Though the experiment was designed to last for 14 days, it had to be stopped after just 6 days.
It had to be stopped because of what was happening to the participants.
The interactions(交互作用） between the prisoners and guards had become hostile and degrading.（可耻）
The guards had become aggressive and brutal, and the prisoners were passive（消极） and depressed.
As a result, five of the prisoners had to be released early because of the severe negative emotions.
Even the researchers were affected(受到影响), and began to overlook(忽略） what was happening.
Instead of halting（停止） the experiment, they let it continue.
They themselves had become dehumanized(失去人性） by the situation they had designed.
Finally，they realized that experiment had to be stopped.
What this experiment demonstrates(论证） is the powerful effect（强大的影响） that situations can have on human behavior.
Given the position and power, people can begin to behave differently than they normally would.
They can begin to behave in an aggressive manner, while those with no power can become passive and depressed.
In other words, the experiment shows that situations can cause abusive(虐待） behavior.
There are some important criticisms of this experiment.
One criticism is that it is an example of unethical(不道德的） research.
It went on longer than it should have.
It is also unrepresentative(不典型的） since the participants were mostly white, middle-class males.
Despite the criticism, the experiment remains an important study of human behavior.
Recent examples of the Stanford Effect may include the treatment of prisoners of war by American soldiers in the Iraq (伊拉克）war.
Other possible examples include bullying at school and gang（帮派） behavior.
According to the head researcher, Philip Zimbardo, it helps to explain how ordinary people sometimes turn evil.
If situation do influence human behavior, then managing situations can be a way of controlling people.