Pros And Cons Of Tuskegee Experiments

In the past there have been experiments conducted that have done more harm and little to no good. There is a line that can be crossed between a toll being taken for the greater good versus people being exploited and put in harm’s way. There can be a larger benefit to society for the sacrifice that people have made. However, there are several experiments that cross that line and have little to no benefit to society or the greater good. People should not suffer for trivial findings, nor should people be treated in an unethical way for an experiment. Physical and Psychological effects are equally harmful and both are unethical for experiments.
The “greater good” was not benefitted from the findings of the Tuskegee experiment. In this experiment, …show more content…
This was an experiment that was originally planned to run for two weeks, however after one hundred and forty four hours, the experiment was cut short. The excessive abuse and humiliation of these young men went so far the experiment came to a forced termination. Part of why the findings and the abusive actions were so skewed was certain people participating in the experiment came to their own conclusions and acted accordingly. David Eshleman, a “prison guard” assumed the experiment was to prove how cruel and inhumane prisons were. He then went on and claimed he “would do [his] part to…help those results come about” (FederalJack, 2011). This then led to a group mentality that resulted in all of the guards either following his example or staying silent while watching the cruelty committed against the “prisoners.” The experiment was unethical because of the environment and conditions the faux prisoners were forced to live in; people were also pressured into staying in the experiment. When an ‘inmate” asked to leave because of the abusive environment, Zimbardo should have responded subjectively, as a researcher, allowing people to openly discontinue their participation in the experiment. Instead he answered “as a prison superintendent,” and tried to make a deal with said “inmate” …show more content…
Department of Health and Human Services, experiments must meet ethical requirements. The requirements are some ethical standards that have been broken in the aforementioned experiments. The subjects have to participate in the experiment “of their own free will,” and they cannot be forced into participation; the subject has the right to withdraw from the experiment at any point (Klein & Thorne, 2007). Anonymity and confidentiality must be honored, and the subjects must be fully informed of the information and risks of the study. In addition to this, the subjects must receive compensation, personal help, and the results of the experiment/research upon request (Klein & Thorne, 2007). Though these guidelines are a good basis, due to fatal experimentation in the US comparable to eugenics in Nazi Germany, the US should follow the Nuremburg Code for experiments as well. Physical and mental harm being avoided, protection against the possibility of death, and qualified people being able to run the experiments are only a few of the Nuremburg Codes that the US should follow (U.S. Government, 1949). Nuremburg Codes number two and six are the most striking and applicable to the aforementioned experiments. Both “the experiment should be such as to yield fruitful results for the good of society, unprocurable by other methods or means of study,” and “the degree of risk to be taken should never exceed that determined by