blue eyes brown eyes experiment ethical issues

Is it even possible today? Grasping for a scientific explanation, she ended up claiming that melanin makes eyes darker, and makes . Exploring your mind Blog about psychology and philosophy. Looking back, I think part of the problem was that, like the residents of other small midwestern towns I've covered, many in Riceville felt that calling attention to oneself was poor manners, and that Elliott had shone a bright light not just on herself but on Riceville; people all over the United States would think Riceville was full of bigots. Elliott split her students into two groups, based on eye color. New York: Elsevier Science. What Was The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Experiment? Mental Sandboxes and Their Usefulness in Today's World, The Law of Reversed Effort: When Taking Action Isn't the Best Option. Order original essays online. (2022, Apr 06). Dick DeMarsico/New York World-Telegram & the Sun Newspaper Photograph Collection/PhotoQuest/Getty Images, Gina Ferazzi/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images, Committee Member - MNF Research Advisory Committee, PhD Scholarship - Uncle Isaac Brown Indigenous Scholarship. Even though the response to the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise was initially negative, it made Jane Elliott a leading figure in diversity training. Thus, the dominant group, supported by the authorities, will always have the upper hand. . Would you like to get this essay by email? Elliott began the exercise by dividing her students by eye color. Jane Elliott's brown eye/blue eye experiment starts at 03:10 of A Class Divided. The students started to internalize, and accept, the characteristics they'd been arbitrarily assigned based on the color of their eyes. She wanted them to understand what discrimination felt like. To get her points across, Elliott hurled insults at workshop participants, particularly those who were white and had blue eyes. Jane Elliot's experiment involves cheating and intentional misinterpretation of facts. The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise continues to be relevant. Is your time best spent reading someone elses essay? While controversial, the Blue Eyes Brown Eyes exercise continues to be one of the most well-known and praised learning exercises in the world of educational psychology. "They shot that King yesterday. She says that its shocking how children whore normally kind, cooperative, and friendly with each other suddenly become arrogant, discriminatory, and hostile when they belong to a superior group. "You can see the look on their faces. Therefore when she gave the blue eyed people more freedom than the brown eyed people, the blue eyed people started feeling like kings because they thought they were better, and were treated better. On the second day of the experiment, Elliott switched the childrens roles. It's the Jane Elliott machine. Yes, that day was tough. You give them something nice and they just wreck it." Subsequently the brown-eyed children stopped objecting, even when Miss Elliott and the blue-eyed kids chastised and bullied them. These initial criticisms didnt stop Elliott. Biddle, B. J. Some guidelines for avoiding or reducing this effect are: In conclusion, Jane Elliotts experiment demonstrates the fragility of coexistence and cooperation. The fourth of five children, Elliott was born on her family's farm in Riceville in 1933, and was delivered by her Irish-American father himself. The experiment, known as Blue Eyes Brown Eyes experiment, is regarded as an eye-opening way for children to learn about racism and discrimination. Researchers later concluded that there was evidence that the students became less prejudiced after the study and that it was inconclusive as to whether or not the potential harm outweighed the benefits of the exercise. On Monday, Elliott reversed the exercise, and the brown-eyed kids were told how shifty, dumb and lazy theywere. Barbie had to have a Ken, so Elliott picked from the audience a tall, handsome man and accused him of doing the same things with his female subordinates, Pasicznyk said. Folks leave their cars unlocked, keys in the ignition. In this 1998 photograph, former Iowa teacher Jane Elliott, center, speaks with two Augsburg University . The blue-eyed girl apologized. They were also relevant in the 1950s when Elliott first began this work. Nobodys standing here. The video . The answer, in a word, was nothing. "There's a sense of renewal here that I've never seen anywhere else," Elliott says. Sign up for Politics Weekly.]. The Associated Press followed up, quoting Elliott as saying she was "dumbfounded" by the exercise's effectiveness. At her lunch break that day in the teacher's lounge, she told her colleagues about the exercise. Advertising Notice It was the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in 1968 that Elliott ran her first "Blue Eyes/Brown Eyes" exercise in her Riceville, Iowa classroom. Blue-eyed students slumped in their chairs, as though . She split the class in two categories, according to eye color, and told the children that one group was superior to the others. Junior high, maybe. Part of the problem is that the blue-eyed group is exclusively white, while the brown-eyed group is predominantly non-white, so that eye colour is no longer an analogue or metaphor for race but a . Classroom experiment. Ethical Principles of Psychologists and Code of Conduct. "Probably because they have been taught how they're treated in this country that they have to understand us. Cookie Settings, Kids Start Forgetting Early Childhood Around Age 7, Archaeologists Discover Wooden Spikes Described by Julius Caesar, Artificial Sweetener Tied to Risk of Heart Attack and Stroke, Study Finds, Rare Jurassic-Era Insect Discovered at Arkansas Walmart. It didnt take long for the children to turn on each other. Jane Elliott, a teacher and anti-racism activist, performed a direct experiment with the students in her classroom. And you'll always have it. Sorry, but it's not possible to copy the text due to security reasons. . It brings up immediate anger and hatred. She had never met me, and she accused me in front of everyone of using my sexuality to get ahead.. The people and cultures already present in a place often feel threatened by new immigrants. On the first day of the two-day experiment, Elliott told the . View Module 2 Discussion_ Are We Still Divided_ Blue Eyes_Brown Eyes_ A 3rd Grade Lesson for Us All.pdf from HUMN 330 at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University. [online] Today I Found Out. Would you like to find out? Jane Elliott has done a lot of reflection about the consequences of the minimal group experiment. She has spoken at more than 350 colleges and universities. They felt superior and had the support of the authority figure (the teacher). Jane Elliot's 'The Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes Experiment' was unethical in that she created a segregated environment in a third grade classroom. When Elliott conducted the exercise the next year, she added something extra to collect data. Blue-eyed students suggested that the teacher use a yardstick to discipline brown-eyed students that misbehaved. They needed not acknowledge their privilege or reflect on it. The empathy she works to inspire in students with the experiment, which has been modified over the years, is necessary, she said. Was The Blue Eyes Brown Eyes Experiment Ethical? As for the criticism that the exercise encourages children to distrust authority figuresthe teacher lies, then recants the lies and maintains they were justified because of a greater goodshe says she worked hard to rebuild her students' trust. The fact that children are easy to manipulate into acting in a particular manner explains Jane's choice of sample. Why'd they shoot that King?" The musical is about romance, but it integrates issues of race and discrimination (Norris, 2014), and the song is about how discrimination is taught carefully, in long term. At this point you may wish to tell the pupils that you are conducting an "experiment" to look at what prejudice is. Jane Elliott's Blue-Eyed versus Brown-Eyed Students experiment was conducted to determine whether racism was a learned characteristic. In the most uncomfortable moments, Elliott reminds the students of violent acts caused by racism or homophobia. Their response is to create dichotomies of inferiority and superiority. The same experiment was also used a couple of years later with adults. One of the ways Hitler decided who went into the gas chamber was eye color, Elliott said in a later speech. The first day of the experiment she convinced the children that blue-eyed people were smarter, better and would have more priorities. Everyone looked at Mrs. Elliott. I felt like quitting school. You have the right color eyes!. Directed by William Peters, the episode profiles the Iowa schoolteacher Jane Elliott and her class of third graders, who took part in a class exercise about discrimination and prejudice in 1970 and reunited in the present day to recall the experience. Elliott split her students into two groups, based on eye color. For many, the experiment went horribly awry. Blue-eyed people would get 5 extra minutes on the playground and blue-eyed people could not talk to brown-eyed people. One of the most famous experiments in education Jane Elliott's "blue eyes, brown eyes" separation of her third grade students to teach them about prejudice was very different from what the public was told, as revealed in this excerpt from the in-depth story about what really happened in that classroom. On April 4 1968, King was killed by the single . Now, almost four decades later, Elliott's experiment still mattersto the grown children with whom she experimented, to the people of Riceville, population 840, who all but ran her out of town, and to thousands of people around the world who have also participated in an exercise based on the experiment. If you had a good German name, but you had brown eyes, they threw you into the gas chamber because they thought you might be a Jewish person who was trying to pass. Then a picture was taken to remember. ", Jane shielded her eyes from the morning sun. Right off the bat, she picked me out of the room and called me Barbie, Pasicznyk told me. Blue Eye/Brown Eye is an experiment performed by Jane Elliot in 1968 on the day after Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated to demonstrate what prejudice was to her third grade class. "It would be hard to know, wouldn't it, unless we actually experienced discrimination ourselves. It also shows how arbitrary and subjective things can turn friends, family members, and citizens against each other. "We want to see Room No. Questioning authority The mainstream media were complicit in advancing such a simplistic narrative. "You better apologize to us for getting in our way because we're better than you are," one of the brownies said. "Hey, Mrs. Elliott," Steven yelled as he slung his books on his desk. We have to let people find out how it feels to be on the receiving end of that which we dish out so readily.". "I think third grade was too young for what she did. Jane Elliot and the Blue-Eyed Children Experiment. Amitai Etzioni, a sociologist at George WashingtonUniversity, says the exercise helps develop character and empathy. It occurs to me that for a teacher, the arrival of new students at the start of each school year has a lot in common with the return of crops each summer. Elliott instructed the blue-eyed kids not to play on the jungle gym or swings. She attended a oneroom rural schoolhouse.Today, at 72, Elliott, who has short white hair, a penetrating gaze and no-nonsense demeanor, shows no signs of slowing. The students initially involved wished that everyone could participate in an exercise like this. One example that has been in place for many years is the blue-eyed/brown-eyed experiment. The Blue-Eyed/Brown-Eyed Experiment: Investigation. Elliott separated her all-white class of students into two groups: blue-eyed children and brown-eyed children. Danko, M. (2013). And StanfordUniversity psychologist Philip G. Zimbardo writes in his 1979 textbook, Psychology and Life, that Elliott's "remarkable" experiment tried to show "how easily prejudiced attitudes may be formed and how arbitrary and illogical they can be." ", Steve Harnack, 62, served as the elementary school principal beginning in 1977. According to the article is Jane Elliot's experiment to small degree effective. she asked the children, who were white. Jane Elliott, an educator and anti-racism activist, first conducted her blue eyes/brown eyes exercise in her third-grade classroom in Iowa in 1968. Throughout the investigation, the classroom represented a real-life scenario in which the unprivileged and minority members of the society are treated as out-groups making them susceptible to discrimination. She slumped. The assassination of Martin Luther King Jr. in 1968 prompted educator Jane Elliott to create the now-famous "blue eyes/brown eyes exercise.". Order from one of our vetted writers instead, First name should have at least 2 letters, Phone number should have at least 10 digits, Free Essay with a Response to Cross Words by UIW President Louis Agnese, How Does Donald Duk View His Chinese Heritage? The effectiveness of a well-known prejudice-reduction simulation activity, "Blue Eyes-Brown Eyes," was assessed as a tool for changing the attitudes of nonblack teacher education students toward blacks. In 2001, she was still trying to make a change. Articles and opinions on happiness, fear and other aspects of human psychology. 2012 2023 . The subjects were 164 students enrolled in eight sections of an introductory elementary education course at a state university. Knowing that her experiment would have consequences, Jane remained committed to her course. The brown-eyed students also exercised a certain level of power over the blue-eyed students when they put the armbands on them. This is the phrase that inspired one of the most well-known experiments in education. Her class, Though Jane's actions were justifiable because she was not a psychologist, her experiment cannot be replicated in the present society. Hundreds of viewers wrote letters saying Elliott's work appalled them. The brown-eyed children didnt want to play with the blue-eyes during recess. In this article, we'll explain what happened during the experiment and discuss its consequences. Racism is not genetical. In Jane Elliott's experiment she made the third graders believe that the blue eyed people were better,than the brown eyed people. Watch it online right now! (2013). The basic idea was to separate the class into two halves, students with blue eyes and those with brown. SYNOPSIS OF BLUE EYED. The arbitrary division among the students intensified over the course of the experiment, so much so that it actually ended in physical violence. Elliotts coworkers avoided her after her appearance on The Tonight Show. More than 50 years after she first tried that exercise in her classroom, Elliott, now 87, said she sees much more work left to do to change racist attitudes. Before proceeding with the test, she began with random questions to fully understand the children's perception of Negroes. These differences lead to war and hate. In Building Moral Intelligence: The Seven Essential Virtues That Teach Kids to Do the Right Things, educational psychologist Michele Borda says it "teaches our children to counter stereotypes before they become full-fledged, lasting prejudices and to recognize that every human being has the right to be treated with respect." The blue eyes brown eyes study was a study on group prejudice and discrimination conducted by Jane Elliot. Why Did Jane Elliott Choose Eye Color To Divide Her Students? ", "I've never forgotten the exercise," Whisenhunt volunteered. Not a day goes by without me thinking about it, Ms. Elliott. Although actions from the experiment show lack of respect towards subjects it has widely been recognized in the study of human behavior in social and cultural context. Keep me from judging a man until I have walked a mile in his moccasins. This is a Sioux saying. Traditionally, society has always treated leadership as a male issue. Essay Example, Essay Example on Racism Towards Black People, Essay Sample about Developing a Campaign for School Intimidation, Essay Example on Therapist-Client Relationship Boundaries, Islamic Perspective on Euthanasia, Free Essay Sample. Elliott asked. Essay Sample: Ethical Concerns in Jane Elliot's Experiment. And our number two freedom is the freedom to deny that were ignorant., I want every white person in this room who would be happy to be treated as this society in general treats our citizens, our black citizens, if you, as a white person, would be happy to receive the same treatment that our black citizens do in this society, please stand. Charity is humiliating because its exercised vertically and from above; solidarity is horizontal and implies mutual respect.. "You have to put the exercise in the context of the rest of the year. Elliott started to see her own white privilege, even her own ignorance. those with brown eyes (or hazel eyes). . "That's what I tried to teach, and that's what drove the other teachers crazy. Almost immediately, it was apparent that she had created segregation and prejudice given that the blue-eyed students began exhibiting signs of dominion and superiority. . ISBN 9780520382268. The test also included violation of consent in which participation of the children was made involuntarily. We use them to divide and destroy people., On Understanding The Different Ways We Treat Other Races, Philip Zimbardo (Biography + Experiments). In this photograph from Sept. 13, 1965, Black children on their way to school in New York City pass by segregationists protesting integrated busing. The day after Martin Luther King Jr. was shot, Elliott had a talk with her students about diversity and racism. Why was the Blue Eyes and Brown Eyes Experiment considered unethical in psychology? In 2001, Jane Elliott recordedThe Angry Eye,in which she revised and updated her experiment. "Let me look at you," Elliott said. Stephen G. Bloom does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment. Multi-Problem Adolescents: An Increasing Problem, Professor Jane Elliott performed a group experiment, the current problems related to discrimination. Everyone's tired of her. When Sarah, the Elliotts' oldest daughter, went to the girls' bathroom in junior high, she came out of a stall to see a message scrawled in red lipstick on the mirror: "Nigger lover.". The minimal group paradigm has shaped an entire methodology in social psychology. The brown-eyed people were told to step to the front of the line. Want a quality guarantee? This way, she successfully created two distinct groups in her classroom: The consequences of the minimal group became evident very quickly. Elliott flew to the NBC studio in New York City. More than 50 years after her famous exercise, Elliott is still fighting. "The browneyed people are the better people in this room," Elliott began. They gossiped about her in the hallway. In her article, Peggy McIntosh compares the "white privilege" to an invisible set of unearned rewards and . On the second day, the roles were reversed, and those with brown eyes received special treatment, and the blue-eyed children were made to feel inferior (A Class, 2003). Given the long-term results of the experiment, the controversial study could not have taken place in today's society despite its significant insights on matters racism. Today, she says, it's still playing out as the U.S. reckons with racial injustice. The American Psychologists Principles and code of conduct state that in cases of deception, experimenters should take into consideration the potential harmful effects to participants. The publication of compositions which the children had written about the experience in the local . The basic idea was to separate the class into two halves - those with blue eyes and those with brown. The results are mixed. They embraced the experiments reductive message, as well as its promised potential, thereby keeping the implausible rationale of Elliotts crusade alive and well for decades, however flawed and racist it really was. She was 10 before the farmhouse had running water and electricity. "I know who she is. Now 45, she had been in Elliott's third grade class in 1969. The results showed a . From the moment the experiment begins, Jane Elliott uses a mean tone to speak to the participants. The exercise is "an inoculation against racism," she says. Order from one of our vetted writers instead. The blue-eyed children were told not to do their homework because, even if they answered all the questions, theyd probably forget to bring the assignment back to class. Subsequent research designed to gauge the efficacy of Elliotts attempt at reducing prejudice showed that many participants were shocked by the experiment, but it did nothing to address or explain the root causes of racism. In a similar vein, Linda Seebach, a conservative columnist for the Rocky Mountain News, wrote in 2004 that Elliott was a "disgrace" and described her exercise as "sadistic," adding, "You would think that any normal person would realize that she had done an evil thing. Solve your problem differently! The students were surprised, but they didnt argue. She told them that people with brown eyes were superior to those with blue eyes, for reasons she made up. If you are the original author of this essay and no longer wish to have it published on the he asked. You should be happy! "Not one of them reprimanded her for that or even corrected her. In present society, psychological experiments are guided by honesty, truthfulness, and accuracy. "That you, Ms. About Press Copyright Contact us Creators Advertise Developers Terms Privacy Policy & Safety How YouTube works Test new features NFL Sunday Ticket Press Copyright . "Would you like to come on the show?" Youve probably heard different versions of it. How do you think the world would change if everyone experienced the perils and setbacks that come with prejudice and discrimination? In Zimbardo's experiment the conditions were much more controlled for later study but the r. From Elliot's highly controversial experiment it is clear that prejudice and discrimination can only be understood through experience. "I think these children walked in a colored child's moccasins for a day," she was quoted as saying. In 1970, a documentary about the exercise was released. I'm tired of hearing about her and her experiment and how everyone here is a racist. Having in mind that it would be difficult to explain to third graders about discrimination, she needed to be more practical so that her student could understand how discrimination and prejudice felt. The test violated the principle of respect for people's rights and dignity. Their 12-year-old daughter, Mary, came home from school one day in tears, sobbing that her sixth-grade classmates had surrounded her in the school hallway and taunted her by saying her mother would soon be sleeping with black men. Grey eyes are also a rare eye color. The May 25 killing of George Floyd set off weeks of nationwide protests over the police abuse and racism against black people, plunging the U.S. into a reckoning of racial inequality. ", Dean Weaver, 70, superintendent of Riceville schools from 1972 to 1979, said, "She'd just go ahead and do things. However, both Mary and Zeke have brown eyes. Through this study, Elliot demonstrated how easy it is for prejudice and discrimination to emerge from just a simple message that people with one eye color are superior to people with another eye color. Elliott reminded them that the reason for the lesson was the King assassination, and she asked them to write down what they had learned. Undeterred, Elliott tried to appeal to Pauls self-interest. In this article, we talk about leadership and female discrimination.. As a result of those divisions, you see racial discrimination or even terrorism. Some residents were furious. Separate the class into two halves - those with blue eyes and those with brown. "Do blue-eyed people remember what they've been taught?" "It's happening every day in this country, right now," she said in an interview with Morning Edition. Not everyone appreciated Elliotts exercise. On the other hand, privileged members of the community are treated as in-groups which earn them undue respect and capacity to abuse the less advantaged. SpeedyPaper website, please click below to request its removal: Liked this essay sample but need an original one? When some of the . Despite the adaptation of the experiment in psychological studies, Jane has been widely criticized for her unethical conduct and promotion of discrimination among children. Back in the classroom, Elliott's experiment had taken on a life of its own. One of the blue eyed even went to hit a brown eyed just for the fact that he was brown eyed. In the case of any doubt, it's best to consult a trusted specialist. The kids in the bottom group became timider and kept to themselves.

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