The Ethical Principles Guiding the Use of Human Research Subjects, Essay Example

In the 20^th century a number of significant events and circumstances would eventually give rise to a set of protocols and guidelines for the use of human subjects in scientific trials and experiments. In the United States the infamous Tuskegee syphilis used unwitting human subjects over the course of several decades. Under the reign of the Nazis in Germany, doctors performed experiments, many of which were nothing more than outright torture, on numerous unwilling subjects. Incidents like these prompted the development of ethical guidelines for the use of human subjects that are based primarily in the concept of informed consent. The National Institute of Health offers a training course on these guidelines which helps investigators and researchers understand the core principles underpinning the concept of informed consent. These principles do not just have implications for researchers, but can also help promote better understanding of ethical guidelines for educators and anyone else involved in working with people.

In 1979 the National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects issued the Belmont Report, which offered a concise overview of the basis ethical principles established to guide the use of human subjects in biomedical and behavioral research. The three essential ethical principles are “Respect for Persons,” “Beneficence,” and “Justice.” Each of these principles addresses a particular aspect of the overall ethical framework for research on human subjects, and each is designed to support the others to form this larger framework. These principles guide how researchers should view human subjects, how they should treat human subjects, and how research itself must be shaped to ensure that human subjects are treated fairly.

The first principle, Respect for Persons, mandates that researchers view human subjects (and potential human subjects) as autonomous agents. The opinions and choices of each individual must be acknowledged and respected by researchers. The principle of Beneficence is intended to ensure that researchers protect the well-being of human subjects, and is described in the Belmont Report as an “obligation” on the part of researchers to go beyond simple kindness and to do everything possible to serve the needs of human subjects. The third principle is Justice, which is intended to ensure that human subjects are afforded every opportunity to understand the procedures and risks of experiments and clinical trials, and are able to provide informed consent before participating in any such experiments. Taken together, these principles form a unified framework for the use of human subjects that ensures subjects are respected, treated fairly, given all necessary and available information, and are able to consent to participating in experiments freely and with a complete understanding of the positive and negative aspects of the experiment.

The principles and guidelines established in the Belmont Report are specifically designed to be applicable to the use of human subjects in research and experimentation. These principles can also be considered relevant to a variety of other fields; in fact, almost any field that involves working with people should function in a framework that ensures fair and ethical treatment for everyone involved. This ideal is certainly true for educators and other stakeholders within the educational system. Educators have ethical obligations to students and others that operate within the larger educational framework, and these ethical obligations are similar in many ways to those described in the Belmont Report. The CARE framework is based on the principles of Collaboration, Academic Excellence, Research, and Ethical Practice. These principles mandate that educators and other stakeholders adhere to ethical standards that respect diversity, foster collaboration, and advocate for the well-being of students. By studying and understand the principles that guide human research subjects, educators and other stakeholders can broaden their understating of the basic ethical principles that should guide all human interactions.