Under the control of guards, who "were given considerable leeway to improvise and develop prisoner management strategies and tactics" (Zimbardo 316) . Prisoners were treated inhumanely, similarly under the supervision of legitimate guards in real-life prisons. Part of Zimbardo's findings involved the fact that citizens who became guards took on the role with surprising ease, demonstrating the ease with which a "normal" citizen succumbed to the pressures resulting from the inclusion of the authority figure and his responsibilities. “You can't be a prisoner if no one will be your guard, and you can't be a prison guard if no one takes you or your prison seriously.” (Zimbardo 316) This relationship leads to the guards' sense of mastery and control which sows depression and desperation in the prisoners. Due to the humiliating and childish treatment of prisoners, for example, "Prisoners were forced to get permission from the guard for simple and routine activities... such as going to the bathroom" (Zimbardo 315), and having to turn to fellow prisoners based on identification number alone, prisoners' masculinity and independence deteriorate leading to loss of freedom, civil rights and privacy, "while those called "guards" gain social power by accepting the responsibility to control and manage life of their dependents". (Zimbardo 315). They selected “only those judged to be emotionally stable, physically healthy, mature, and law-abiding citizens” (Zimbardo 314) in order to maintain a homogeneous population of subjects so that they could test what prison brings out in people instead of what it people could bring. to a prison environment. Given these damaging effects on an individual's esteem and self-esteem, combined with isolation and mistreatment, it is not surprising that a number of prisoners have had to be released