Ethics In Anthropology

Since the emergence of Anthropology as a discipline, there have been many concerns about the ethics and morality of multiple anthropological studies. Are they necessary to uncover new information? Is the interest of the participant being considered? Are the procedures even safe? The most important answer to these questions is to ensure that each anthropologist engaging in experiments and fieldwork considers the safety and well-being of every individual involved through Review Ethics Boards. These boards must be implemented into anthropological research to guarantee that participants are protected. Research which is not reviewed by the Research Ethics Boards which protect their participants from harm often lead to cases in which groups of people …show more content…
The Aboriginal groups in remote reserves “were hungry, beggared by a combination of the collapsing fur trade and declining government support.” These people were already suffering yet the anthropologists conducting the research decided to take advantage of the vulnerable aboriginal population and make them test subjects on malnutrition instead of providing them the help and support they needed. I believe that researchers should have enough freedom to learn about different cultures through experiments and fieldwork as long as they do not upset the natural balance of that culture. Anthropologists are supposed to support and appreciate other cultures while attempting to help them, as long as they do not intrude on that culture’s way of life. It was unfair of these anthropologists to take advantage of these unsuspecting people without their informed consent or knowledge about the procedures. The Canadian bureaucrats should have known better than to encourage the suffering of the Aboriginal people, rather than offering to protect their welfare. It is because of these circumstances throughout history involving harmful anthropological research that has made it necessary to have Research Ethics Boards that monitor research consistently throughout the procedure. I truly believe that without these policies protecting the population, some anthropologists would take advantage of these unsuspecting participants by disregarding their consent, endangering them and making them subject to unethical research. Promoting the need for informed consent and assuring that the benefits of the research outweighed the risk could have prevented both of the previous studies’ detrimental outcomes and lives