Was The Tuskegee Experiment A Case Of Administrative Evil?

1. Was the Tuskegee experiment a case of “administrative evil?”

Yes, the Tuskegee experiment is a case of administrative evil. According to Morrison (2011), administrative evil occurs when an environment lacking compassion or conscience is allowed to govern decision making. The blind belief in technology, science and the power of reason drives an organization or individual (Morrison, 2011, p.277). Advancement is more important than human suffering. In fact, the human suffering caused by the advancement is reasoned as a good cause because those seeking advancement are acting as “change agents” (Smolin, 2012, p.239). The problem with acting as a change agent is that the view is one-sided, narrowly focusing on certain issues. Therefore, “they may not be attuned to other values; they may not acknowledge proper limits on means toward what they view as an overriding end; they may not care to account for the problem of unintended consequences” (Smolin, 2012, p.239). Therefore, “change agents” can do “horrific things with a seemingly clear conscience” (Smolin, 2012, p.236).

I think that is exactly what happened with the Tuskegee Study. They meant well, but desiring to be change agents clouded their conscience and inflicted great pain and suffering

It is injustice to withhold treatment when it is available. They did not fairly distribute medication. In fact, they purposely mislead the participant to believe that they were treating them when, in fact, they were not. Also, they withheld diagnosis from the participants as well. The researchers wanted to “watch the effects over time of untreated syphilis” (Smolin, 2012, p. 231). They purposely watched men die (or go insane) and did not help them, but lead them to believe they were helping them. Lastly, the length of time violates justice as well. 40 years is a long time to willfully to watch people suffer and die. All of these actions were deliberate. I would say this is criminal and