Research with Prisoners - SBE (ID 506)

Which example of research with prisoners would be allowable under the regulations?

Examining age at first arrest as a predictor of adult criminal history.

A graduate student wants to examine the effect of print media versus televised media on individuals' position on several social issues. The superintendent of a local work release facility, a family friend, will allow the graduate student access to the prison population to help her quickly accrue subjects. The student's IRB should:

Not approve this project because the prisoners are merely a population of convenience for the student.

Which of the following statements about prison research is true?

Researchers may study the effects of privilege upgrades awarded by the prison.

One of your subjects is half way through a study of an investigational antidepressant that is injected weekly. The drug requires a taper-down regimen, that is, it should not be stopped abruptly. You learn that the subject will be admitted to prison next week prior to the next scheduled injection. What is the appropriate response for the researcher?

The researcher should contact prison authorities about the medical issue , and report the events to the IRB of record.

A sociologist wants to study a culture that occurs in some women's prisons: "state families," in which individual prisoners take on certain roles within a group of like-minded prisoners. There is previous evidence that younger prisoners will use older inmates who play the roles of grandparents as a resource before they will turn to staff for help and advice. The lieutenant in charge of a dorm of long-term prisoners offers to gather volunteers to speak to the researcher and also offers to vouch for the integrity of the researcher. The use of this staff is:

Wrong and is prohibited; subject selection needs to be free from intervention by prison authorities or prisoners.