Allen Hornblum and Gordon Shattuck Interview

In this interview with Philadelphia native author and advocate Allen Hornblum and Massachusetts native Gordon Shattuck, we explore a dark undercurrent of research on children in the United States. Hornblum's journalistic uncovering of the stories of orphans like Gordon Shattuck describe the abuses suffered by children in the name of research progress. Shattuck, a former resident of the Fernald School in Massachusetts, shared details of his childhood of abuse and involuntary participation in harmful research programs. Yet he agrees with Hornblum that research must strike a careful balance between the costs of research and the goods that can come from it. Both discuss how they hope that researchers learn thoughtfully from past misconduct and protect vulnerable and dispossessed populations through ethical future research practices.

Who is Allen Hornblum?

Allen Hornblum an author and public lecturer. He has servedAllen Hornblum as the Chief-of-Staff in the Philadelphia Sheriff's Office, the Pennsylvania Crime Commission, and the Philadelphia Prison System. In addition to writing several books, such as Acres of Skin, Confessions of a Second Story Man, and the forthcoming Against Their Will, he has presented before a cross-section of organizations such as the National Institutes of Health, Institute of Medicine and a host of medical schools.