Stanford Prison
Experiment

Materials Used in the Study

• Description of Study Given to Applicants (PDF file)
• Human Subjects Research Application (PDF file)
• Consent Form Signed by Participants (PDF file)
• Prisoner Rules Used in the Experiment (PDF file)
• Stanford University Library Exhibit and Archive (varied)

The Lucifer Effect (2007, Random House)

• The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil (book)
• The Lucifer Effect (companion web site with supplemental material)
• William James Book Award Reviews (The General Psychologist)
• Excerpt from The Lucifer Effect (Discover Magazine)
• The Evil That Men Do (American Scientist book review)
• Torture As Second Nature (London Observer book review)
• How Did It Come to This? (San Francisco Chronicle article)
• The Banality of Evil (Association for Psychological Science Observer)
• The Problem of Evil: Why Do "Good" People Do Bad Things? (Fox News)
• Bad Apples and Bad Barrels (Scientific American review; see pp. 34-36)

Selected Articles by Dr. Zimbardo

• From the Bronx to Stanford to Abu Ghraib (chapter, 2008)
• The Banality of Heroism (Greater Good, Fall/Winter 2006-07)
• Revisiting the Experiment (Chronicle of Higher Education, March 30, 2007)
• Commentary on the "PENS Report" of the APA (July, 2006)
• The Psychology of Power and Evil (manuscript, June 2005)
• A Situationist Perspective on the Psychology of Evil (chapter, 2004)
• Reflections from Zimbardo, Maslach, and Haney (chapter, 2000)
• The Past and Future of U.S. Prison Policy (American Psychologist, 1998)
• Interpersonal Dynamics in a Simulated Prison (IJCP, 1973)
• A Pirandellian Prison (New York Times Magazine, April 8, 1973)

Selected Media Interviews

• Why Do Good People Do Bad Things? (NPR TED Radio Hour, March 28, 2013)
• "We Should Have Ended It Earlier" (BBC News video, August 17, 2011)
• "Prison of the Mind" (BBC World Service, August 17, 2011)
• Philip Zimbardo: Creating Millions of Heroes (Scientific American Blog, April 22, 2011)
• Interview on VPRO Backlight (Dutch Public Broadcasting System video, April, 2011)
• When Good People Do Bad Things (Dr. Phil TV Show, October 25, 2010)
• Reaching for a Higher State of Mind (iCubed Magazine, February 17, 2009)
• The Lucifer Effect: An Interview with Dr. Zimbardo (neuroNARRATIVE, Oct. 20, 2008)
• Zimbardo Says "No to Rumsfeld" (KZSU Stanford Radio MP3, April 20, 2008)
• How Good People Turn Evil, from Stanford to Abu Ghraib (Wired, Feb. 28, 2008)
• Zimbardo Unbound (Stanford Magazine, May/June, 2007)
• Interview by Terry Gross on NPR's "Fresh Air" (May 1, 2007)
• Ten Questions with Dr. Philip Zimbardo (April 26, 2007)
• New York Times: A Conversation with Philip G. Zimbardo (April 3, 2007)
• New York Times Video (9-Minute Interview) (April 3, 2007)
• Interview by Amy Goodman on Democracy Now (March 30, 2007)
• Interview on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart (March 29, 2007)
• Open Source Radio Interview on the Banality of Evil (March 27, 2007)
• A Talk with Philip Zimbardo in "Edge" (January 19, 2005; video and transcript)
• NPR Interview with Dr. Zimbardo on Iraqi Prisoner Abuse (May 4, 2004)

Selected Lectures and Presentations

• The Secret Powers of Time: An Animated Video (May 24, 2010)
• Cato Institute Book Forum on the Lucifer Effect (June 12, 2008)
• How Ordinary People Become Monsters... or Heroes (TED talk, Feb. 29, 2008)
• Harvard Law School Colloquium on the Lucifer Effect (April 3, 2007)
• Big Crowd Attends Farewell Lecture of Philip Zimbardo (March 14, 2007)
• Professor Zimbardo Delivers Final Stanford Lecture (March 7, 2007)
• Acceptance Speech: Dagmar and Václav Havel Award (October 5, 2005)
• Acceptance Speech: CPA Lifetime Achievement Award (April 5, 2003)
• Transforming People into Perpetrators of Evil (memorial lecture, 1999)
• Congressional Testimony on the Need for Prison Reform (October 25, 1971)

More on the Stanford Prison Experiment:

• Shocking "Prison" Study 40 Years Later (CBS News slide show, September 27, 2011)
• Stanford Prison Experiment Continues to Shock (BBC News, Aug. 17, 2011)
• The Menace Within (Stanford Magazine, July/Aug., 2011)
• Epilogue: Some Notes on What Became of the Cast of Characters
• Criticisms and Controversies Over the Experiment (bibliography)
• Charting the Psychology of Evil (CNN slide show, Dec. 19, 2008)
• Mind Changers: The Stanford Prison Experiment (BBC Radio, Nov. 28, 2007)
• Daryl Bem Reenacts the Experiment (Zimbardo retirement dinner, Nov. 1, 2003)
• The Human Behavior Experiments (Sundance Channel, June, 2006)
• SPE: Still Powerful After All These Years (Press Release, January 8, 1997)
• Thirty-Year Retrospective (Stanford Report, August 22, 2001)
• BBC Halts "Prison Experiment" (The Guardian, January 24, 2002)
• NPR Morning Edition Segment on "Das Experiment" (Sept. 18, 2002)
• Review of Quiet Rage (Prison Legal News, July 9, 2003)

Parallels with Prisoner Abuse in Iraq:

• Stanford Experiment Foretold Iraq Scandal (San Francisco Chronicle, May 8, 2004)
• Power Turns Good Soldiers into "Bad Apples" (Zimbardo editorial, May 9, 2004)
• The Fine Line Between "Normal" and "Monster" (New York Times, May 6, 2004)
• Researcher: It's Not Bad Apples, It's the Barrel (CNN, May 21, 2004)

Other Information on Prisoner Abuse in Iraq:

• Zimbardo Helps Time Magazine Break Abu Ghraib Story (May 18, 2007)
• SPE Linked to Abu Ghraib by Investigators (August , 2004; see Appendix G)
• Investigation of the 800th Military Police Brigade (Army report, 2004)
• The Torture Question (PBS Frontline, October 18, 2005)
• Torture at Abu Ghraib (New Yorker, May 10, 2004)
• Abuse of Iraqi POWs by GIs Probed (60 Minutes II, April 29, 2004)
• Shock, Outrage Over Prison Photos (CNN, May 1, 2004)

Information on Philip G. Zimbardo:

• Home Page of Professor Philip Zimbardo
• Social Psychology Network Profile of Philip Zimbardo
• Web Site Honoring the Retirement of Philip Zimbardo
• Philip G. Zimbardo on His Career (History of Psychology)
• Zimbardo Honored by Havel Foundation (Radio Prague; see also Stanford Daily)
• Participate in Q&A with Philip Zimbardo (Stanford Open Office Hours)

The Heroic Imagination Project:

• Heroic Imagination Project (main site)
• Take the Hero Pledge (video invitation and online pledge)
• Are Heroes Born, or Can They Be Made? (Wall Street Journal)
• 20% of Americans Have Done Heroic Deeds (USA Today)
• Rescue Me! (CBC Radio, December 18, 2010)
• Dr. Zimbardo Speaking at TEDxYouth (YouTube clip)
• Zimbardo Begins Heroic Imagination Project (Stanford Daily)

Other Prison Research:

• Federal Bureau of Prisons Library
• National Archive of Criminal Justice Data
• International Centre for Prison Studies
• Commission on Safety and Abuse in America's Prisons
• The Psychological Impact of Incarceration (PDF file)

Capital Punishment:

• Death Penalty Focus
• 1000+ Death Penalty Links
• Death Penalty Facts and Figures
• Death Penalty Information Center
• Death Penalty Facts from Amnesty International
• SPSSI Position Statement on the Death Penalty

U.S. Government Sites:

• Federal Bureau of Prisons
• National Institute of Corrections
• Bureau of Justice Statistics
• Key Facts on U.S. Corrections

Prison-Related Organizations:

• American Correctional Association
• American Jail Association
• Correctional Education Association
• International Corrections and Prisons Association
• National Criminal Justice Association
• The Fortune Society

Prisoner Rights and Reform Efforts:

• Penal Reform International
• The Sentencing Project
• National Center on Institutions and Alternatives
• Human Rights Watch: The Treatment of Prisoners
• Amnesty International: No Justification for Torture

Other Prison-Related Sites:

• Prison Legal News
• Prison Talk Online
• The Corrections Connection
• National Museum of Crime and Punishment
• PAU Forensic and Correctional Psychology Program