NCJ Number
10167
Date Published
1972
Length
1208 pages
Annotation
FORMULATION OF RESEARCH POLICY, THE ADMINISTRATION OF RESEARCH, AND THE REVIEW OF RESEARCH AND ITS CONSEQUENCES.
Abstract
RECENT EXPERIENCE WITH HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION IN A VARIETY OF DISCIPLINES HAS PROMPTED RENEWED INTEREST IN THE ETHICAL, MEDICAL, AND LEGAL QUESTIONS RESULTING FROM SUCH RESEARCH. IN THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE FIELD, THESE QUESTIONS HAVE BEEN RAISED BY THE USE OF PRISONERS FOR TESTING EXPERIMENTAL DRUGS AND BY THE INCREASING APPLICATION OF BEHAVIOR MODIFICATION TECHNIQUES, SUCH AS AVERSIVE CONDITIONING, DRUG THERAPY, AND PSYCHOSURGERY IN CORRECTIONS. IN SEARCHING FOR ANSWERS, THIS BOOK EXAMINES AND EVALUATES THE ROLE OF EACH OF THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION PROCESS - THE INVESTIGATOR WHO INITIATES AND CONDUCTS THE EXPERIMENT, THE INDIVIDUAL WHO IS THE SUBJECT, AND THE PROFESSIONS AND THE STATE WHICH EVALUATE, SUPPORT, OR RESTRICT RESEARCH. THE PROBLEMS OF HUMAN EXPERIMENTATION ARE EXPLORED BY USING STUDIES FROM MANY DISCIPLINES, INCLUDING MEDICINE, PSYCHOLOGY, SOCIOLOGY, BIOLOGY, AND LAW. TEXTUAL MATERIALS ARE DRAWN FROM DIVERSE SOURCES TRIAL TRANSCRIPTS, CONGRESSIONAL HEARINGS, APPELLATE DECISIONS, NEWSPAPER ARTICLES, AND SCHOLARLY PUBLICATIONS. ALTERNATIVE PROPOSALS FOR CONTROLLING EXPERIMENTATION, RANGING FROM ALLOWING INVESTIGATORS COMPLETE DISCRETION TO IMPOSING STRICT GOVERNMENT REGULATION, ARE EXAMINED IN DETAIL. (SNI ABSTRACT)