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Ethical Dilemmas Of Truman Capote

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In the movie Capote (2005), Truman Capote found himself fascinated and intrigued by a family’s murder in a small Kansas town. He and his research assistant, Nelle Harper Lee, visited the sight of the murders, the school that the witnesses attended, and the home of the detective, Alvin Dewey. Soon after, two suspects are identified and given a trial. The jury of all white men announce their verdict and sentence: guilty and death. By this time, Capote has begun to establish a relationship with one of the suspects, Perry Smith.
There were a couple of ethical dilemmas that stood out in the viewing of this movie. The first was the mentality of Capote that people can be bought. This was shown in monetary forms such as when Capote paid the Porter to state what a great writer Capote was in front of Harper Lee or when Capote paid the Warden in order to let him in to visit with Perry Smith at any time he desired. This was also shown in actions such as when, upon Capote hearing that Perry had not eaten or drank for a month, he brought and fed him baby food along with aiding him in drinking water. Polit and Beck (2017) state that because of the relationships that qualitative researchers often develop with …show more content…

Capote dangled hope in front of Perry by recommending he find a lawyer and appeal the jury’s decision. He gave Perry hope that the book he would write could be used as evidence of the innocent intent of the suspect. He lied to Perry on multiple occasions by stating he didn’t know what he would name the title of the book. As Polit and Beck (2017) discuss, it is not uncommon for a pseudotherapeutic relationship to develop due to the distance between the researcher and participant declining. However, this relationship can heighten the risk that exploitation can occur, inadvertently or not (Polit & Beck,

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