York: Holt. Rinehart and Winston. 1941). In the

United States, the fear of threats to national security posed by terrorists, amplified by gov-

ernment

has led

officials,

many

citizens, the

torture of prisoners as a necessary

ther attacks. That reasoning.

American guards 2

3.

H. C.

and

Kelman and

Blass.

25.

C. E.

\'.

will

I

Abu Ghraib L.

I

argue

Pentagon, and national leaders to accept the

of eliciting information that could prevent fur-

chapter

in

1

5.

contributed to the abuses by

prison.

lamillon. Crimes ojObedience: Toward a Social Psijcholoffy of Authoritif

New laven. CV: 'Nale University Press. 989 The Man Who Shocked the World, Appendix C. "The Stability of Obedience Across Time

Responsibilitfi

24.

at

method

(

1

I

).

and Place." Sheridan and R. G. King. "Obedience to Authority with an Authentic Victim." Proceed-

ings of the pp.

26.

M.

Annual Convention of the American Psychological Association,

T.

Orne and

C.

11. lioll.iiul.

"On the Ixological

national journal oj Psychiatry 6

27.

vol. 7

(

Part

1 ).

1972.

165-66.

C. K. Hotling. E.

Study

in

Brolzman.

S.

(

1

968 282-9 )

Validity of Laboratory Deceptions." Inter-

3.

Dalrymple. N. Graves, and C. M. Pierce. "An Experimental

Nursc-Physlciaii Kelationships." Journal of \ervous and Menial Disease 14

(1966): 171-80.

3

509

Sotes

28.

Krackow and

A.

T.

Blass.

"When Nurses Obey or Defy Inappropriate Physician Orders:

tribulional Differences." Journal of Social Behavior and Personality

29.

Tarnow. "Self-Destructive Obedience

E.

ence Optimization." in Obedience 30.

W. Meeus and

Q. A.

W. Raaijmakers. "Obedience

Journal of Social Issues 51 (1995): 31.

From

Saw

Human

The

Productions,

in the Airplane Cockpit

to Authority, ed. T. Blass. pp. 1 1

Modern

in

and the Concept

of Obedi-

1-23.

Society:

The Utrecht

Studies."

155-76.

May

Behavior Experiments, transcript: Sundance Lock. p.

At-

10(1995): 58 5-94.

9.

2006.

Jig

20. Transcript available on ww-vv.prisonexp.org/pdf/HBE-transcript

.pdf.

32.

These quotes and information about the strip-search hoaxes come from an informative arby

ticle

Andrew Wolfson. online

available

"A

Hoax Most

Cruel." in The Courier-Journal. October 9.

2004,

wA\'w.courier-journal.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article.'AID=/20051009

at:

/NEU^S01/510090392/1008Hoax. 33.

Quoted from a 1979

V.

2004. Originally

Levine.

"Milgrams Progress."

in Blass. Obedience to Authority.

35-36.

pp.

34.

television interview in Robert

Scientist Online. July- August

American

R. Jones.

"The Third Wave."

in Experiencing Social Psychology, ed. A. Pines

and

C.

Maslach

(New York: Knopf. 1978). pp. 144—52: also see the article that Ron Jones wTote about his Third Wave class exercise, available at: wwnv.vaniercollege.qc.ca/Auxilliary/Psycholog}'/ Frank/Thirdwave.html.

docudrama. directed by .Alexander Grasshoff. 1981.

35.

"The Wave."

television

36.

W. Peters.

Class Divided Then and

.4

Press.

1985 [1971]).

taries,

the

ciates.

Peters

Sow

(expanded

was involved

ed.)

(New Haven.

in the filming of

CT: Yale University'

both prizewinning documen-

ABC News documentary "The Eye of the Storm" available from Guidance AssoNew York) and the follow-up PBS Frontline documentary "A Class Divided" i

(available online at ww^v.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/divided/etc/view.html).

H. H. Mansson. "Justifying the Final Solution." Omega: The Journal of Death and Dying 3

(1972): 79-87. 38.

J.

Carlson. "Lxtending the Final Solution to One's Family." unpublished report. University'

Manoa. 1974.

of Hawaii. 39.

C. R.

Browning. Ordinary Men: Reser\r

(New York: 40.

HarperCollins. 1993).

Police Battalion

101 and the Einal Solution

Staub. The Roots of Evil: The Origins of Genocide and Other Group Violence

E.

in

Poland

p. xvi.

{^ew York: Cam-

bridge University Press. 1989). pp. 126. 127.

41.

J.

M. Steiner "The SS Yesterday and Today:

A Sociopsychological View." in Survivors.

and Perpetrators: Essays on the Sazi Holocaust,

ed.

J.

E.

sphere Publishing Corporation. 1980). pp. 405-56: quotes on Miller The Obedience Experiments:

A

Victims,

Dinsdale (Washington. DC: Hemi-

Case Study of Controversy

p.

43

3.

Also see A. G.

in Social Science

(New

York:

Praeger. 1986).

42.

D.

J.

Goldhagen.

Hitler's Willing Executioners

by Christopher Reed. "Ordinary p.

43.

2

German

3.

H. Arendt. Eichmann in Jerusalem: tion

(New York: Knopf. 1999). Also see the review March- April 1999.

Killers." in Har\'ard Magazine.

(New

A

Report on the Banality of Evil, revised

and enlarged edi-

York: Penguin Books. 1994). pp. 25. 26. 252. 276. Following quotes are from

this source.

44.

M. Huggins.

.M.

Haritos-Fatouros. and

Murders Reconstruct Brazilian 45.

P.

G. Zimbardo. Violence Workers:

M. Haritos-Fatouros. The Psychological Origins of ledge.

Mice

Torturers

Atrocities (Berkeley: University of Califrornia Press.

Institutionalized Torture

and

2002).

(London: Rout-

2003).

46.

Archdiocese of Sao Paulo. Torture

47.

Official site for ical site:

in Brazil

School of the Americas

www.soaw.org/new/.

is

iScw York:

\'intagc.

1998).

www.ciponline.org/facts/soa.htm/: also see a

crit-

S

10

4S.

Sotex

Morales. "The Militarization of the Polite." Covert Action (Juartcrhi b7 (Spriny-Summer

F.

19991:67. 49.

See the body of literature on suicide bombers;

among

recommended

the sources

are: Ariel

Merari. "Suicide Terrorism in the Context of the Israeli-Palestinian Conllict." Institute of Justice Conference. Isnu'l Affairs

Washington. DC. October 2004: Ariel Merari.

ment and Prevention of Suicidal Behavior, 50.

"Israel

(2005): 22 5-57: Ariel Merari. "Suicidal Terrorism."

1

1

eds. R.

I.

YuHt and

U. Ixster

(

Facing Terrorism." Assessment. Treat-

in

New York:

M. Sageman. "Understanding Terrorist Networks." November

1.

Wiley.

2005

2004. available

).

at

wwvv.fpri.org/enotes/2()()4 1101 .middleeast. sageman. understandingterrornetworks .html. Also see

51.

3 5:

p.

A. B. Krueger. "Poverty Doesn't Create Terror-

New York Times. May 29. 2005. Why People Die by Suicide. Cambridge. MA: Harvard

The

ists."

M. Shermer. "Murdercide: Science Unravels the Myth of Suicide Bombers."

American. January 2006.

Scientific

T. Joiner.

I

2006: Scott

Jniversity Press.

299 (2005): 15 54-59: Mia M. Bloom. Support. Market Share and Outbidding." Political Sci-

Atran. "Genesis of Suicide Terrorism." Science "Palestinian Suicide Bombing: Public ence Quarterly

(2004): 61-88; Mia Bloom. Dying

9. no. 1

1 1

to Kill:

The Allure of Suicide Ter-

(New York: Columbia University Press. 2005); Dipak K. Gupta and Kusum .Mundra. "Suicide Bombing as a Strategic Weapon: An Empirical Investigation of Hamas and Islamic Jihad," Terrorism and Political Violence 17 (2005); 573-98; Shaul Kimi and Shemuel Even. rorism

"Who Are the Palestinian Suicide Bombers.'" Terrorism and 814—40; Ami Pedhahzur. "Toward an Analytical Model of ment." Terrorism and

Political Violence

16 (2005):

— A Com-

16 (2004); 841-44. Robert A. Pape. "The Strategic

97 (2003): 54 5-61;

Logic of Suicide Terrorism." American Political Science Review

My

Political Violence

Suicide Terrorism

Christo-

A Modern History of Siucide Bombing (Princeton. NJ: Princeton University Press. 2004): Andrew Silke. "The Role of Suicide in Politics. Conflict, and Terrorism." Terrorism and Political Violence 1 8 2006 5 5-46; Jeff Victoroff. "The Mind pher Reuter.

a Weapon:

Life as

):

(

A

of the Terrorist:

Resolution49.no. 52.

Review and Critique of Psychological Approaches." Journal of 1

Conflict

(2005): 5-42.

A. Merari. "Psychological Aspects of Suicide Terrorism." in Psychology of Terrorism, eds. B.

Bongar.

L.

M. Brown.

L. Beutler.

and

P.

G.

Zimbardo (New York: Oxford University

Press.

2006). 5 5.

54.

"The Mind of a Suicide Bomber." San Francisco Chronicle (October 22.

Jonathan

Curiel.

2006):

El. 6: quote

T.

p.

McDermott.

on

p.

E6.

Perfect Soldiers:

The Hijackers:

Who

They Were.

Why

TJwy Did

It

(New

York:

HarperCollins. 2005). 5 5.

M. Kakutani. "Ordinary but

2005.

p.

for the Evil

They Wrought."

"Ordinary British Lads."

"

San

56.

/. Coile. "

57.

A. Silke. "Analysis: Ultimate Outrage." The Times (London).

58.

became connected

1

77/- Police

MRT

o Perfoniuocc

in Tier

1

at

n,„.

Trixn

ilaik-^

•ACKOROUNO MPOMMATtON

BCF

PAAT

CPl. Grarcr.

II

II

SUMMARY OF COUNKLMG

^a (kjing a fine job in Tier uf the BCF. At tbc NCOIC of the "Ml HoW area, you liavc aveiveJ many MI units bcrr and vpecitkaih from l.TCMM Cuntiou: to pcrtioni: at ihi* loal and will bd; 1

iIk-

it

our mrral! mi»ion I

ajn

ancemed

on duty

I

ilieai wbci'i

two ntaucn aHaied

atxxii

a\{uire

all .inklicrs

poutbic.

1

» ant

to

S

your pcrtbrroaiKe Pint. SFC Army't uniform and appearance vi iib yuu nu»

to maintain the

i

hat spoken u> you iixna your appcaxtax \khilc adardt at ail tunes and encoora^e cbem to exceed I

u> reinforvc th'a !»««.-

Seiocid. due u> the hipbcr lo-H «it «ri-«« Mwitimrd w-th »-orkme in Many tunc* y mi »;=•• "> "- ''- •- .'v -^...~~. h., ,... .r kour soldiers to the hard site pr. i«)lation Ala.

am cootenied tliai it docs ooc afteci your pcrtoroiaiice lotdliKDcc >ilue. Tbcic dcuiaen often irv to incite addiUoa. tier bouaei the iiolaiiaiK cells for :axii aitd/or aggrestive bdiavior has plaoed them in laincvs add to iht srws of worttng in tier

'ter I I >....k-^, .

-.andt.

'

.

U

I

I

M NOV ui tnwuvuij a leciinty detainee whose atiioos. in >our nords rcv|uircd y^iu U) um. forvc m rvgain 11k ditainec rrceiv«d abrasions and cow on bis tace trom the incident Let me state first and (omnost. .'11" p^r,.x-n'. vupiptii you have an uAereni right to self defetise thai >our dcv;i!>ion when you Thea- was ui

itk;Hlcnt

on

uoirol of the ntuaiHRi

i

helievc you inukt drfeiw ytursel! Vou staled tnai yoo ui«.-d ihc appmphatc Irwi nf lt-.

importance dehumanization:

bias. See anti-Semitism:

345

428.430-39

Ring": social approval

Berlin (Germany). Soviet

of.

329. 372-73. 378.

of.

386. 403-4. 405-8. 412-13. 414-15.

See "Inner

for.

in.

"mission accomplished" claim

behavioral disobedience. See authorir\'.

e\-il."

354

"groupthink**

character"

belonging,

19.

437-38

psychology: "transformation of

meaningful challenges

xiii.

327. 372-73. 376-77. 378.405-6.

assertions of executive power.

See also heroism: personal responsibility;

power systems: situational

war

415.430.432.435.439.445 437-38

320-21.447-18

tactics for influencing,

See violence:

"fundamental attributional error": infrahumanization

of.

319

315-17

research on.

See also inaction

bias: prejudice: self-

hum an ization Black Panther Party 2 Blair.

224

3.

Cacumbibi.

Tony 419

"blind obedience to authority." See obedience

253

Cambodia,

473 465-66. 488

boredom, as motivator

366

for abuse. 352.

workers"

Brazil, "violence

in.

289-91. 328.

430.485 heroism

murderers

criticism of

17

CampBucca. 368. 385-86. 388. 390. 391. 416.440 Camp Cropper. 442 Camus.

for

oath"

373-74. 474-76

atrocities in. 12.

Camp Douglas

Britain

awards

Jr..

of. "loyalty'

473

at.

Cambone. Stephen. 414

Boorstin. Daniel.

child

controversy

CaUey WUham.

to authorir\-

Bloche. M. Gregg. Block. Herb.

Silvester. 1

California. University

in.

in.

462. 464

Guantanamo Bay 442

Jewish refugees

in.

subway bombings

War prison camp). 335

432

Candid Camera (television show). 221

Prison

high school psycholog>' curriculum to.

(Civil

Cardona. Santos. 348

7

caritas. definition of.

("Gitmo") from.

Indian resistance

Albert.

in.

249

472 29

celebrity, as

"pseudoheroism." 465-66. 488

Central Intelligence

318 in.

4

Catholicism. See Inquisition: priests

Agency (CIA) 393-94. 399.

at .-^bu Ghraib. 350. 383.

404.408-11.415

3

Brody Reed. 404

Bush administration and. 41

Brokaw. Roger. 419

435.438.439 FBI criticism of. 422-2 3 "ghost detainees" and. 408-9 leniency toward abuses in. 405 MKl'LTRA program of. 448 People's Temple cult and. 479 "renditions" and. 403. 408. 428-29

"Broken Windows Theory'" of crime. 2 Bronx, the

(N.Y.).

experiment

"abandoned car"

in.

24-2 5. 304-5

brown-eyes/blue-eyes classroom

demonstration. 144. 28 3-84

Browning. Christopher. 285-86. 484

5.

305

5.

432-33.

6

6

S38

Index

Conlral IntclliiiciKc torture and. 290.

Agency (CIA) {conl.) 408-1 1 4 1 5. 42 3. .

425.428-29.452.433.435 Chang.

Iris.

courage, detinilions .SV'.

462

massacre and. 475

Donald

See also Pentagon: Rumsfeld.

dehumanization

See also compliance: obedience to

authority; social approxal

Conroy. John. 48 5

C(M)per. Cynthia.

character transformation and.

52.

128.209.216

477

in.

10

elite" in.

3 1

7

6

also "administrative evil" .SVi*

1

military indoctrination and.

as precondition for abuse.

evil of Inaction within.

"power

29 5.

.

508-10 249. 256

1

1.

.

14-16.

nudity and. 59 5

corporations

executive abuses

xii.

307-1 5.402 experimental research on. 2

Hand Luke aWm). H.

counterculture.

5.

Darley. John. 51 5

My Lai

262

298. 354

.SV