Stanford Prison Experiment tested the hypothesis that the inherent personality traits of prisoners and guards are the chief cause of abusive behavior in prisons. The study converted the basement into a prison and put paid volunteers in there, some as prisoners and some as guards. “It is important to remember that at the beginning of our experiment there were no differences between boys assigned to be a prisoner and boys assigned to be a guard” (Stanford Prison Expeirment). The boys over the next day because of the “assimilation’ to the roles began to transform. The “criminals” began to have emotional distress, stopped eating and disturbed thoughts. The experiment beckons the questions of what creates a criminal? 

Criminality is not a label created by existing behind the bars of a cell, but rather a label that can be given to individuals before they are even born. It is the predetermined conception of who these individuals are supposed to be, ultimately shaping who they become. For example, in Just Mercy: a story of Justice and redemption, even the men who are entirely innocent on death row, are unable to completely free their way out of something that was already written for them. For example, Walter Mcmillian, who is black, was convicted and sentenced to death for the murder of a young white woman who worked in a laundromat in Monroeville, Alabama. A murder that Mr.McMillian did not commit nor was even present for at the crime scene. However, countless people came forward, convicting Mcmillian and testifying that they saw at the scene of the crime. Why did so many people demand an unjust justice?

Walter Mcmillian fits into a stereotype we have created. The definition of criminality is determined by those who are in power, such as lawmakers, government officials, police, and correctional institutions . Therefore, the set of distinguishing features that makes an individual deviant is defined by those who identify as the non- deviant group or the dominant group. Primarily, society’s dominant groups ( wealthy, ethnic majorities, men, etc.) manufacture and enforce deviant labels on the subordinate groups . Furthermore, the connection between stereotyping and labeling is that labelling usually follows after a belief in a stereotype which allows for the stereotyped individual then to be put under a category. For example, if you label someone as a criminal, a stereotypical belief to follow is that most criminals are black men or vice versa if you see a black man on the street, you might deem his behavior more deviant or “criminal”