The Artificial Prison of the Human Mind looks at the famous Zimbardo prison study at Stanford and how quickly it got out of control:
No one thought the experiment would have any big problems — the participants were just playing a short game of prison. Yet in less than a week the prisoners were becoming psychologically disturbed, and the guards disturbingly sadistic. There were riots, hunger strikes, and abusive treatment — all in the mock-up jail cells created in the halls of the Stanford psychology department. The study had to be canceled early, leaving one critical question — how could a fake prison situation become real so quickly?
The “prisoners” hadn’t done anything wrong, yet their guards treated them like subhuman filth, and when prison conditions became unbearable for the prisoners…they stayed in the prison.