title: Informed Consent: An Ethical Issue in Conducting Research with Male Partner Violent Offenders.
abstract: Ethical codes help guide the methods of research that involve samples gathered from "at-risk" populations. The current paper reviews general as well as specific ethical principles related to gathering informed consent from partner violent offenders mandated to outpatient treatment, a group that may be at increased risk of unintentional coercion in behavioral sciences research due to court-mandates that require outpatient treatment without the ethical protections imbued upon prison populations. Recommendations are advanced to improve the process of informed consent within this special population and data supporting the utility of the recommendations in a sample 70 partner violent offenders are provided. Data demonstrate that participants were capable of comprehending all essential elements of consent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Cory A
authors.initials: CA
authors.lastname: Crane
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Samuel W
authors.initials: SW
authors.lastname: Hawes
authors.affiliation: Forensic Drug Diversion Clinic, Yale University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Dolores
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Mandel
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine.
authors.forename: Caroline J
authors.initials: CJ
authors.lastname: Easton
keywords: court-ordered outpatient treatment; informed consent; partner violence