Ethical considerations for research and treatment with runaway and homeless adolescents.
Ethical considerations for working with runaway and homeless youth in research and treatment settings are presented. Issues of parents' and adolescents' consent for research and treatment are discussed, with particular attention given to the lack of explicit guidelines for working with abused and neglected youth. The principles of beneficence and justice are discussed as they apply to intervening with a high-risk, multiproblem population. The authors offer a rationale for allowing adolescents to self-consent to research and treatment. They argue that in many circumstances, requiring parental consent may not be in the youth's best interest and may preclude his or her participation in treatment and research programs.
Meade
Melissa A
MA
Center on Alcoholism, Substance Abuse, and Addictions, University of New Mexico, Albuquerque 87106, USA.
Slesnick
Natasha
N
D000293:Adolescent; D032984:Ethics, Research; D006297:Health Services Accessibility; D018453:Homeless Youth; D006801:Humans; D007258:Informed Consent; D019221:Mandatory Reporting / Q000941:ethics; D011613:Psychotherapy / Q000941:ethics; D035842:Research Subjects; D014481:United States