blog # 25

The Stanford Prison Experiment.  1999-2009.  Web. 22 April 2011.

Hersh, Seymour M..  “American soldiers brutalized Iraqis. How far up does the responsibility go?”  The New Yorker.  May 2004.  Web.

Jane’s attitude that he had while he thought he was in power is similar to the actions performed by prison guards everyday in prisons across the world.  More specifically, the prison in Baghdad, Iraq know as the Baghdad Central Prison, or more commonly known as Abu Ghraib.  The prison guards at this prison were prosecuted for doing inhumane acts towards the prisoners held at the prison.  According to the Stanford Prison Experiment, conducted in the summer of 1971, there is evidence to show that prison guards, when wearing a uniform and having authority over prisoners, feel stripped of their identity and feel no responsibility for their actions.  This might explain why some of the Abu Ghraib prison guards may have acted in the way they did.  But can that excuse them from their actions? Should the government not press charges simply because of the evidence from this experiment? The prisoners should be held liable for their actions, no matter what any experiment says.  People must remember that the experiment was cut short after only six days and that is not sufficient evidence enough to release people from committing atrocious crimes.  The prison guards at Abu Ghraib were aware of their actions and were intentionally torturing the detainees.  “Homosexual acts are against Islamic law and it is humiliating for men to be naked in front of other men,” (Hersh).  The prson guards must have known that those actions were considered torture rather than just humialiation, and that is what makes their actions unforgiveable.