Introduction
There are several challenges facing morality, diverse and multifaceted in nature. Different issues are of concern to professionals in moral development. This paper fundamentally analyzes the code of moral models for inquiry about psychology. It contends on the impacts of research methods which disregard the APA code as not based on exact tests, and that to build up the code without observational support is a questionable strategy. The APA codification additionally forecloses imperative inquiries of moral pluralism; by focusing on three experiments that examined how much judgments of the ethicality of mental research are influenced by the results of the exploration and the judge’s moral belief system. Subjects judged tests that explored acquiescence to an expert as for the most part not so much good but rather more debilitating to the members’ nobility and welfare when the extent of aggregate compliance was high instead of low.
The Milgram Experiment
Alterations in the available information and its quality in relation to human rights violations address the question of how best the existing data can be used to evaluate changes in human rights. Information effects are noticeable to both primary sources and the two popular datasets of human rights that protect individuals from any form of physical torture or harm. The datasets include; the Political Terror Stage (PTS), and Cingranelli-Richards Human Rights Data Set (CIRD (Clark, & Sikkink, 2013). The datasets highlight how information on human rights has changed for the better through assessment of the scale of their applicability.
In this experiment, the behavioral study of destructive obedience is carried out in the laboratory where an ignorant subject is used to administer shocks that are targeted at studying how punishment affects the memory of an individual. Ethically, this violates the APA code of conduct, Principle A, of beneficence and nonmaleficence which asserts that psychologists tend to benefit those they work with, taking care not to harm them in any way. The instrument used to conduct the study has verbal designations ranging from slight shock to severe shock to deliver responses from the victim when subjected to shock pains. The leader (victim) is exposed to severe shocks that are harmful but the experimenter treats that as no response and more pain are inflicted on the learner. Ethically, the learner should have been protected from harm. On the contrary, his welfare is not taken into account thus harm comes his way.
From my perspective, it is wrong to subject an individual to that level of physical bodily harm. The victim ought not to have been exposed to such harsh conditions that inflicted pain on him. To conduct the experiment successfully such that it meets the threshold of psychologists with regards to human rights, the experimenter should contemplate completely eliminating or minimizing harm to the learner. Precautions should be taken when using data to cause interferences about changes in human rights.
The Stanford Prison Experiment
The experiment on Stanford County Prison victimizes young innocent people under the pretext of being criminals. Persons with no criminal offenses are manhandled and arrested to be stuffed in cells. Going by the APA psychological standards, Principle E of respect for people’s rights and dignity, it is clear that the feigned security personnel have breached the principle of respect for people’s rights and dignity by invading their privacy, subjecting them to vulnerability and state of helplessness, disrespect to their age, gender, identity, and socioeconomic status. Similarly, their justice has also been compromised since they are denied fairness and justice to all. A fair and reasonable judgment is not exercised on them. Once they are taken to the prison premises, the young men are stripped naked and scrubbed, they are cleanly shaven on their heads to completely erase their identity and personality. During and after the arrest, the captives are not allowed to appeal their cases, let alone getting to know what they are charged with. According to the ethics, their welfare rights are infringed.
Life at the prison is not favorable for prisoners. Evidently, from the case study, the guards at the prison are vital players in finding out whether new developments in penal policy are being achieved. The diversity that exists in the establishment of the penal harm movement has overridden the initial target of the policies and the total number of convicted criminals. (Vuolo, & Kruttschnit, 2008),. Based on ethical psychology, the guards violate the dignity and rights of inmates which subsequently leads to a standoff between the prisoners and the security officers. Data from the prison can be used by psychologists to establish the effects of correctional forces on individuals’ behavior. The behavior of the guards (correctional officers) plays a central role in the ability of convicts to adapt to the prison life.
However, adaptability and adjustment are greatly independent of the characteristics of the prisoners, and the institution in which they are held captive. Taking into consideration the ethics and codes of conduct, I would prefer that the prison authority looks into the background and penal culture of the prisoners. Realistically, it would be extremely critical for the prison authorities to have a clear understanding of the environment that the prisoners come from. The communities into which they are ushered is not as important. Ideally, if that is done then the prison authorities become better equipped on how to deal with the convicts without much pressure and friction in the operations of the prison schedules.
Tuskegee Syphilis Study Experiment
The United States of America, through the Public Health Service (PHS), sponsored the treatment of African Americans with syphilis in the rural areas. However, the whole activity turned out to be a scam as PHS pulled out and joined hands with ‘Tuskegee Institute to instead carry out a study on the effects of syphilis. With reference to the ethics and code of conduct of the APA Principle C on integrity, this is a violation of the integrity and justice of the clients of the program due to the withdrawal of the medical services and instead of carrying out a study without the consent of the respondents. Therefore, the accuracy, honesty, and truthfulness in the initial program have been abandoned. Tuskegee Institute and public health departments from Macon County engaged in the unlawful act by deceiving the residents and robbing them of crucial information which they would otherwise have not been compelled to disclose.
The level of justice-related behavior and the practicality of the human values content are important. Notably, moral judgment, justice with regard to decisions on allocation, and the right to awareness are key in conducting research (Feather, 1994). The concept of value and justice comes out clearly as the relationship between certain values or value types and an aspect of justice and integrity do not condone unjust practices. In my opinion, to avoid unjust behavior and disregard for integrity, subjective values attached to the actions and results are assumed to be interconnected to an individual’s underlying value systems and should be treated so for the credibility of results. However, the integrity of an individual can be ethically compromised to maximize the benefits while minimizing harm, but with a lot of care for needs and resulting consequences.
Conclusion
Ethics and codes of conduct cut across various spheres of life and control the interactions of variables on a daily basis. The experiments illustrated the importance of psychological research in responses to different scenarios. APA codes provide an insight to dealing with circumstances that relate human action to consequences. Proper conducts and interrelations foster a better understanding in the society hence the smooth running of the community.
References
- Clark, A. M., & Sikkink, K. (2013). Information effects and human rights data: Is the good news about increased human rights information bad news for human rights measures? Human Rights Quarterly, 35(3), 539-540.
- Feather, N. T. (1994). Human values and their relation to justice. Journal of Social Issues, 50(4), 149-151.
- Vuolo, M., & Kruttschnitt, C. (2008). Prisoners’ adjustment, correctional officers, and context: The foreground and background of punishment in late modernity. Law & Society Review, 42(2), 327-329.
