InterestedParticipant
02-04-2010, 05:23 PM
In 1974 Senator Sam J. Ervin, who chaired the Senate Subcommittee on
Constitutional Rights' three year investigation into federal behavior modification
experiments, released a report that discusses remote brain monitoring
technology that could be applied to prisoners, and could track, observe, and
influence them even after their so-called release.
Ervin said the following about behavior modification.... As disturbing as
behavior modification may be on a theoretical level, the unchecked growth of the
practical, the technology has expanded our capacity for meeting society's needs,
it has also increased, to a startling degree, our ability to enter and affect the lives
of individual citizens
Senator Ervin reported that his committee watched with growing concern as
behavioral research unearths vast new capabilities far more rapidly than we are
able to reconcile the many important questions of individual liberties raised by
these capabilities.
He deplored the fact that with the speedy proliferation of these techniques
few real efforts have been made to consider the basic issue of individual
freedom involved and to minimize fundamental conflicts between
individual rights and behavior technology.
Individual Rights and the Federal Role in Behavior Modification (http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED103726&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED103726)
A Study Prepared by the Staff of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary,
United States Senate, 93rd Congress, 2nd Session, 1974.
Sam Ervin, Chairman
Report Abstract
This report responds to a directive issued to the Senate Subcommittee on
Constitutional Rights to conduct an investigation into behavior modification
programs, with particular emphasis on the federal government's involvement in
the technology of behavior control and the implications of this involvement for
individual rights. Two basic considerations motivated the investigation: first, the
concern that the rights of human subjects of behavioral research are sufficiently
protected by adequate guidelines and review structures; and second, the
question of whether the federal government has any business participating in
programs that may alter the substance of individual freedom. Although the
material included in this report is by no means comprehensive, some initial
findings are apparent:
there is widespread and growing interest in the development of
methods designed to predict, identify, control, and modify individual behavior;
few measures are being taken to resolve questions of freedom, privacy, and
self-determination;
the Federal government is heavily involved in a variety of behavior
modification programs ranging from simple reinforcement techniques to
psychosurgery; and
a number of departments and agencies fund, participate in, or sanction
research involving various aspects of behavior modification.
Constitutional Rights' three year investigation into federal behavior modification
experiments, released a report that discusses remote brain monitoring
technology that could be applied to prisoners, and could track, observe, and
influence them even after their so-called release.
Ervin said the following about behavior modification.... As disturbing as
behavior modification may be on a theoretical level, the unchecked growth of the
practical, the technology has expanded our capacity for meeting society's needs,
it has also increased, to a startling degree, our ability to enter and affect the lives
of individual citizens
Senator Ervin reported that his committee watched with growing concern as
behavioral research unearths vast new capabilities far more rapidly than we are
able to reconcile the many important questions of individual liberties raised by
these capabilities.
He deplored the fact that with the speedy proliferation of these techniques
few real efforts have been made to consider the basic issue of individual
freedom involved and to minimize fundamental conflicts between
individual rights and behavior technology.
Individual Rights and the Federal Role in Behavior Modification (http://www.eric.ed.gov/ERICWebPortal/custom/portlets/recordDetails/detailmini.jsp?_nfpb=true&_&ERICExtSearch_SearchValue_0=ED103726&ERICExtSearch_SearchType_0=no&accno=ED103726)
A Study Prepared by the Staff of the Subcommittee on Constitutional Rights of the Committee on the Judiciary,
United States Senate, 93rd Congress, 2nd Session, 1974.
Sam Ervin, Chairman
Report Abstract
This report responds to a directive issued to the Senate Subcommittee on
Constitutional Rights to conduct an investigation into behavior modification
programs, with particular emphasis on the federal government's involvement in
the technology of behavior control and the implications of this involvement for
individual rights. Two basic considerations motivated the investigation: first, the
concern that the rights of human subjects of behavioral research are sufficiently
protected by adequate guidelines and review structures; and second, the
question of whether the federal government has any business participating in
programs that may alter the substance of individual freedom. Although the
material included in this report is by no means comprehensive, some initial
findings are apparent:
there is widespread and growing interest in the development of
methods designed to predict, identify, control, and modify individual behavior;
few measures are being taken to resolve questions of freedom, privacy, and
self-determination;
the Federal government is heavily involved in a variety of behavior
modification programs ranging from simple reinforcement techniques to
psychosurgery; and
a number of departments and agencies fund, participate in, or sanction
research involving various aspects of behavior modification.