The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment Summary

Introduction

James H. Jones authored the book Bad Blood: The Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment. The Tuskegee Syphilis experiment was a study of 600 African American males that started in 1932 and ended in 1972 (Jones, 1993, p. 1) The study was not beneficial. This paper will summarize the book Bad Blood as well as address theoretical perspectives, methodology, and ethics of the Tuskegee Syphilis Experiment.

Summary

Author James H. Jones writes in length about who was involved in the study and how the research was conducted. In the African American community syphilis was known as “bad blood”. The Public Health Service ran many tests on men who were in the late stages of syphilis, a stage called tertiary (Jones, 1993, p. 1). Prior to the experiment

Jones’ book is conflict perspective. Leon-Guerrero (2009) writes, “conflict theorists consider how society is held together by power and coercion (Ritzer 2000) for the benefit of those in power” (Leon-Guerrero, 2009, p. 14). Leon-Guerrero (2009) goes on to state that Karl Marx was the first to make the argument of conflict theory. Marx focused on the conflict between social classes. There is at most times a tension between the proletariat (workers) and the bourgeoisie (owners) (Leon-Guerrero, 2009, p. 14). Conflict theory can also be found in the healthcare profession:

According to conflict theorists, patterns of health and illness are not accidental or solely the result of an individual’s actions. Conflict theorists identify how these patterns are related to systematic inequalities based on ethnicity/race or gender and on difference in power, values, and interests (Leon-Guerrero, 2009, p.

There were 600 participants, 399 men who had the disease and 201 men who did not have the disease (Jones, 1993, p. 1). Participants were selected because they lived in Macon County, Alabama. Researchers found this location to have high rates of syphilis. Melissa Greco writes, “Ironically, it began as a study to invoke more public health care for blacks, particularly in the treatment of syphilis, which was considered a major epidemic in the 1930s” (p. 188).

The independent variable of the Tuskegee Experiment was the treatment or lack thereof. The dependent variable was how the participants responded to the treatment. To recruit participant’s researchers offered free transportations, free food, and free treatment for other illnesses (Jones, 1993, p. 4). To retain the participants during the course of the study researches continued to offer the same benefits they did in the beginning. They also used Nurse Eunice Rivers. She was an African American woman who worked with the study the complete 40 years it ran (Troncoso, 2014, p. 1). She was able to relate to participants and families as well as build