Essay On The Tuskegee Experiment

The experiment, “The Tuskegee Study of Untreated Syphilis in the Negro Male” (the Tuskegee Experiment) that took place in Macon County, Alabama in the 1930’s was extremely unethical and immoral. Individual rights were violated and American citizens were taken advantage of based on their demographic status. There were alternative measures that could have been taken to obtain the desired data that would have been more appropriate. This study should have never been conducted in the manner in which it was. One can apply many lessons learned in the Tuskegee Experiment to the studies of sociology and criminology. Many ethical issues arose in the process of completing the Tuskegee Experiment. Initially, it was believed by doctors that syphilis was not a deadly disease. After lives were lost in the process, disproving this hypothesis, the experiment continued. Doctors participating in the study violated the first rule of the Hippocratic Oath, to do no harm, by withholding treatment of their patients. The study was conducted based on a theory concerning the discrepancy of syphilis effects based on race, yet no white subjects were included as controls. Instead, participants were selected based on specific demographic categories. They were from a specific geographical area (the south), of a certain race (black), economically depressed (poor), considered to be of “low intelligence” …show more content…
Data could have been obtained over an extended period of time to compare those who were treated on their own. Autopsies on those who died from the disease after diagnosis could have given results as to how syphilis impacted the body. Instead, the study deceived subjects who were seeking help and trusted that they were receiving treatment. This approach and the ethical violations of the Tuskegee Experiment outline a solid argument that the study should have never taken