Netflix recreates Stanford Prison Experiment with 30 volunteers

Summarised from 2 outlets · Updated 21 Oct, 20:44 · Archive

Netflix has produced a new version of the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, housing 30 volunteers in a Georgia correctional facility divided into guards and prisoners.

Netflix has produced a new version of the 1971 Stanford Prison Experiment, using a real county correctional facility in Georgia. The recreation houses 30 volunteers divided into two groups: 8 guards, including 3 women, and 22 male prisoners selected from a cross-section of Americans.

According to the New York Post, the producers say they are attempting to minimise outside influence, unlike the original 1971 experiment which collapsed after six days. Three experts—behavioural psychologist Alison Wood Brooks, journalist Trymaine Lee, and corrections professional Michael Cantrell—monitor the participants using robot cameras from a separate room and provide commentary. The experiment is planned to run for 14 days.

The Guardian criticises the show as reality television that falsely presents itself as science. The review argues that participants knowing they are both in a study and on television will inevitably affect their behaviour, and that people who volunteer for reality TV are not ordinary people. The Guardian compares the problem to the 1960s Milgram experiment, which made the artificiality of the setup part of the research process.

How it is being reported

• Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The New Stanford Prison Experiment’ On Netflix, Where People Volunteer To Be Inmates Or Guards In A Recreation Of A 1970s ExperimentThe producers of this recreation of the famous 1971 experiment vow that there is little to no influence on what is going on inside the prison walls.New York Post · 21 Oct, 20:30
• The New Stanford Prison Experiment review – surely no one believes this insulting TV show is real?This rehash of the notorious study in which volunteers role-play as prisoners and guards pretends to be science. It isn’t – it’s patronising reality television Television has rerun the Stanford prison experiment before, most notably in 2002 when the BBC aired The Experiment, which advertised itself as a more rigorous version of the stunt where volunteers role-play as prison guards and prisoners. The creator of the original 1971 experiment, Philip Zimbardo, would probably have criticised the new versions to preserve his own status, but the main point he made was valid. These people all know…The Guardian · 21 Oct, 08:01

In this story: Netflix · Stanford · Georgia · Philip Zimbardo · Alison Wood Brooks · Trymaine Lee · Michael Cantrell

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