Was Stanley Milgram’s Study of Obedience Unethical? I was very surprised to find
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Question
Was Stanley Milgram’s Study of Obedience Unethical?
I was very surprised to find that not many of the ethical guideline of today were ignored because the participants volunteered, they were given the chance to withdraw.However I watched this experiment being conducted on a u tube video and it was heart wrenching. The man that was the teacher seemed really concerned for the learner, however that didn't stop him from doing as he was told and continuing to up the voltage on the learner ( actor) in the next room. I was surprised to find out that 2/3 of the participants did what they were told even though they were what most consider to be good people.Some even wrote letters that expressed their thanks, saying that they had learned a valuable lesson about themselves by participating in the experiment.Considering this is one of the most controversial and unethical experiments ever, I really don’t think it was all that unethical, without his results we would not have any need for the ethical rules we have today. I believe that his research was important for the development of psychology and for the way things are today.
Explanation / Answer
Some of the ethics that were not fllowed by Milgram are:
1. He deceived his patients as to what they were getting into which is something that is not allowed by psychoogits of today.We are expected to let our participants know just enough of information to get the experiment going. Although he deceived his participants it was a neccesity for him to do the following in order to get the results that we see today. Therefore it can be justified as the illusion played the majr role in his study.
2. He did not concern hiself with the psychological and physical welfare of the patients. As an experimenter he was to make that his first priority which he failed to do. Some of his participants had seizures and other had to beg for the experiment to be stopped as they were troubled psychologically. Although this is one error he made by emotionally hurting his participants it did not last long. Interviews with the participant after a year proved that they did not regret doing the experiment and they were happy that he did it.
3. He did ot give them the right to withdrawal which we are made to do so in todays experimentation. We are asked to esnrure that the participant is at ease and they are welcome to withdraw at any time that they feel uncomfortable. He did not mention that in his instructions but at the same time the experiment was on obedience and if he had given that as an option that would not solve the purpose of the study.
Therefore in the end we can see that although there were a few guidelines that Milgram didnt follow there were reasonable justifications for the same. Only because he did the study we are more rational in our thinking today and are able to decipher for ourselves what we need and who we can take authority from. In conclusion I see no faults or errors in his experiment and infact learned a great deal more.
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