Children as Research Subjects

This interdisciplinary text is the first to address the many questions and controversies surrounding the use of children as research subjects. Experts in the field of biomedical and behavioural research with children consider the issues in terms of biomedical science, child psychology, ethics, and the law, providing a careful balance between individual and societal benefits. This practical guide will be invaluable to everyone involved in performing or reviewingresearch involving children.

This book should be read and used as a resource by all who engage in research with children, by members of institutional review boards, and by people who evaluate grant applications. It will also interest many others who are concerned about the well-being of children. The editors have recruited authors who differ in their areas of interest but not their uniformly high levels of expertise and knowledge. A welcome feature is the book's emphasis on the psychological ramifications of participation in research ... insightful book ... An important aid for researchers and reviewers is an appendix, "Points to Consider in Proposing or Reviewing Research Involving Children.", both a timely and welcome book ... The timeliness of this book can not be overstated. What it clearly points to is the need for the establishment of clear ethical guidelines governing what will undoubtedly become, if it has not done so already, a growth area in research terms - the lives and experiences of our children. Grodin and Glantz are to be congratulated on providing us with a book that is both informative and at the same time challenging and thought provoking. Given the general nature of the issues addressed, it should be read by researchers of all disiplines. At a time when the advocacy of rights for our children is high on the political agenda, it will also have a wider appeal.

Michael A. Grodin, M.D., FAAP, is a Medical Ethicist, Professor of Health Law, Pediatrics, Socio-Medical Sciences and Community Medicine, Adjunct Professor of Philosophy, and Director of the Program in Medical Ethics at Boston University Schools of Medicine, Public Health and the College of Liberal Arts. He has been Chairman of the Institutional Review Board of the Department of Health and Hospitals of the City of Boston for 10 years, and is a member of the National Committee on Bioethics of the American Academy of Pediatrics. He is co-editor of The Nazi Doctors and the Nuremberg Code: Human Rights in Human Experimentation (Oxford, 1992) Leonard H. Glantz, J.D., is a lawyer, Associate Director and Professor of Health Law at Boston University School of Public Health, and Professor of Socio-Medical Sciences and Community Medicine at Boston University School of Medicine. Mr. Glantz was an advisor to the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research in the area of legal issues concerning research with children, and has been a member of Institutional Review Boards for 15 years.