Related Experiment Video
Updated: Sep 24, 2025
10:33
Research and Development of High-performance Explosives
Published on: February 20, 2016
17.7K
Edgework, institutions and enhanced interrogation
1Department of Sociology, University College Cork, Cork, Ireland.
Sociology of Health & Illness
|May 5, 2022
Summary
The U.S. Enhanced Interrogation program, involving medical professionals, exhibited characteristics of "Edgework," a concept involving voluntary risk-taking. This study identifies a new form of this behavior, termed "Institutional Edgework."
Area of Science:
- Sociology
- Medical Ethics
- Psychology
Background:
- The U.S. Enhanced Interrogation program, post-9/11, involved medical and other professionals.
- This program is widely acknowledged to have included activities considered torture.
- The program's design and oversight involved psychologists and medical professionals.
Purpose of the Study:
- To analyze the Enhanced Interrogation program through the sociological lens of "Edgework."
- To identify and define a novel form of Edgework termed "Institutional Edgework."
Main Methods:
- Qualitative analysis of the Enhanced Interrogation program's characteristics.
- Application of sociological theories, specifically Edgework, to understand professional behavior within the program.
Main Results:
- The Enhanced Interrogation program demonstrated key features of Edgework: voluntary risk-taking by professionals.
- Risks taken by professionals had potentially catastrophic outcomes across multiple dimensions.
- Risk-taking was motivated by a desire to escape a "death-saturated macrosocial context."
Conclusions:
- The Enhanced Interrogation program exemplifies Edgework, particularly among highly skilled health professionals.
- A new sociological concept, "Institutional Edgework," is proposed based on the study of this program.
- Understanding Institutional Edgework provides insights into professional conduct in high-stakes, ethically complex environments.
Related Concept Videos
03:20The Stanford Prison Experiment
23.8K
The famous and controversial Stanford Prison Experiment, conducted by social psychologist Philip Zimbardo and his colleagues at Stanford University, demonstrated the power of social roles, social norms, and scripts.
23.8K
01:56Ethics in Research
24.6K
Today, scientists agree that good research is ethical in nature and is guided by a basic respect for human dignity and safety. However, this has not always been the case. Modern researchers must demonstrate that the research they perform is ethically sound.
24.6K
01:20¹³C NMR: Distortionless Enhancement by Polarization Transfer (DEPT)
1.2K
When proton-coupled carbon-13 spectra are simplified by a broadband proton decoupling technique, structural information about the coupled protons is lost. Distortionless enhancement by polarization transfer (DEPT) is a technique that provides information on the number of hydrogens attached to each carbon in a molecule. While the DEPT experiment utilizes complex pulse sequences, the pulse delay and flip angle are specifically manipulated. The resulting signals have different phases depending on...
1.2K
01:09Ion-Exchange Chromatography
819
Ion-exchange chromatography, or IEC, is a technique for separating ions based on their affinity for the stationary phase. The stationary phase is a cross-linked polymer resin with covalently attached ionic functional groups. The functional groups can be either positively charged (cation exchangers) or negatively charged (anion exchangers). A cation exchanger consists of a polymeric anion and active cations, while an anion exchanger is a polymeric cation with active anions. The choice of...
819
01:18Effects of EDTA on End-Point Detection Methods
357
Different methods, such as visual observance of metal-ion indicators, spectroscopic techniques, and potentiometric methods, can determine the endpoint of an EDTA titration.
In the visual method, metal-ion indicators (metallochromic dyes), which have distinct colors in their free and complex forms, are added to the mixture to signal the titration's end point. They form stable complexes with metal ions, but these complexes are weaker than the corresponding metal–EDTA complexes. As a...
In the visual method, metal-ion indicators (metallochromic dyes), which have distinct colors in their free and complex forms, are added to the mixture to signal the titration's end point. They form stable complexes with metal ions, but these complexes are weaker than the corresponding metal–EDTA complexes. As a...
357
01:38Cognitive Dissonance
33.9K
Social psychologists have documented that feeling good about ourselves and maintaining positive self-esteem is a powerful motivator of human behavior (Tavris & Aronson, 2008). In the United States, members of the predominant culture typically think very highly of themselves and view themselves as good people who are above average on many desirable traits (Ehrlinger, Gilovich, & Ross, 2005). Often, our behavior, attitudes, and beliefs are affected when we experience a threat to our...
33.9K