Group Benefit and Protection of Pediatric Research Subjects: Grimes v. Kennedy Krieger and the Lead Abatement Study

The Maryland Court of Appeals in Grimes v. Kennedy Krieger Institute was sharply critical of the lead abatement study conducted by this Institute, an affiliate of Johns Hopkins University. Grimes ruled that investigators might, given the facts of the case, have a special relationship with subjects, thereby creating a duty of care that could, if breached, give rise to an action in negligence. This ruling has implications for pediatric research practices and long-standing disputes among informed people of good will about what pediatric studies should be permitted.     

Accounting for Ethical Difficulties in Social Welfare Work: Issues, Problems and Dilemmas

This paper is a preliminary exploration of social welfare practitioners’accounts of ‘ethically difficult situations’. Itdescribes variations in the ethical vocabulary and form of theseaccounts. Analysis of practitioners’ own accounts (asopposed to ‘textbook’ cases) draws attention tothe ways they construct events, actions and qualities of characteras ethically significant and highlights the qualitative distinctivenessof ethical dilemmas, where seemingly irresolvable choices leavea residue of moral loss, regret or guilt.     

Accountability in research using persons with mental illness

Although medical research involving the use of persons with mental illness is critically important, in order for the research to be ethical and legal there are certain considerations and restrictions which should be immediately readdressed in order to insure that the welfare of these vulnerable research subjects is protected, and their best interests are assured. A brief historical examination of medical research codes, guidelines, recommendations and Federal Regulations reveals the various considerations and restrictions on informed consent and accountability applicable to the use of persons with mental illness in medical research. Several concerns are raised about how these considerations and restrictions have been interpreted, and specific recommendations are offered to improve them immediately by means of representation from consumers and/or their families, and organizations, e.g., NAMI members.     

社会工作介入农村留守儿童问题的行动研究

农村留守儿童是在中国现代化进程中产生的一个特殊群体,运用社会工作专业方法为他们提供专业的服务会有效促进这一群体的健康成长。本文旨在通过行动研究,从优势视角出发,构建以儿童为本的社会工作服务模式。     

The Role of Litigation in Human Research Accountability

This essay examines and analyzes the recent and dramatic series of personal injury lawsuits instituted against those individuals and institutions that conduct and monitor human research. It discusses the social engineering functions of tort litigation, outlines the legal elements and viability of lawsuits against those who conduct and monitor human research, and evaluates and predicts what role tort litigation will play in fulfilling the goals of accountability in the context of human research and human research regulation. In general, tort law engenders two forms of accountability: retrospective and prospective. Retrospective accountability is backward looking, focusing on harms that have already occurred, their culprits, and the reimbursement of individuals for their injuries. Prospective accountability is forward looking in that it encourages actors and institutions to fulfill responsibilities toward individuals in order that harm does not occur, or at least that the risk of harm is decreased. This article argues that research litigation is not, and will probably never become, an effective means of ensuring retrospective accountability in regard to research injuries and ethical violations. Paradoxically though, the current wave of research litigation may serve an important and even key role in encouraging and ensuring prospective accountability.     

Disclosing Conflicts of Interest to Research Subjects: An Ethical and Legal Analysis

In this article, I examine the ethical and legal issues related to disclosure of conflicts of interest to research subjects, and discuss some empirical studies related to the topic. I argue that researchers have an ethical obligation to disclose conflicts of interest to research subjects, provided that they take steps to help subjects understand information about conflicts of interest and how to interpret it. Researchers also may have a legal duty to disclose conflicts of interests to subjects, depending on the facts of the case and the court's interpretation of the law. To reinforce and clarify the legal obligation to disclose conflicts of interest, the federal regulations should be amended to include disclosure of conflicts of interest as one of the informed consent requirements. Institutional review boards play a key role in helping researchers to disclose conflicts of interests to subjects in an appropriate manner. Institutional review boards should approve the disclosure language in informed consent documents, and they should require researchers to disclose financial interests to research subjects, if they have any, as a condition of approval.     

社会工作介入感觉统合失调儿童的初探

目前国内外感觉统合失调的儿童越来越多,本文梳理了儿童感觉统合失调的表现及其影响因素,分析目前干预方式的优势和局限,建议将感觉统合训练、心理干预和社会工作三者相结合,对感觉统合失调儿童进行全方位、多角度的干预。     

Unethical Research and the C.I.A. Inspector General Report of 2004: Observations Implicit in Terms of the Common Rule

Declassification of documents has given rise to the allegation that the Central Intelligence Agency may have conducted unethical research targeting detainee subjects. That allegation is examined using document analysis and the development of research goals and roles as defined in the Common Rule. This article sets aside issues as to whether enhanced interrogation techniques described in the declassified documents rise to legal definitions of torture. Instead, it presents a post hoc ethics review raising questions addressed by Institutional Review Boards recommending the filing of a for-cause noncompliance complaint with the Office for Human Research Protection against the Central Intelligence Agency.     

匕京流动儿童对北京的评价及影响因素分析——基于16个北京流动儿童个案研究

以生态系统理论为基础,采用质性研究方法,基于对北京华奥打工子弟学校学生的16例个案访谈,揭示了部分北京流动儿童对北京的评价和看法,以及相应的外部影响因素。研究发现流动儿童对于北京的评价整体上是积极的,影响此评价的微观因素包括同伴、家庭、学校等方面,而这些根源于宏观环境。为改善流动儿童的生活和受教育状况,从学校社会工作角度提出了建议。