Ethics in Criminology Research

Ethical behavior (definition) Behavior is ethical insofar as it follows the

rules that have been specifically oriented to the welfare of the larger society and not to the self-interest of the professional

To act unethically is to act unprofessionally

Ethical Horror Stories Dr. Josef Mengele (“Angel of Death”) Nazi doctor In the name of medical research, people were

infected with diseases New drugs have been tested Administered poisons Exposed to extreme temperatures and decompression

Josef Mengele did a number of medical experiments, using twins

These twins as young as five years of age were usually murdered after the experiment was over and their bodies dissected

Mengele injected chemicals into the eyes of the children in an attempt to change their eye color

He stitched twins together, castrated or sterilized twins. Many twins had limbs and organs removed in macabre surgical procedures, performed without using an anesthetic.

Ethical Horror Stories

Josef Mengele Josef Mengele and the other camp doctors -

masterminds of the horrors of Holocaust - were found to be psychologically normal. They were men of fine standing, cultured, husbands who morning and night kissed their wives, fathers who tucked their children into bed ...

In 1932, the Public Health Service, working with the Tuskegee Institute, began a study that was called the "Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male."

Tuskegee Syphilis Study

The study involved 600 black men--399 with syphilis and 201 who did not have the disease

Researchers told the men they were being treated for "bad blood," a local term used to describe several ailments, including syphilis, anemia, and fatigue. In truth, they did not receive the proper treatment needed to cure their illness

In exchange for taking part in the study, the men received free medical exams, free meals, and burial insurance. Although originally projected to last 6 months, the study actually went on for 40 years.

Tuskegee Syphilis Study

As reported by the New York Times on 26 July 1972, the Tuskegee Syphilis Study was revealed as "the longest nontherapeutic experiment on human beings in medical history.”

All of the subjects died eventually Subjects did not suspect that no one cured

them

Tuskegee Syphilis Study

Study was sponsored by government During the 1940s, 800 pregnant women, the

poor patrons of a pre-natal clinic at Vanderbilt University, were given a "cocktail" including a tracer dose of radioactive iron

The objective of the experiment was to determine the iron requirements of pregnant women

Incidents of malignancies in the children of the women subjected.

At the Fernald School in Massachusetts during the 1950s, in experiments conducted in part by researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, mentally retarded boys in the school's "science club" were fed radioactive calcium and iron with their breakfast cereal. Boys who agreed to participate received club privileges, including extra milk and trips to baseball games and the beach.

In a long-running experiment at the University of Cincinnati, ended in 1971, 88 poor, uneducated and mostly African-American patients with incurable cancers were exposed to heavy doses of full-body irradiation -- a procedure that was largely abandoned as therapy by the 1960s. Lawsuits still in court allege that the subjects, some of whom died hours after treatment, were not provided palliatives against the side effects of nausea and vomiting because the researchers did not want the drugs to interfere with their data collection.

Other examples In 1960’s live cancer cells were injected into

elderly patients at a Brooklyn hospital without their knowledge (Jones, 1982)

U.S. military services exposed

their own soldiers to mustard gas

and radiation (chronic ailments

and death)

Senator John D. Rockefeller issued a report revealing that for at least 50

years the Department of Defense has used hundreds of thousands of military personnel in human experiments and for intentional exposure to dangerous substances(mustard and nerve gas, ionizing radiation, psychochemicals, hallucinogens, and drugs used during the Gulf War)

Other examples

Cold War Experiments American Intelligence agencies believed that

the Communists developed secret mind control/brainwashing techniques

This explains, but does not condone, the following abuses:

Cold War Experiments 1950’s, using code names like

Bluebird, Artichoke, the CIA, FBI, and U.S. military experimented with behavior-control devices and interrogation techniques (drugs, hypnosis, shock therapy, surgery, radiation) on unsuspecting citizens

If death or injury occurred these agencies provided cover-up

House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee (1986) Uncovered that during 30 years federal agencies had

conducted exposure experiments on American citizens

Injecting plutonium, radium, and uranium Feeding uranium to elderly patients during an

experiment at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Feeding patients real fallout from a Nevada test site U.S. Military employed former Nazi doctors

/scientists for conducting the experiments

The Nuremberg Code Voluntary consent Fruitful results for the good of society Anticipated results will justify the performance of

experiment Avoid all unnecessary physical or mental suffering No research should be conducted where there is …

reason to believe that death or disabling injury will occur

The degree of risk to be taken should never exceed that determined by the humanitarian importance of the problem to be solved

The Nuremberg Code Proper preparation should be made-protect the

research subjects against injure, or death Research should be conducted only by scientifically

qualified persons During research the subjects should be at liberty to

bring the research to the end Research must be ready to terminate the research at

any stage if there is possibility to hurt research subjects

Social Science Experiments Social research might also put subjects at risk Three social scientific studies are cited most

often Laud Humphrey’s “Tearoom Trade” (1970) Stanley Milgram’s “Obedience to Authority”

(1974) Philip Zimbardo’s simulated prison

experiment (1972-1974)

Zimbardo’s simulated prison experiment Subjects –males, undergraduate, paid

volunteers Role of either guard or prisoner Mock prison was constructed in the basement

of Stanford university Experiment was to have lasted for two weeks

but Zimbardo cancelled the study after 6 days because of possible harm

What went wrong? Individuals became carried away with their roles Guards behaved aggressively and dehumanizing

toward prisoners Prisoners behaved ether passively or were hostile Subjects did consent to participate in the study, but

they did not expect the consequences

Stanley Milgram’s “Obedience to Authority” (1974)

Psychologist at Yale University, conducted a study focusing on the conflict between obedience to authority and personal conscience

Germans are different Character flaw “Readiness to obey authority without

question, no matter what outrageous acts authority commands”

Everything in the experiment was staged except one person-subject

Milgram changed a lot in his initial script because people were obeying too much

Experiment “Learner” is taken to a room

where he is strapped in a chair to

prevent movement and an electrode

is placed on his arm.

The "teacher" is instructed to read a list of two word pairs and ask the "learner" to read them back. "learner" gets the answer wrong, the "teacher" is supposed to shock the "learner" starting at 15 volts.

Experiment The generator has 30 switches ranging from "slight shock" to "danger: severe shock“ The final two switches are labeled "XXX“ The "teacher" automatically is supposed to increase the shock each time the "learner" misses a word in the list. Although the "teacher" thought that he/she was administering shocks to the "learner", the "learner" is actually a student or an actor who is never actually harmed.

Results "two-thirds of this studies participants fall into the

category of ‘obedient' subjects, and that they represent ordinary people drawn from the working, managerial, and professional classes

65% of all of the "teachers" punished the "learners" to the maximum 450 volts

No subject stopped before reaching 300 volts The theory that only the most severe monsters on

the sadistic fringe of society would submit to such cruelty is disclaimed

Ethical issues of Milgram’s experiment Milgram made a judgment about there is no

possible psychological damage to the subjects Milgram interviewed subjects afterwards 83% said they were glad to participate 1.3% said they were sorry However, Milgram could not know that only

1.3% would be sorry