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35 Int. J. Offender Therapy & Comp. Criminology 1 (1991)

handle is hein.journals/ijotcc35 and id is 1 raw text is: Associate Editor's Editorial Ethical Issues Regarding Research on Prisoners J. Arboleda-F6rez, M.D. A dvancement in the causes and treatment of medical conditions even- tually requires the use of human subjects. Before using human subjects, investigators must be aware of the medical and ethical considerations, as well as the legal rules and precedents that apply to researchers or institutions where the research is being conducted. These rules pertain to the selection of subjects, the rights of subjects, and the duties of the researchers. Medical research on human subjects is generally conducted on compe- tent individuals. These subjects must be able to receive and understand the information about the proposed research and be able to give informed consent about their participation. In psychiatry, the problem of competency among research subjects is frequently encountered. Whether the subjects are competent and whether they can give appropriate informed consent to participate should be a matter of major concern to psychiatric researchers, and are factors that have to be fully assessed before starting any research project. RISKS AND BENEFITS To engage human subjects in research is to take a risk where proba- bility of materializing into harm or injury is unknown. It is an accepted procedure to try treatments on animals to quantify and minimize potential untoward effects. Eventually, the treatment should be tried on humans. At this stage, the researcher should have a clear idea of the benefits to be gained from the use of the treatment under investigation, and knowledge of the risks. Risks and benefits should be clearly assessed. Risks have to be justified, not just in the general sense, but in regard to each particular individual subject's medical condition. Justification of risk has to be case specific and quantified both at the physical and emotional levels; by the same token, benefits have to be case specific. General benefits such as the advancement of knowledge or the social good, are not sufficient. The subject has to obtain some physical or emotional benefit. Similarly, as much as risks have to be minimized, it is the responsibility of the researcher to maximize the benefits. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 35(1), 1991 from the SAGE Social Science Collections. All Rights Reserved.

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