Overview

In light of a history of exploitation by researchers, most of the limited scholarship on prisoners in medical ethics is focused on precaution and protections. Vulnerability and Incarceration: Evaluating Protections for Prisoners in Research explores the best ways for researchers to balance these concerns with the rights of incarcerated persons to both participate in medical research and benefit from medical and scientific progress. The book examines the historical and contemporary regulatory landscape governing prisoner participation in research and the concept of vulnerability in play when classifying prisoners as vulnerable. Elizabeth Victor discusses how this concept might preclude a prisoner’s positive right to participate in research from being acknowledged. She also addresses the differences in oversight between public and private prisoners and how the shift to privatized prisons compounds the vulnerability of prisoners in the United States.  

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9781498533836

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Bioethicists have a difficult time addressing the question of whether or not incarcerated persons should participate in medical and scientific research. As history demonstrates, approaches that are too permissive, on one hand, have led to the exploitation and abuse of prisoners; approaches that are too strict, on the other, can deny prisoners the right to enjoy the benefits of science. In this valuable contribution to the bioethical literature, Elizabeth Victor employs the concept of well-being considered along multiple dimensions, combined with a nuanced exploration of what it means to be vulnerable, to develop a balanced approach to research that allows incarcerated persons to be potential participants while still protecting their interests. This book will be of interest to bioethicists, rights theorists, and those concerned with the well-being of those who are incarcerated; it should be read by medical and scientific researchers, policy makers, and members of Institutional Review Boards. -- Rachel Haliburton, University of Sudbury In order to offer ethical guidelines for researchers designing studies that include people who are incarcerated, Elizabeth Victor offers a lucid examination of carceral practices, their regulation, and the myriad ways they produce profits in the United States. Seeking to include those who are often excluded from the benefits of scientific and medical progress while avoiding the exploitation of those who are in dire circumstances of exploitation, Victor offers practical guidance to researchers while putting into question the justice of prisons as we know them. -- Sarah Tyson, University of Colorado Denver

Author Information

Elizabeth Victor is assistant professor of philosophy at William Paterson University.

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