Since I had been told I could not quit the experiment, my only way to leave before its conclusion was to be “paroled.”
Before meeting with the “parole board” I was still able to smile during line-ups.
I had experienced enough of the experiment and decided I wanted to be released before the upcoming Monday when I would turn 20.
The parole board gave me an eye-opening experience. I was treated as if I had been convicted of a crime. No one seemed to believe that I was innocent, despite such a crime having never happened.
It made me think of innocent people in jail who have been wrongly convicted.
Source: exhibits.stanford.edu/spe – Image