"Considering Ethics in Psychology"

Essay by moonlight272High School, 11th gradeA-, April 2010

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Considering Ethics in Psychology

10/27/2009

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Considering Ethics in Psychology

The Code of Ethics is a set of guidelines that were written to regulate the experiments performed by scientists and to respect all people, treating them with dignity and protecting them from potential harm, but many experiments and studies that have happened or are happening do not follow these guidelines.

When conducting an experiment, the principals of the Code of Ethics should be kept in mind. The evaluator has to consider all the elements of the study and make sure that it is ethical. They should seek to promote integrity and be aware of their professional and scientific responsibilities to society and to the specific communities in which they work. They should also respect people's rights and contribute to their welfare.

Some of the things that are unethical include the Body World exhibit at the Vancouver Science Centre. Gunther von Hagens used "plastination", a technique that he created to preserve dead human bodies.

Plastination is replacing all bodily fluids with plastics. The specimens look very real and are displayed in a lifelike fashion so that visitors can observe the muscular and nervous system. These displays provide education for people including doctors and patients. It is unethical because scientists are using the dead bodies of human beings and putting them on display for everyone to see. It is disgusting and disrespectful even if the person had granted them permission to use it, mainly because the people's genitals are also part of the display. Most people wouldn't like their loved one to be humiliated in such a way. In an ethical analysis, Thomas Hibbs, professor of ethics and culture at Baylor University compared the exhibits to pornography. He states that it is unethical to dissect dead bodies and present them in a...