Me: Dr. Zimbardo, thank you so much for agreeing to this interview. I have been studying your most famous experiment for years and I find                 myself with so many important questions to ask. 

Zimbardo: But of course, it's nice to finally have someone see the genius and validity of my experiment. 

Me: So to start, I was wondering what gave you the idea that situations have such a strong influence on behavior and personality? It seems to              be such a novel notion that situational forces could be so powerful. 

Zimbardo: I became aware of the congruence between good and evil and, once aware, you cannot see only one and not the other. It is                                   possible for angels to become devils and, perhaps more difficult to conceive, for devils to become angels. 

Me: It's interesting... it seems to be that this idea stemmed from religious beliefs?

Zimbardo: Perhaps this reminds you of the ultimate transformation of good into evil, the metamorphosis of Lucifer                                                              into Satan. Lucifer, the "light bearer," was God's favorite angel until he challenged God's authority and was cast into Hell along                            with his band of fallen angels. But it is not only religion which proves my point. 

Me: What else has inspired your beliefs?

Zimbardo: It can be seen in the example of Agamemnon who said, "The whole people must be wiped out of existence...." These vile words                           come from a noble citizen of one of the most civilized nation-states of its time, the home of philosophy, jurispudence, and                                   classical drama. 

Me: From these analogies , it seems to me that you are implying that even the best of us could act in an evil manner given the right situation. 

Zimbardo: Yes, and that is precisely what the Stanford Prison Experiment showcases!

Me: But, Dr. Zimbardo, there have been numerous findings which have debunked the experiment, from claims of coaching the guards to                      questions of the design. 

Zimbardo: The criticism that you’re raising, that Blum raised, that others are raising, is that we told the guards to do what they ended up                              doing. And therefore, [the results were due to] obedience to authority, and it’s not the evolution of cruel behavior in the                                      situation of a prison-like environment. And I reject that.

Me: Perhaps, we'll come back to that... Moving to a less controversial topic, I wanted to ask you about the basis for your design. How did you             ever think of putting people in a prison and then studying their behavior? 

 Zimbardo: This idea stemmed from an event which took place between police and college students on campus. Of the event, a Stanford                                report described a level of violence that had never been seen on this bucolic campus. Police were called to campus at least                                thirteen times and hard feelings arose between the Stanford college community, on the one side, and the Palo Alto police and                              hard-line, "hawk" townies, on the other. Police Chief Zurcher and I agreed that it would be interesting to study how men become                          socialized into the role of police officers and what went into transforming a rookie into a "good cop." However, that would                                    require a big grant that I didn't have. But I did have a small grant to study what went into the making of a prison guard, since                              that was a role narrower in function as well as in territory. 

Me: From everything you've said, it appears that the main point of your experiment was the guards, rather than the prisoners.  However, from              my point of view, the prisoners behavior offers the most genuine and valid evidence from this experiment. 

Zimbardo: Yes, indeed. I was more concerned with how the guards would behave in a situation when given power and opportunity to be                                 cruel, rather than the effect on the prisoners. 

Me: Interesting. well thank you for your time Dr. Zimbardo. This has been very enlightening.