Out of Hand University Experiments: Where Is The Limit Between Science and Ethicality?

The infamous Stanford Prison Experiment was a shocking revelation of the unethical scientific experiments that were conducted and hidden by universities’ closed doors. Not only was this experiment mentally damaging for the “inmates,” or young adults and students at Stanford University, the experiment itself contained disturbingly violent practices. These experiments question the extent in which ethics can be violated for scientific discovery.

After surfing on the internet in hope to find information regarding the Stanford Prison Experiment, a list of similar disturbing university experiments appeared. The internet has dubbed a number of these experiments as “Out of Hand University Experiments” with many of the test subjects protesting against the inhumane nature of the experiments.

Child psychiatrists Peter Neubauer and Viola Bernard at Yale University separated twins in order to help them “develop their individual personalities.” This experiment robbed the Kellman twins from spending 20 years together. The Milgram Experiment in 1961 at Yale tested authoritative response between an “actor” and a test subject. Fake electrical shocks were given to the “actor” if they gave a wrong answer. Due to the stress of giving the electrical shocks that affected the mental stability of the test subjects, many subjects demanded that the experiment should close. The 1939 “Monster Study” by researchers from the University of Iowa studied speech imperfections and stuttering on a group of orphans. Half of these orphan test subjects were given negative speech therapy, which resulted in life-long speech imperfections. The Stanford Prison Experiment, which became one of the most unimaginable examples of controversial psychological experiments, tested the reasons of conflict between prison inmates and prison guards. The experiment became “out of hand” immediately when the fake prison guards inflicted psychological torture and abuse on the inmates. A few people amongst the 24 student test subjects rejected the treatment, and were further harassed due to orders made by authorities (BestPsychologyDegrees).

“You can hurt people with science,” explained Mr. Owen, the IB Psychology teacher at AISG. “What do these university experiments all have in common? Either [the researchers or scientists] were very invasive and trying to pry into people’s personal lives or they were disempowering and exploiting people — sometimes directly hurting them or injecting them with diseases without [the participant’s] knowledge. This comes down to people claiming arbitrary power over others and using scientific information as a cover. If we don’t follow ethical guidelines in science, that disregard gets reinforced and allows people to hurt one another.”

Mr. Owen continued to elaborate further on the guidelines and limits of scientific discovery. “Any university or research institution have the responsibility to set out clear guidelines and have review boards. University boards should hear what kind of research you intend to do, how you will fit your work into ethical limitations, and to refuse you permission if you can’t follow those guidelines.”

It is evident that many of these experiments include a contentious and possibly inhumane image. Although it seems as if the number of these unethical experiments have decreased, many universities are still “hiding” these experiments behind closed doors. Is it “right” for universities to violate ethical values in experiments for scientific discoveries?