What Type of Guard Would You Have Become?
by I believe that I would have become a “good guard,” although this probably means I would not make a particularly good prison guard in real life. As a registered nurse who worked in a real county jail, I found myself sympathizing far more with the prisoners than with the often abusive corrections officers.
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. My personal beliefs along with my training and many years of experience as an RN would prevent me from becoming a sadistic prison guard. I would tend to be sympathetic to the prisoners, trying to help them along during their incarcerations. I would try to shield them the best I could from the abuse of other guards. Indeed, as an RN in a county jail, I often did try to shield real prisoners from what I saw as unwarranted abuse from some of the officers. Even hardcore gang members could see I was trying to help them and liked me personally. It didn’t mean that we became friends and I certainly would never try to illegally get a prisoner out of jail. However, even people in prison are people. So, I would try to speak reasonably with prisoners, empathize with them and advise them about how to best serve out their terms without engaging the wrath of the other guards. Having worked in a real-life jail, I am very sure about what my reactions and actions would be in the Stanford Prison Experiment scenario.
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