Breaking open the jail gates: Debating leadership, conformity and dissent within the Stanford Prison Experiment

It is now possible to debate the processes involved in the Stanford Prison Experiment, and the broader nature of human cruelty, because the original materials from the study are now publicly accessible. Thanks to this access we can now see how leadership permeated the study from start to finish. While social norms of harshness may have played a key role in the Stanford Prison Experiment, these did not arise spontaneously but rather were carefully crafted and activated by the experimenters. These insights not only advance our understanding of the original research, but also contribute to a growing body of work on the importance of identity and leadership for the emergence of cruelty.