Truman Movie Ethical Analysis

Throughout this movie there were several ethical violations. Ethical violations began at the beginning of the movie and continued throughout, including the violation of the three major ethical principles from the Belmont point, vulnerability of prisoners, improperly gaining entrée, and the lack of informed consent.
The three major ethical principles from the Belmont report include beneficence, respect for human dignity, and justice (Polit & Beck, 2017). Beneficence was violated due to the researcher not protecting the participants and not benefitting the participant either. At the beginning of the movie, Truman began asking questions without giving any reason behind his questions. He did not give the participants any form of reasoning behind his research and did not share risks and benefits with them. At the beginning of …show more content…
Truman began by sneaking his way into the cell to talk to Perry but later gained privilege through Perry by convincing Perry to place him on his guest list to find him a better lawyer. Justice was violated because there was no privacy or confidentiality involved in the words the prisoners shared with Truman. Not only did Truman write a book about the words they shared, he also stood in front of a large crowd promoting his book and sharing their words with several people. There was no informed consent gained by Truman with no valid reason for not obtaining consent, no respect for these prisoners, and no justice. Today, prior to research, research participants should be informed of the research, informed of risks and benefits, and give informed consent prior to participating in a study. The obtaining of research should be guided by the three major ethical principles from the Belmont report throughout the