NCJ Number
112495
Date Published
1988
Length
20 pages
Annotation
Ethical issues related to free and informed consent arise in mandatory treatment of or experimentation with incarcerated sex offenders.
Abstract
Informed consent requires that the patient be provided with treatment options and be given sufficient information to engage in decisionmaking as an autonomous agent. Information should cover the goals of treatment, options, success and failure rates of options, risks and side-effects of treatment options, lifestyle implications of treatments, and limits of knowledge regarding treatment options. Controversy has arisen as to whether it is possible for detainees to give free consent to treatment, when such consent may be a condition of an improved situation or earlier release. In general, courts have held that imprisonment is not per se a barrier to detainees' free consent. However, treatment should be routinely offered and accepted and be adequately safe and effective. The conduct of human experimentation is controlled more directly than treatment by specific regulations, particularly through the constitution and function of institutional review boards and through special provisions governing the use of prisoners as subjects in biomedical and behavioral research. These provisions govern the types of studies permitted and specify that such studies involve minimal risk to the subjects and an intent and probability of improving the health or well-being of the subjects. While these issues relate to treatment and research with all types of detainees, they may be especially problematic when they involve sex offenders. 91 footnotes.