When a person is given a certain role, has a life state he has never had before, and is exposed to the sweetness of power and authority, will his inner moral standards or values still stick to the bottom line? Or become vulnerable, end up ruining the three views, allow corruption to breed in the new environment, corrode the original self, and lose the true self?
1. Role-playing
Mead believes that the formation of the concept of "self" influences the role-playing of individuals. In the film, the characters create the distinctions of status and power that are effective in the prison situation, when all voluntarily assume the roles of their subjects, as well as those underlying rules, the dictatorship of the guard and the humility of the criminal. When these role-playing games are no longer a game, power becomes the trigger for all this behavior. In addition to violence, the means of torturing people are ever-changing. For the 4,000 thousand marks, everyone began to consciously assume their roles. After they all found their positions in the prison, the prison guards began to realize that these powers were real. They were in a real prison, wearing real police uniforms. With real electric prods, they manage a group of prisoners. They suppress the resistance of the criminals with practical actions. In the prison, they become different from usual. "The criminals, let them understand that they are the biggest in the prison; and these criminals also began to resist in their own way, and began to enter the role of criminals, perform their duties, and create chaos again and again. The "prisoners" resisted being incarcerated. The guards retaliated quickly and brutally. They stripped the prisoner naked, removed the prisoner's bed, dragged the leader of the rebellion into solitary confinement, and began harassing the "prisoner", even punishing No. 77 humiliatingly. It wasn't long before the "prisoners" began to obey the guards unconditionally. Gradually, everyone has been assimilated by the prison environment, and they have become comfortable with their own identities. The prisoners have become quiet and fearful, learning to submit to the majesty of the prison guards and not anger them; the prison guards are more violent, They start doing what this identity is supposed to do, and they don't realize what the consequences will be. They just enjoy the sense of supremacy that these powers bring them, these joys that they can never feel in reality. They all start trying to do their "jobs", willingly or unwillingly. The influence of the prison environment has been deeply rooted in their bodies like a cancer. However, the existence of No. 77 and the irreconcilable contradiction between him and Boris has promoted the development of the whole experiment, which reflects the instinctive maintenance of their own interests (basic needs, safety needs, self-esteem needs) after entering the role state. ) self-behavior.
2. Frustration-aggression theory
Dollard pointed out that human aggression is caused by individual frustration. In the film, Boris's role has changed the most, and his changes in how he behaves directly exposes his inner weakness. From a devout prayer to an aggravating abuser or a perverted totalizer, from a submissive soft guy to a manic man, from feeling the pleasure of others after exercising power and gradually imitating the violence of others The obvious shift from the uncontrollable use of violence to the constant forgiveness of self-criminalism in the name of God reveals Boris' original failure and intense frustration in real life. He does not have a beautiful wife, lovely children, happy family. All cover up, can not change the situation of his failure, the whole body stinks, life is also a mess. Experiments are fake, but some things are real. The cracks in life, the failure of life, when he has a way to vent, it will definitely explode, so he exposes the most terrible and ugliest side of human nature. In the use of power, he gradually experienced a strong sense of self-existence that he had never had before, and gradually lost and forgot about himself.
3. Looking for a scapegoat In
the knowledge of the transfer and elimination of aggression, it is believed that looking for a scapegoat is one of the effective ways to vent self-dissatisfaction and anger. In the film, Boris builds his resentment on No. 77, insults him, tortures him, abuses him, and constantly challenges No. 77's inner bottom line. From the initial fear of not being able to get the reward and the cruel psychology, Burris later cared more about being satisfied with the joy of being able to trample on other people's dignity and control other people's lives at will, and No. 77 was the most unwilling to submit and the most peculiar among many prisoners. A typical example of independent behavior, unfortunately became a scapegoat. The more resistance of the 77th, the more angered and aroused the uncontrollable control and aggression of Boris's authority, so the more vicious circle, the two eventually broke down from a good relationship into a deadly enemy.
4. Obey authority
Milgram pointed out that there are five factors that affect obedience, the authority of the commander, the support and obedience of others, the moral level and personality characteristics of the obedient, the degree of proximity to the authority, and the feedback of the consequences of the behavior. In the film, after enjoying the feeling of being obeyed, the prison guard Boris, who had a good relationship with No. 77, also began to deal with No. 77 and all the prisoners with what he had suffered in a group before. These prison guards, initially At first, they just thought it was just a game, but in order to get 4,000 marks, they tried to integrate into the identity of prison guards, but when they used their power to solve a crisis, the temptation of power made them completely The fall, so they began to use power indiscriminately, lynching, beating prisoners, and leading to the death of a prisoner. The biggest reason for these is the group effect driven by No. 77's disobedience and the sense of authority of Boris. results of group behavioral confrontation. And because the majority of prison guards have weak superego, this group effect makes the prison guards constantly expose the ugly side of their human nature. Because they are not one person but a group of people, their behavior is neither objected nor Being excluded, the black jailer with a strong superego became the target of blows.
The debate between good and evil at the origin of human nature is an eternal topic, but the degree of good and evil of human nature is determined at birth, and it will not change with the changes of the environment, but we must stick to our moral bottom line, restrain our instincts, and firmly. Be a person who conforms to social moral standards.
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