this week president obama spoke clearly about the moral imperative of prison reform. we ll talk more about that in the next hour. what about the ethical impact of prison itself? how does one maintain a moral compass with power over others particularly those that society has judged to be deserving of punishment? in august 1971 stanford university professor sought to study the psychology of prison by simulating it in a makeshift jail on the university campus. the subjects were randomly divided into groups of guards and prisoners and made to follow a strict regime. very early on many of the guards became overzealous, some might even say sadistic degrading punishments that included beatings psychological torture and solitary confinement. traumatized volunteers sought to drop out of the study and