Comments by "Wobbles And Bean" (@WobblesandBean) on "The Dark Side of Science: The Horrific Stanford Prison Experiment 1971 (Documentary)" video.

  1. The prisoners themselves have stated that they were playing along the entire time. All of the incidents you mention were planned and staged by the prisoners themselves, they were play acting to mess with the study and flat out said to listen to the tapes, their acting "wasn't subtle" and it was obvious they're just pretending. Same goes for the guards, they said it was "an exercise in improv acting" and all of them were having a lark. One said he put on a bad fake southern drawl to get into character.
    2
  2. Except the prisoners themselves went on record saying that their breakdowns were fake and meant as a joke. They were playing around, they knew it was an experiment and all of the incidents mentioned here were all staged by the prisoners themselves. According to them, it was all done to mess with the study and have a little fun. They were play acting and trying to push the envelope cuz they're young white college guys, messing around is what they do.
    1