The Dark Side of Science: The Robbers Cave Experiment 1954 (Short Documentary)

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The real life Lord of the Flies or The Robbers Cave experiment took place during 1954 in Robbers Cave State Park, Oklahoma, with 22 children.

The experiment conducted by Muzafer Sherif and Carolyn Wood Sherif sought out to see what would happen if two groups kept separate from one another would produce friction.

It is the first example of a study focusing on intergroup behavior, but the results would be the two groups of children fighting, stealing and burning flags.

00:00 Intro
01:59 Background
09:32 Finding 22 Children
13:02 The Real Life Lord of the Flies
27:16 Criticism
30:15 Rating

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[PlainlyDifficult]

Would you have enjoyed being in the Robbers Cave Experiment? 

Any suggestions for a future Dark Side of Science video? Let me know in the comments!

[jdlightsey]

Very interesting that the children in the 1953 experiment correctly identified that the real outgroup was the researchers rather than the artificial outgroup of other children created by the researchers.

[levitator]

this is such a 90's kids' movie plot. Summer camp, secret scientists, rivalries, tasks, bullying, and a happy ending with a moral of the story

[toospooky]

My take: I might have been lied to, but if I had paid $260 and found out my son had actually outsmarted a bunch of University professors i would be very proud of him.

[slamshift]

"When preteens were given weapons!"

I was like 9 years old when I got my first pocket knife, in the 90s. Granted it had all of a 2" blade, but learning to use a small tool knife responsibly is something I think most children should learn.

[FeatherRanching]

It warms my heart to think about a group of children realizing that they're the subjects of an experiment, and rallying against the researchers!

[Lilybun]

As someone who was at a summer camp as a child that immediately formed tribalistic conflict and devolved into violence because the only adult in the camp didnt keep an eye on us I feel like I've gone through a similar experience. It got to the point where a kid got rushed off to a hospital due to sharpened stick related injuries.

Based on my anecdotal experience I doubt the researchers behavior was required to incite violence or that intergroup mending at the end.

[MV-uodq]

Interesting that you consider the knives as prizes in a summer camp as "weapons". My mind immediately thought of them as fitting wilderness survival tools.

[hoodedferret]

It's extremely reassuring that if you show people/children who the real out-group is that manipulates others into situations like these, there is a chance they will unite to revolt against the true out-group.

[Catlily]

The real life Lord of the Flies actually ended well. 6 boys who wrecked on a Pacific Island near Tonga actually helped each other survive for more than a year. They were also different races. This shows that such situations can actually end well (especially when they don't have researchers antagonizing them).

[kae]

Honestly, as a teacher, I think the 1953 experiment sounds downright funny. The researchers were so careless and the children were a lot more clever than they were given credit for. I'd love to hear a bit more out of it, but I suppose there isn't much information since it was canceled?

[matrixphanatics]

I live in Oklahoma, and Robbers cave is one of my favorite places to go. I never knew about this experiment till today.

[alexlents]

Honestly not that bad. You rated this a number higher than the *Stanford Prison Experiment!* The parents definitely should have been almost fully informed on what was going to happen, especially since they wouldn’t even be there, but no serious injuries occurred, and it seems like the kids even had a pretty good time. I would probably look back on it fondly if I took part of it.

[othertalk]

Aside from the lack of consent and other issues that can be justified in the context of an experiment, they actually made the parents pay for it.
"We want to do a psychological study on your kid in the middle of nowhere for a few weeks. And no, you can't visit. So... will you be paying us by cash or check?"

[ger]

“Arminian deportations” is a really nice way of saying Genocide…

[justmakingthistoreply]

I have a feeling many fights with children were rarely stopped quickly. I’m from that neck of the woods. If a fight broke out there was an older voice saying “let them get it outta their system”. The elders felt that there was typically a lesson to be learned in a fight wether you win or lose. 1954 would’ve probably held that sentiment a lot more strongly than we do today.

[CrystalRose]

I love the little pause he does when he tells you the weather where he lives. Like, it’s an audio cue where you can clearly tell he’s looking out the window to see what it’s like outside before continuing on with his outro.

[johnladuke]

Let's just take a moment to appreciate that whether it was ethical or scientific or none of the above, these people took some kids out to the woods, got them to form gangs, and armed them.

[OAleathaO]

If you really want to study "in groups, " just be a teenage girl going through an all-girls high school. It only took a week or two for me to realize what groups I wasn't welcome in. And this was in the early 1990s. I can't imagine it has gotten any better over time.

[Soloee_]

I'm personally very suprised that you gave this a 7 out of 10. That's higher than the scores you gave in other videos where they tortured and killed animals. I would give this a 2 or 3. I probably wouldn't mind someone putting me through a similar test honestly.