Ethical and legal standards for research in prisons

Biobehavioral research, especially that which is conducted with prisoners, has become much more closely regulated in the last 30 years. State and federal law, as well as professional standards, regulate the conduct of many types of research; in the case of prisoners, this regulation is even more stringent. However, currently no mandatory, uniform, national regulatory or oversight process exists, and many privately funded research endeavors are operating in a regulatory void. In response to this, the National Bioethics Advisory Commission has argued for the creation of a single, national, independent regulatory body to oversee all human participant research, regardless of funding source. As ethicolegal research standards evolve alongside advances in science and technology, an appreciation of the history of prisoner research and an awareness of current standards is critical to conducting ethical prison research.