(no subject)

[brynndragon]

Someone on my friend's list posted this over the weekend: You Can't Be a Sweet Cucumber in a Barrel of Vinegar
It's an interview with Philip Zimbardo, a situational psychologist whose greatest work and most painful experience is the Stanford Prison Experiment, who talks about his work and Abu Ghraib. From the interview:
"It's not the bad apples, it's the bad barrels that corrupt good people. Understanding the abuses at this Iraqi prison starts with an analysis of both the situational and systematic forces operating on those soldiers working the night shift in that 'little shop of horrors.'"

Comments

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

I like Zimbardo's idea of transparent prisons, where the treatment of prisoners is public knowledge. I think the idea is if the barrel is large enough it can't be nearly as bad. But I wonder how effective that would be - in the SPE the prisons were video-taped 24-7 and it didn't seem to change a damn thing. However, it might make a difference depending on who is watching at the other end. The prison warden is not the same as the press or the public.

[greyhame.livejournal.com]

I think that's key. If you know -- in the back of your head -- that your actions are being recorded, but that the recordings will be seen only by a superior officer or by a researcher, it's not going to have the same impact on your behavior as if you know that the video is streaming live to prisonwatch.gov.

Of course, there are other problems with that idea (though they may not outweigh the benefits) -- prisoners certainly forfeit, for the duration of their imprisonment, a large portion of their normal rights, including most of their right to privacy. But do we risk getting into humiliating exposure/cruel and unusual punishment territory if we've got a 24/7 prison-cell toilet webcam running on the taxpayer's dime? (On the other hand, if the cameras are restricted to the hallways, mess halls, rec rooms and other common areas of the prison, is that sufficient or will the abuse simply go on in the off-camera areas?) I'm just thinking out loud here.

[null4096.livejournal.com]

You're not cynical enough, my friend. I bet a lot of people like the idea of prisoners being abused and may even demand it...especially if the prisoners are of a different race than the people watching.