Hi there. Could you please give me a clue about obtaining informed consent from inmates in prison? Is there anything I should keep in mind?

Welcome.

Thanks a lot!

Obtaining free and informed consent is a major challenge for any research involving vulnerable and marginalized populations, including inmates. “Free” consent, which refers to obtaining consent in an environment free from coercion, whether the coercion is implicit or explicit, can be seriously compromised in the prison context. Inmates may feel unintended stress and believe, wrongly, that refusal to participate will negatively affect the trajectory in prison or appearances in court. Others may hope that their participation will favorably affect judicial proceedings and decisions. For instance, in the United States, the Federal Regulation Code allows researchers to provide a certificate attesting to the inmate’s participation in a study, although for obvious ethical reasons any such certificate should state that it is not usable in parole review to avoid creating false hope and out of respect for anonymity. Conversely, others may refuse to participate because of the sensitive content of information in interviews. The presence of any of the above puts the voluntary nature of participation at risk.