NCJ Number
83435
Journal
Criminal Law Bulletin Volume: 11 Issue: 5 Dated: (September-October 1975) Pages: 600-616
Date Published
1975
Length
17 pages
Annotation
Emerging law regulating the use of behavior modification therapies for involuntary confined persons points toward a principle of informed consent by potential subjects; Florida's proposed guidelines for the treatment of the institutionalized mentally retarded aim at implementing this principle.
Abstract
Concepts of competence, informed consent, and the least restrictive alternative are built into the proposed Florida scheme, but the approach relies heavily on an administrative model to resolve issues of efficacy, factfinding, approval of therapeutic goals, and the selection of therapeutic techniques. The guidelines foresee the creation of a statewide Peer Review Committee (PRC) composed of highly regarded professionals trained in applied behavior analysis. A lay review committee would be created for each region of the Division of Retardation. Designated as the Committee on Legal and Ethical Protection (CLEP), it would consist of, among others, a behavioral scientist, a lawyer with experience in representing the handicapped or versed in issues of civil liberties, and a parent of a retarded person. PRC approval is required for new therapy techniques to be acceptable, and CLEP approval is also required based on its judgment of the appropriateness of the behavior proposed to be strengthened or weakened and on the ethical propriety of the means to be used to achieve the behavior change. A total of 20 footnotes are listed.