Human-Subjects Research: The Ethics Squad

Stacy Hodgkinson and Amy Lewin had the best of intentions when they enrolled the pregnant 15-year-old in their study. The psychologists were evaluating an educational programme for young parents-to-be, and the teenager met all the inclusion criteria: she was 15–32 weeks pregnant with her first child, under 19 years of age, and her partner — who did not live with her — was willing to participate in the study. There was just one problem. Dad was 24 years old, and according to local laws he was guilty of child sexual abuse for sleeping with a minor.

The couple had apparently lied to each other about their ages, but not to Hodgkinson and Lewin, both then at the Children's National Health System in Washington DC. This presented a dilemma. The scientists had promised the participants that their information would be kept confidential. But did that trump their legal duty to report the crime to the police? And how would that affect the family?

“Here was a young father telling us he'd like to be involved in his child's life in a...