The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil Hardcover – March 27, 2007
Author: Philip Zimbardo ID: 1400064112
From Publishers Weekly
Psychologist Zimbardo masterminded the famous Stanford Prison Experiment, in which college students randomly assigned to be guards or inmates found themselves enacting sadistic abuse or abject submissiveness. In this penetrating investigation, he revisits—at great length and with much hand-wringing—the SPE study and applies it to historical examples of injustice and atrocity, especially the Abu Ghraib outrages by the U.S. military. His troubling finding is that almost anyone, given the right “situational” influences, can be made to abandon moral scruples and cooperate in violence and oppression. (He tacks on a feel-good chapter about “the banality of heroism,” with tips on how to resist malign situational pressures.) The author, who was an expert defense witness at the court-martial of an Abu Ghraib guard, argues against focusing on the dispositions of perpetrators of abuse; he insists that we blame the situation and the “system” that constructed it, and mounts an extended indictment of the architects of the Abu Ghraib system, including President Bush. Combining a dense but readable and often engrossing exposition of social psychology research with an impassioned moral seriousness, Zimbardo challenges readers to look beyond glib denunciations of evil-doers and ponder our collective responsibility for the world’s ills. 23 photos. (Apr. 3)
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From Booklist
Social psychologist Zimbardo is best known as the father of the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, which used a simulated prison populated with student volunteers to illustrate the extent to which identity is situated within a social setting; student volunteers randomly chosen to play guards became cruel and authoritarian, while those playing inmates became rebellious and depressed. With this book, Zimbardo couples a thorough narrative of the Stanford Prison Experiment with an analysis of the social dynamics of the Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq, arguing that the “experimental dehumanization” of the former is instructive in understanding the abusive conduct of guards at the latter. This comparison, which is the book’s core insight, is embedded in a sprawling discussion about situational influences that cobbles together a discussion of the psychology of evil, a strong criticism of the Bush administration, and a chapter celebrating heroism and calling for greater social bravery. This account’s Abu Ghraib focus will generate demand. Brendan Driscoll
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Hardcover: 576 pagesPublisher: Random House; 1st edition (March 27, 2007)Language: EnglishISBN-10: 1400064112ISBN-13: 978-1400064113 Product Dimensions: 6.2 x 1.5 x 9.5 inches Shipping Weight: 2 pounds Best Sellers Rank: #406,976 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #211 in Books > Health, Fitness & Dieting > Psychology & Counseling > Reference #3455 in Books > Medical Books > Psychology > General #7969 in Books > Self-Help > Personal Transformation
Zimbardo’s Stanford prison experiment from the early 70’s used college students for a study, making half of them prisoners and the other half guards. With instructions meant to polarize, the worst in human nature quickly came out, and the experiment had to be discontinued prematurely. Unlike other important studies, this one could not be duplicated because of ethical concerns, but many similar studies have been done – most of them validating Zimbardo’s result: that with few exceptions, the best of us can be coerced to perform evil acts under the right social circumstances. A book about Zimbardo’s findings is long overdue. The incident at Abu Ghraib and his participation in the trial sparked his enthusiasm to share this story with us.
Chapter I – According to the story in the Bible, Lucifer, God’s favorite angel, challenged God’s authority – thus began the transformation of Lucifer into Satan. Zimbardo finds here an analogy to the situation in all wars, where men routinely justify being inhumane to other men, despite clear direction otherwise from the Geneva Convention.
Chapters II – IX – Zimbardo had 24-hour audio and video surveillance of the prison and kept meticulous written notes. He presents verbatim transcripts of tense conversation and photographs. A variety of situations from world history are presented showing disturbing descriptions of torture, rape, and general abuse of a captured, helpless enemy. He then draws analogies between real history and the Stanford prison experiment.
Chapters X – XI – Elaboration on the importance, ethical considerations, and notoriety of the Stanford prison experiment. If you Google "experiment," the first website listed is this one, out of a potential 300 million.
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