Topic: The Stanford Prison Experiment

For this week’s discussion, review the Stanford Prison Experiment. This is a famous psychology experiment to measure the effects of perceived power and how this could impact behavior. It is an important study of how law enforcement officers and corrections offices can abuse their position and violate both ethical standards and laws.

• Reflect on what you have learned about the ethical standards and code of ethics. Why are these so important in light of the results of the Stanford Prison Experiment?
• If you were a warden, what policies would you implement to restrain the potential for correctional officers to abuse their power? To conform to the rules? To adhere to ethical principles?

Below are suggested keywords to try on the SEARCH page of this guide and in any of the suggested databases below.

• stanford prison experiment
• stanford prison experiment psychology
• stanford prison experiment ethics
• abuse of power law enforcement
• ethics in law enforcement

Finding Journal Articles and other Publications

To search for reputable journal articles, search ProQuest Criminal Justice, a subset of ProQuest Central that focuses just on the law enforcement-related journals provided by ProQuest. This helps focus your research and cuts out publication types unlikely to have good info on this topic like newspapers.

Finding Articles in Reference Sources - Dictionaries and Encyclopedias 

Looking for a great database to begin your research? Credo Reference and Gale eBooks provides simple topic overviews. Below is an example search from Credo Reference:

Finding Audio/Visual Materials 

Looking for more than just articles? Alexander Street Video and Films on Demand offer great visual materials.