Controversies - Ethical Costs Versus Scientific Benefits

Introduction (adapt to specific question/ quote)

Psychological research helps us understand behaviour, however, some studies have broken ethical guidelines by causing harm or not getting proper consent.

These unethical studies can have negative consequences for participants, but they have also had many benefts for society. Furthermore, while ethical guidelines prevent harm, they may also "stop psychologists from truly benefiting society".

This creates a debate about whether the benefits of the research can justify the ethical costs. This essay will discuss the potentally negative consequences and benefits to society of unethical research.

Benefits to Society/ Individual Participants - Watson & Rayner (1920) - Weakness

• Longitudinal study which involved 1 male infant

• Serious ethical issues —> risk of stress, anxiety, humiliation or pain as he was systematically scared and often burst into tears.

• Extreme psychological harm —> conditioned to develop a phobia

• Issues around consent + right to withdraw (Watson worked at same hospital, could have coerced the infants mother to gain consent & difficult to remove her child from the study)

• Damaged the reputation of psychology as a whole due to the harm caused, having negative consequences for society as it would limit the number of participants volunteering for future research.

• Socially sensitive research - findings on how human behaviour can be controlled and manipulated (classical conditioning), was used to ‘treat’ thousand of homosexual men in the UK and USA in the 1950s-60s using aversion therapy to ‘cure’ their behaviour. Promotes prejudice and discrimination (Negative consequences for society)

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Benefits to Society - Counter: Systematic Desensitisation - Strength

• Only 1 participant was harmed

• Had benefits for the rest of society

• Led to the development of SD (treatment for phobias) & Aversion Therapy (treatment for addiction)

• SD as a form of therapy has saved the economy millions in NHS funding, usually requiring only 6-8 sessions compared to ongoing repeat medication which may take years to work.

• Davey (2007) states that exposure therapies, including SD are the most successful treatments for phobias.

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Benefits to Society/ Individual Participants/ Negative Consequences for society - Bowlby’s (1944) 44 Juvenile Thieves - Weakness

• Socially sensitive research involved labelling maternally deprived children as affectionless psychopaths (costly to society → could lead to prejudice/ discrimination against adolescents who are maternally deprived

• Stigma may result in the police and other authorities being more likely to arrest such adolescents and charge them for criminal activity, leaving them with a criminal record and a potential future of unemployment and poverty (cost to individual & society)

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Benefits to Society - Counter - Bowlby’s (1944) 44 Juvenile Thieves - Strength

• Research has had massive benefits for society and the economy - has positively shaped childcare policy & procedures worldwide

• The importance of bond formation has been recognised and this has led to institutional change, for example, in foster care, where a child now receives individual attention. This is now favoured over large-scale orphanages, which did not provide the emotional support needed.

• UNICEF (2014) endorses this view and have now stated that emotional security is as important as nutrition for babies; acknowledging that deprivation through lack of care, living through war, or violence can have long- term negative consequences for individuals and their ability to form positive relationships and contribute to wider society.
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Individual Participants/ Ethical Guidelines - Milgram (1963) study on obedience - Weakness

• A primary benefit of ethical guidelines for conducting research established by the American Psychological Association (APA) and British Psychological Society (BPS) is that there enforce a moral responsibility to protect research participants from psychological harm.

• In Milgram’s (1963) study on obedience, he placed participants under extreme emotional strain, causing psychological and physical harm, which is evident as some participants experienced seizures due to the stress of believing they were harming another person.

• Under modern guidelines, Milgram’s lack of a clear right to withdraw (due to repeated prods from the researcher that they must continue) and his use of intense deception would be considered unethical as the individual’s well being is now seen as deserving of the same consideration as the possible benefits to society.

• Aronson (1992) suggests that one way of dealing with ethical issues is to use a cost-benefit analysis, weighing up how much good will derive from the research against any potential harm or distress to the participant.

• Participants who take part are not the ones who receive the benefit, therefore, they have all the ethical costs, but none of the scientific benefits.

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Individual Participants/ Ethical Guidelines - Counter - Milgram (1963) study on obedience - Strength

• However, Milgram argues that if we excluded any study which created stress or conflict, and only allowed studies that produced positive emotions, we would have a very lopsided view of psychology.

• Milgram also claims that deception was essential in his study in order to avoid demand characteristics

• Furthermore, participants were debriefed at the end of the study; 84% of participants reported that they were glad to have taken part and no long term harm was reported by any of his participants

• Critics argue that the ‘ethical cost’ of these strict ethical guidelines is that while they prevent the potential cost of harming individuals, they may stop psychologists from truly benefiting society by restricting their ability to investigate the darker, more complex aspects of human nature that only high-stress or deceptive environments can reveal.

• Milgram’s conclusion that all human beings, regardless of culture, are capable of acting outside their conscience and obeying an authority figure, which has had benefits for society by enhancing our understanding of war crimes and possibly reducing prejudice towards Germans after the atrocities carried out during WW2

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Strength of Ethical Guidelines

• American Psychological Association (APA) and the British Psychological Society (BPS) have established a set of ethical guidelines for conducting research.

• Researchers are required to submit research proposals therefore in theory, if guidelines are followed and committees confirm the research is ethical and can take place, then ethical issues in research can be avoided.

• Ethics committee will weigh up the potential benefits of the study against any potential ethical costs. They may make recommendations to the researcher about improvements that could be made to reduce the ethical risks.

• If a psychologist were to behave unethically, they may be banned from practicing psychology.

• Having a Code of Conduct and a set of Ethical guidelines undoubtedly enhances psychological research.

  The principles are actively enforced through Psychology Research Ethics Committees (PREC).

Weakness of ethical guidelines

• Ethics committees may be over cautious and refuse research proposals that could make significant changes to our understanding of human behaviour.

• Drawbacks of these ethical guidelines are that they are merely guidelines - no preventative measures to stop psychologists from violating them

• Baumrind 1975 argues that weighing up costs and benefits prior to a study taking place is, in fact, impossible.

• Many ethical issues arise from the use of laboratory experiments ; it may be argued that the results gained are meaningless, and only show us how strangers interact in artificial situations.

• This suggests that the ethical costs cannot be justified as the scientific benefits are unclear.

There are a number of issues:

1. The guidelines are subjective which could lead to researchers applying them inconsistently,

2. The risks may not always be evident until the study is underway, e.g Zimbardo’s Stanford Prison Experiment,

3. The guidelines can limit and restrict research.

4. guidelines makes researchers more passive, abdicating ethical decisions to PREC’s rather than actively working through solutions.

Negative Consequences for Society - David Rosenhan’s On being Sane in Insane Places (1969-72) - Weakness

• Negative consequences for society → deception of hospital staff led to fear and distrust in the psychiatric community, where psychiatrist began doubting themselves and hesitated in admitting patients to mental hospitals.

• This meant that patients suffering from mental illness may not have received the treatment they required.

• Many ethical issues raised surrounding the lack of consent or right to withdraw as the participants did not know they were part of a study.

• Study wasted resources including medication and hospital beds, which could have been use by real patients in need.

• Significant costs → loss of faith in psychiatric community, led to less people who were mentally ill to seek support from psychiatrists due to fear of misdiagnosis

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Negative Consequences for Society - Counter - David Rosenhan’s On being Sane in Insane Places (1969-72) - Strength

• Costs may be justified as they may be outweighed by the benefits to wider society as his findings have led to changes to the diagnostic system (DSM), stricter rules to improve diagnosis.

• Benefit to society → ensures that those who would not derive any benefit from being placed in an insane asylum, would not be institutionalised.

• This saves economy money by freeing up resources and having fewer patients to treat in hospitals.

• It also exposed labelling and led to more humane care for patients in mental asylums, and therefore has had numerous benefits for society.

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Conclusion

Agree/ disagree with specific quote in question. (To agree must have more strengths & to disagree must have more weakness - can sit on the fence if providing completely balanced argument)

Justify opinion using studies & mini conclusions mentioned throughout essay.