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"What you are doing to those boys is a terrible thing!"
What followed was a heated argument between us. That was espe-
cially scary for me, because Phil seemed to be so different from the man
I thought I knew, someone who loves students and cares for them in ways
that were already legendary at the university. He was not the same man
that I had come to love, someone who is gentle and sensitive to the needs
of others and surely to mine. We had never had an argument before of this
intensity. Instead of being close and in tune with each other, we seemed to
be on opposite sides of some great chasm. Somehow, the transformation in
Phil (and in me as well) and the threat to our relationship was unexpected
and shocking. I don't remember how long the fight went on, but I felt it
was too long and too traumatic.
What I do know is that eventually Phil acknowledged what I was say-
ing, apologized for his treatment of me, and realized what had been gradu-
ally happening to him and everyone else in the study: that they had all
internalized a set of destructive prison values that distanced them from
their own humanitarian values. And at that point, he owned up to his re-
sponsibility as creator of this prison and made the decision to call the ex-
periment to a halt. By then it was well past midnight, so he decided to end
it the next morning, after contacting all the previously released prisoners,
and calling in all the guard shifts for a full round of debriefings of guards,
prisoners, and then everyone together. A great weight was lifted from
him, from me, and from our personal relationship.
23
YOU'RE MALE CAMELS, NOW HUMP THEM
I returned to the dungeon relieved and even exhilarated by the decision to abort
the mission. I couldn't wait to share the news with Curt Banks, who had done
yeoman's duty servicing the video patrol at various times of the day and night,
despite having a family to tend to as well. He too was delighted and told me that
172 The Lucifer Effect
he was going to recommend ending the study as soon as possible after what he
had witnessed while I was gone. We were sorry Craig was not here tonight to
share our end-game joy.
The calm demeanor displayed by Clay-416, after what should have been a
stressful ordeal, has angered Hellmann. He cascades into a 1 A.M. count to end all
counts. The sad, dwindling cadre of only five remaining prisoners (416, 2093,
5486, 5704, and 7258) wearily lines up against the wall to recite their numbers,
rules, and songs. No matter how well they do their chores, someone is punished
in various ways. They are yelled at, cursed, and made to say abusive things to
each other. "Tell him he's a prick!" yells Hellman, and one prisoner turns to say
that to the next. Then the sexual harassment that started to bubble up last night
resumes as testosterone flows freely in every direction.
Hellman shouts out to all of them, "See that hole in the ground? Now do
twenty-five push-ups, fucking that hole! You hear me!" One after another, the pris-
oners obey as Burdan shoves them down to do their duty.
After a brief consultation between John Wayne and his little sidekick, Bur-
dan, a new sexual game is devised. "Okay, now pay attention. You three are going
to be female camels. Get over here and bend over touching your hands to the
floor." (When they do, their naked butts are exposed since they are wearing no
underwear beneath their smock-dresses.) Hellmann continues with obvious glee,
"Now you two, you're male camels. Stand behind the female camels and hump
them."
Burdan giggles at this double entendre. Although their bodies never touch,
the helpless prisoners are simulating sodomy by making thrusting motions of
humping. They are dismissed back to their cells as the guards retreat to their
quarters, clearly feeling that they have earned their night's salary. My nightmare
from last night is coming true. I am glad that now I can control it by ending it all
tomorrow.
It is hard to imagine that such sexual humiliation could happen in only five
days, when the young men all know that this is a simulated prison experiment.
Moreover, initially they all recognized that the "others" were also college students
like themselves. Given that they were all randomly assigned to play these con-
trasting roles, there were no inherent differences between the two categories.
They all began the experience as seemingly good people. Those who were guards
knew that but for the random flip of a coin they could have been wearing the pris-
oner smocks and been controlled by those they were now abusing. They also
knew that the prisoners had done nothing criminally wrong to deserve their
lowly status. Yet, some guards have transformed into perpetrators of evil, and
other guards have become passive contributors to the evil through their inaction.
Still other normal, healthy young men as prisoners have broken down under
the situational pressures, while the remaining surviving prisoners have become
zombie-like followers.
24
Thursday's Reality Confrontations
173
The power of this situation ran swiftly and deeply through most of those
on this exploratory ship of h u m a n nature. Only a few were able to resist the
situational temptations to yield to power and dominance while maintaining
some semblance of morality and decency. Obviously, I was not among that noble
class.
CHAPTER NINE
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