As for the SPE, a central issue for me was the theme of 'depersonalisation' - ie. the structure of the experiment induced people to take up personalities which they thought fit in with the unequal power relations and through which they could understand their actions and situation. Maybe that's not the Kosher interpretation of it, but I don't think it is an entirely bad one. And supplementing what Wojtek wrote, the subjects didn't only fill in roles as one would in a play: they really tried to become what they imagined a screw or prisoner to be. And they seemingly enjoyed it: John Wayne (the particularly enthusiastic guard, who was described as a mild mannered, intelligent and pleasant person outside of the experiment) would harass the prisoners when the psychologists could not see him do it, and persisted in such behaviour even when told not to. Confronted by the prisoners, John Wayne said he had to be thoroughly sadistic otherwise the role would not be adequately filled. To some degree, I think, the idea of a role takes on the character of an apology here. But what do we make of the prisoner who got sick and was harassed by the guards and prisoners alike to the point he had to leave - only to demand to be let back in to prove he was not a "bad prisoner"?
Thiago Oppermann
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