Solutions
A therapist at a free university clinic treats elementary school
children with behavior problems who are referred by a social
service agency. She is also a doctoral candidate who proposes using
data she has and will collect about the children for a case-based
research project. Which of the following statements about parental
permission is correct? Correct Answer - The parents of the
children might feel pressure to give permission to the therapist to
use their children's data so that she will continue to provide services
to their children.
When a care provider becomes a researcher, both the child clients
and their parents may not feel free to choose not to participate in
the provider's study. A researcher who is also a care provider needs
to be very clear that a decision not to participate in a study, or to
allow records to be used, will not affect the care provided in the
future. The fact that the therapist has access to her clients' records
as a clinician does not entitle her to use information in the records
for research purposes without parental permission and child assent.
A school authority's permission to conduct the research does not
replace the need for permission or assent. Finally, the children's
right to choose cannot be overridden in the pursuit of an
indeterminate community interest. Correct Answer -
A general requirement for informed consent is that no informed
consent may include any exculpatory language. Exculpatory