Social Psychology Film Review: Das Experiment

I wrote a review on Das Experiment and incorporated what I have learned in Social Psychology into my analysis. In other words, this write up is mainly from a sociological perspective.

I got a B for this film review.

Das Experiment

The grim and solitary nature of a prison is proven to have power of its own. Once it is constructed, it becomes independent and coercive towards the occupants, both the inmates and the guards. It is a symbol of power and sets as a reminder to everyone of the consequences should anyone breaks a law or challenges an authority. By setting up a 'real' prison at the basement of a university in Das Experiment, the volunteers are exposed to a situation where they can readily internalize the roles of prisoners and guards. The guards turn sadistic and powerful in the experiment due to the constraint they could impose upon the inmates, with the availability of a gas pistol owned by Eckert and batons as weapons as well as having a complete access of the surveillance facilities towards the end of the experiment. In addition, the ever existing absolute power hierarchy in the prison between the inmates (as subordinates) and the guards (as super ordinates) allows the guards to exercise physical abuse with no restraint. Symbolic mobilization also comes into play with the guards and inmates wearing their respective uniforms. Equipped with all these accessories, the volunteers who are assigned guard role are able to play their authoritarian roles extremely well. Resources provide the basis of a group's power over others (Sandstrom et al. 2005: 140).

Professor Thon offers 4000 marks to anyone who is willing to be a volunteer for his experiment. Since he has the monetary power, he is able to induce people into abiding his instructions and rules (Sandstrom et al. 2005). For example, before the guards assume their roles, Professor Thon says to the guards that they should play their roles dutifully in order to secure the monetary rewards. Professor Thon gains respect from these guards and when troubles arise, they choose to consult Professor Thon over Dr Grim for direction. Another factor that contributes to Professor Thon being regarded highly by the guards as compared to Dr Grim is that the former is a male. In this patriarchy world, people choose to see and respect man as someone who is more decisive and powerful to woman. This can be seen in a scene in which she is ignored when she approaches Berus to tell him that if he continues to physically abuse the inmates, he will be disqualified. The incident happens even though Dr Grim has actually higher authority than Berus in the experiment. Such scene may not happen should Dr Grim is a man. Hence, due to the uneven distribution of power between man and woman, the guards refuse to follow Dr Grim's order of suspending the experiment as they see themselves as superior than Dr Grim and choose to resume performing their role as abusive guards.

Tarek Fahd is a journalist. He volunteers himself to get the monetary rewards as well as to be able to write a ground breaking story for the paper his is working with. Tarek, who is also known as 77, wants to write a compelling story and hence, becomes a trouble maker and challenges the guards. In one scene, Tarek purposely wants to make Berus angry. By putting himself in Berus's shoes, he knows that speaking overtly about Berus's bad body odour will agitate Berus. This is role-taking where Tarek makes a prediction about Berus getting angry should he comments openly on Berus's body odour (Sandstrom et al. 2005). Hence, he aligns his performance to be a trouble-maker and a daring inmate towards Berus so that he can accomplish his personal goal of ridiculing and angering Berus. Instead of being a 'normal' prisoner who is subordinated to the guards, Tarek purposely modifies the role of the prisoner he wants to be (Sandstrom et al. 2005). Berus is very angry with Tarek for ridiculing his body odour and is seen gripping the baton. Tarek sees Berus's angry reaction. However, knowing that this is an experiment and thinking that Berus can never hit him with the baton, Tarek further challenges Berus. Tarek knows that injuring the inmates during the experiment is wrong and if Berus physically abuses him, Berus will be penalized. This is again role-taking. Therefore, Tarek continues with his daring performance and dares Berus to hit him (role-making). Such action makes him a hero in the eyes of the other inmates but a sore in the eyes of the guards.

The continuous instable relationship between the guards and the inmates amount to the use of aggression by the former. In a scene where Tarek cages two guards and the whole inmates making noises beyond the control of the guards, the guards resort to the use of force. However, before they proceed to the cells, the guards assure the other guards (including Bosch) who question the use of such force, saying that they are only establishing order in the prison even though the actions may be improper. This is an example of a disclaimer (Sandstrom et al. 2005). The lights are switched off and the guards spray fire extinguishers at the inmates. The inmates are told to strip off their clothes and sleep naked. When Professor Thon asks the guards why they do such things, they say that they need to go to such an extent in order to maintain order in the prison. Here, the guards justify their action and do not want Professor Thon to see their acts as deviant or improper. They are also defining the situation in which they see the prisoners are acting inappropriately (disobeying the guards' instructions) and hence, the need to use additional coercion to maintain order and to let the inmates know who is in-charge. In fact, Eckert, one of the guards, implies during the interview that it should not a big issue since none of the inmates gets hurt. In this case where excuses and some technique of neutralization are involved, Eckert acknowledges that what the guards have done is wrong but denies responsibility of it since injury has not be caused and the action is done for higher purpose (Sandstrom et al. 2005).

Tarek, upon getting abuse from the guards, tends to resort to role distancing. He will think about Dora, a girl whom he has a sexual relationship with, in order to forget temporarily his role as a prisoner. However, when he is not dreaming of Dora, he actually embraces the role of a prisoner who has no power and authority towards the guards. The role embracement is to an extreme extent that one night, Tarek wakes up feeling breathless and Steinhoff, his cellmate, recognizing it as panic attack, comes to his rescue (Sandstrom et al. 2005). Similarly, some of the inmates develop trauma and become withdrawn. Two inmates are even hospitalized.

As discussed in class, there are four processes of constructing deviance. The first one is banning. It involves moral entrepreneurs and rule enforcers. In this film, I see Berus as the moral entrepreneur. When the inmates get out-of-hand and defy the authority exercised by the guards, Berus tells his group that they can get the respect they deserve by practicing humiliation towards the inmates. Soon, Berus becomes the leader of the group and whatever he says matter. The rest of the guards become the rule enforcers, who continuously humiliate and resort to violence in order to command respect from the inmates and to ensure that the rules are abided by. The deviant is seen as someone who refuses to listen to the guards' order. The second process is detecting. Disobeying an order is readily observable and it is made more obvious by the physical design of the prison in which the inmates are constantly in full view, the presence of surveillance camera and the deployment of guards to monitor the cells. The third process is called attribution. The guards may see the inmates' refusal to adhere to the rules as a sign of power struggle. The inmates purposely challenge the guards in order to show that the inmates are the ones in-charge and the guards have no power to use physical force against them since it is only an experiment. Hence, the guards' pride is at stake since the master status of a prison guard as someone powerful in prison is underplayed by a group of people who is usually stigmatized or socially devalued in public. This explains the use of coercive means by them to get the inmates' respect. Lastly, the process of constructing deviance involves reacting. The guards are compelled to react to deviant act of prisoners because it threatens the order in the prison. Furthermore, their rule-reinforcements will be seen by Professor Thon as something credible and hence will be rewarded more. They also think that the deviant prisoners have failed to learn from their previous experiences. These processes have profound effects on the inmates objectively and subjectively. For example, the inmates receive physical abuse from the guards as well as becoming more frighten at the sight of a guard that some of the inmates develop psychological trauma and wanting to withdraw from the experiment (Sandstrom et al. 2005).

In conclusion, the prison setting has indeed becomes independent with its own rules and order. In it, it gives the prison guards absolute authority over the inmates. Due to the solitary and grim outlook of the prison allow both groups to assimilate their roles quickly. The trouble-maker, Tarek, who does not conform to the conventional prison order where the inmates should adhere to the rules and orders mete out by the guards is singled out and is exposed to various torture. Once the prison order is being continuously jeopardized, the guards become less hesitant to use violence against all the inmates who are socially devalued.

References

Readings
Sandstrom, Kent, Daniel Martin, and Gary Alan Fine. 2005. “Role taking, role making, and the coordination of action.” Pp. 125‐147 in Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality. Los Angeles: Roxbury.
Sandstrom, Kent, Daniel Martin, and Gary Alan Fine. 2005. “The Politics of Social Reality: Constructing and Negotiating Deviance.” Pp. 151‐177 in Symbols, Selves, and Social Reality. Los Angeles: Roxbury.
Film
Das Experiment by Oliver Hirschbiegel