Re: Human Subjects Review/Offending Populations

[meezan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

At 11:05 AM 4/4/97 CST, you wrote:
>        I am looking for information (citations if possible) and/or any 
>     advice regarding human subjects approval for conducting research with 
>     offending populations.  I am in the early stages of developing a study 
>     to do in-depth, qualitative life history interviews with offenders 
>     (both batterers and sexual offenders).  
>        There are several possible constraints I see to both conducting 
>     this research and obtaining human subjects approval.  The first 
>     constraint is the offender's denial.  Their denial is no doubt due, in 
>     large part, to their concern about possible prosection.  I have done 
>     qualitative interviews with sexual offenders where I limited the scope 
>     of discussion to the victim for whom the offender was currently in 
>     treatment, meaning they were not asked to talk about any other 
>     possible undisclosed offending behavior.  I would like to expand the 
>     scope of inquiry with these groups of offenders.  Thus, there is the 
>     possibility that they might talk about previously undisclosed 
>     violence.  
>        A second constraint is that you can't do qualitative interviews 
>     anonymously.  The kinds of things I am interested in looking at (which 
>     I won't go in to here), are best studied from a qualitative 
>     perspective.  Yet, a concern I have is that if an outside person (such 
>     as a victim's attorney) were to learn of the existence of the 
>     interviews they could technically subpoena the material for use in a 
>     civil case.
>        A related dilemma I have is that, as a social worker, I am a 
>     mandated reporter.  I take my responsibility to protect victims very 
>     seriously, but I also believe that in order for us to continue to 
>     expand our understanding of interpersonal violence, we need to gather 
>     in-depth information from offenders.  This means gathering information 
>     on the entire range and history of their offending behavior.  
>     Offenders are not likely to give this depth of information without 
>     assurances of confidentiality.  However, if they are given these 
>     assurances, they may disclose past or ongoing abuse that no action 
>     could be taken to address.  This is a very difficult dilemma for me.
>        I would appreciate any thoughts, insights, or past experiences with 
>     human subjects approval for this kind of work that any of you can 
>     provide.
>     
>     Carolyn Copps Hartley, Ph.D.
>     University of Iowa
>     School of Social Work
>     308 North Hall
>     Iowa City, IA 52242
>
Carolyn,

A collegue of mine, Maura O'Keefe, has completed some work with women who
have killed and are in prison.  It is, I gather, a bear to get approval, and
you may want to speak with her about her experience.   You can reach her at
maura@sowk.usc.edu.  Hope this helps.

Bill Meezan, Professor
University of Southern California
School of Social Work>