Ethical Dilemmas at Willowbrook Mental Institution

Willowbrook State School was an institution for children with mental retardation located in the Willowbrook neighborhood of Staten Island in New York City from the 1930s until 1987. Originally this school was designated to house 4,000 mentally retarded; however by 1965 it had a population of a little over 6,000. This large number of occupants named this the largest state-run institution for the mentally handicapped in the United States. (Bursztyn, 2006) After Kennedy took a tour of the institution he stated there were â€Å"questionable medical practices, and experiments† thus labeling this institution a â€Å"snake pit† and proclaimed that individuals in the overcrowded facility were living in filth and dirt, their clothing in rags, in rooms less†¦show more content†¦Feeding live hepatitis virus to mentally disabled children in order to deliberately infect them does not respect them as persons. (Boylin, Scott, 2006) References: A Guide to Willowbrook State School Resources at Other Institutions Retrieved February 2, 2011 Boylin, J, Scott, J. (2006). Practicum internship: textbook and resource guide for counseling and psychotherapy [Fourth Edition]. (Google E-book), Retrieved from http://www.google.com/search?hl=enq=Fusillo,+Maureen+C.+The+Willowbrook+State+School:+An+Oral+History.+Student+Project.+%5BS.I.+s.n.,+1994%5D.tbo=utbs=bks:1source=ogsa=Ntab=sp#sclient=psyhl=entbs=bks:1q=APA+Ethical+Principles+of+Psychologists+and+Code+of+Conductaq=0paqi=p-p2g2g-o1aql=foq=pbx=1fp=1cad=b Hevesi, Dennis. Robert W. McCollum, Dean of Dartmouth Medical School, Dies at 85,The New York Times, September 25, 2010. Accessed February 3, 2011 Marsden, S, Malander, M. (2001). Historical cases of unethical research. Unpublished manuscript, University of North Dakota, North Dakota. Retrieved from http://www.und.edu/instruct/wstevens/PROPOSALCLASS/MARSDENMELANDER2.htm Milestones in OMRDDs History, OMRDD, (2001-09-19). Retrieved on 2011-02-03- Powers, Ron (1977), The Newscasters: The News Business as Show Business, New York: St. Martins Press, p. 185, ISBN 0-312-5707-7 Rivera, Geraldo. Willowbrook: A Report on How It Is and Why It Doesn’t Have to Be That Way. New York: Random House, 1972. ISBN