Resources

 New resource: 30-minute DVD of the study

In response to increasing demand, it is now possible to obtain a DVD telling the scientific story of the BBC Prison Study. This has been produced through collaboration between the researchers and Online Classroom, a specialist producer of video-based educational resources.

In the main 30-minute presentation the researchers address key issues related to, and arising from, the study. This analysis is interwoven with extensive original footage from the study itself and is organized into five sections: (1) Setting Up, (2) Early Days, (3) Conflict and Order, (4) Rise and Fall of the Commune, and (5) Conclusions. 

The DVD also contains a range of useful additional features, making it a perfect resource for teachers and lecturers. These include discussion of the ethical issues raised by the study, Q&A sessions with the researchers, presentation of quantitative findings, and an analysis of differences from the Stanford Prison Experiment. Key terms and concepts are also clearly flagged.

The DVD costs £48 (or around US$75). A preview clip can be accessed on the right-hand side of this page. Further clips are available at the Online Classroom website, as well as purchasing details.  [Note: The DVD contains no potentially offensive language and is suitable for all classroom demonstrations.]

In February 2009 the DVD was reviewed by Psychology teacher Mark Holah on the influential Psychblog website. He wrote:

"The authors of the study have collaborated with onlineclassroom.tv and produced an excellent DVD which takes the viewer (student) through the important stages of their experiment. This is easily the best DVD that Online Classroom have produced so far in terms of editing, animation and use of original footage.  More importantly [... the researchers ...] take the viewer (student) through an easy to understand and enthusiastic step-by-step description of their study.... I will be using the DVD as a revision lesson for my students this year and because of this will do a much better job of teaching this fab study next year".

The full Psychblog review can be accessed here.   

 

Original DVDs of the study

DVDs presenting the four one-hour programmes (Conflict, Order, Rebellion and Tyranny) of The Experiment are available from BBC Active and Pearson Education.

These are accompanied by a 140-page manual written by the researchers, as well as a full 190-page transcript of the programmes.

A flyer allowing the DVDs to be purchased at reduced price is available here.

If you want to order these via e-mail, please contact the publishers here.