NCJ Number
14235
Date Published
1972
Length
38 pages
Annotation
THE VALUE OF CONTROLLED EXPERIMENTS IN PENAL INSTITUTIONS IS DISPUTED IN LIGHT OF THE ETHICAL QUESTIONS RAISED BY SUCH RESEARCH, THE DIFFICULTIES IN INTERPRETING RESULTS, AND THE NEGATIVE EFFECTS IT MAY HAVE ON INSTITUTIONS.
Abstract
THE ANALOGY OF MEDICAL RESEARCH TO PENAL RESEARCH IS QUESTIONED DUE TO THE WIDE RANGE OF ETHICAL PROBLEMS FOUND IN CORRECTIONAL RESEARCH AND TO THE NATURE AND PURPOSE OF PENAL MEASURES, WHICH SERVE A VARIETY OF DIFFERING AIMS AND WHICH OFTEN CONSIST OF COMPLEX AND OBSCURE INTERACTIONS AMONGST NUMEROUS ILL-DEFINED ELEMENTS. MANY OF THE DIFFICULTIES INHERENT IN CONTROLLED EXPERIEMNTS IN INSTITUTIONAL SETTINGS ARE DISCUSSED. AMONG THESE ARE ETHICAL PROBLEMS AND THE CONSENT OF PRACTITIONERS, THE CHOICE OF SUCCESS CRITERIA, PRACTICAL DIFFICULTIES OF IMPLEMENTING RANDOM ALLOCATION, PROBLEMS OF GENERALISING FROM RESULTS, AND PROBLEMS ARISING FROM CHANGES IN TREATMENT. (AUTHOR ABSTRACT MODIFIED)