Background
for Teachers
Flowers for Algernon is the story of a mentally challenged
man, Charlie Gordon, who undergoes an experimental operation that
researchers hope will increase his intelligence. The title of the
book takes its name from a mouse named “Algernon” upon
whom the procedure had been tested before Charlie.
At
first, the experiment seems a tremendous success. Charlie's intelligence
quickly surpasses that of the doctors who conducted the operation
on him. In time though, his intelligence begins to fade. In the
end, Charlie becomes even less intelligent than he was before
the operation.
The
story is brilliantly told from the perspective of Charlie by means
of a personal journal. We literally see his first thoughts about
participating in the experiment, and his increasing intelligence
and finally decline as the experiment progresses. Flowers for
Algernon raises a number of important ethical issues about the
rights of human subjects—in particular, informed consent.
The novel is a moving and creative work of literature and is an
excellent starting point for class discussion and reflective writing
exercises.
The
history of human subjects protections is rich, and it offers an
opportunity to explore Nazi experiments, international research
and, generally, the relationship between the rights of individuals
and the betterment of society. A timeline with some of this history
is available at http://www.history.nih.gov/01Docs/historical/2020b.htm
In
July 12, 1974, the National Research Act (Pub. L. 93-348) became
law. It created a National Commission for the Protection of Human
Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research. The main task
of the Commission was to identify the basic ethical principles
that should be followed in biomedical and behavioral research
involving human subjects. In addition, the Commission established
guidelines for researchers. Specifically, these included: 1. the
boundaries between biomedical and behavioral research and the
accepted and routine practice of medicine; 2. the role of assessment
of risk-benefit criteria in the determination of the appropriateness
of research involving human subjects; 3. appropriate guidelines
for the selection of human subjects for participation in such
research, and 4. the nature and definition of informed consent
in various research settings. (Source: http://ohsr.od.nih.gov/guidelines/belmont.html.)
The
Belmont
Report summarized the findings of the Commission in the
course of its deliberations. The report was named after a conference
center at the Smithsonian Institution. It provides a statement
of fundamental ethical principles and guidelines that should be
followed in the conduct of research involving human subjects.
That same year, the Belmont Report and National Research
Act were followed by the creation of a comprehensive Federal law
to govern research on humans. The Code of Federal Regulations
has a section addressing “Protection of Human Subjects,”
based on the Belmont Report.
The Belmont Report was developed as a result of the abuse
of human subjects in a number of government studies. The most
important of these was the Tuskegee Syphilis Study. This was a
clinical study conducted from 1932 to 1972 in Tuskegee, Alabama.
The study followed 399 poor, and largely illiterate, black sharecroppers.
Essentially, they were given the impression that they were being
given treatment for the disease of syphilis, when in fact they
were being observed to study effects the disease had on individuals
when it ran its normal course.
Because they were poor, largely illiterate and denied equal rights
as part of a discriminated against racial minority, the participants
of the Tuskegee Syphilis Study were highly vulnerable. The study
violated fundamental ethical principles because it did not disclose
to the subjects the fact that they were participating in research
and that such participation put them at risk – that is,
the study violated rules for informed or valid consent.
The Belmont Report is a milestone in the U.S. study and
implementation of practical ethics. To this day, nearly every
experiement involving people is reviewed – and approved
or rejected – by institutions following to ethical standards
identified at Belmont.
Flowers for Algernon addresses a number of important
ethical issues including the ability of experimental subjects
to understand how an experiment might affect their lives, the
obligation of scientists performing a treatment to make sure that
their subjects are aware of how they might be affected, and the
ethics of having a person participate in a potentially risky experiment
that might benefit the advancement of science and humanity.
The
novel won the 1960 Hugo
Award for the best short fiction work of science fiction from
the World Science Fiction Society and a Nebula
Award in 1966 for the best novel of the year from the Science
Fiction Writers of America.
The
novel has many interesting links to popular culture. It was made
into a 1968 movie titled Charly, for which Cliff Robertson
won an academy award for his portrayal of the main character.
More recently Matthew Modene acted in a television program based
on the novel.
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