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The purpose of this paper is to explore the complex factors associated with informed consent in probation and parole settings.

The author conducted a literature review exploring informed consent in correctional settings. To identify articles for review, the author searched electronic peer-reviewed literature databases for articles on: informed consent, corrections, probation, parole, voluntariness, and coercion.

There is evidence in the literature to suggest that the informed consent process is significantly more complicated within correctional settings than in civilian contexts. The use of implicit and explicit coercion and determining an offender’s voluntariness status may be a problematic prospect unique to the setting. This manuscript makes recommendations to ensure informed consent is truly obtained and to safeguard client welfare.

There is a paucity of literature on providing mental health services in probation and parole settings. Furthermore, this paper is unique in discussing factors associated with the informed consent process in that context.

Laparoscopic cholecystectomy is one of the most commonly performed general surgical operations and is associated with several potentially serious post‐operative complications. Informed consent is vital to avoid patient misunderstanding of risk and subsequent costly litigation. Consent practice at the authors' hospital was audited with the aim of investigating the quality of consent and assessing the impact of the introduction of a detailed patient information leaflet.

In total, the consent forms of 200 patients were examined; 100 patient consent forms were selected before and 100 after the introduction of a pre‐operative patient information leaflet, and retrospectively analysed.

Consultant staff obtained only 27 per cent of consent; 64 per cent of consent was taken on the morning of surgery. The most common risks mentioned were bleeding, infection, thrombo‐embolic risks and conversion to open. Other complications were mentioned inconsistently, with only 2 per cent of patients having documented evidence of receiving the information leaflet.

The authors demonstrate that consent for laparoscopic cholecystectomy remains inconsistent. The introduction of an information leaflet did not improve the documentation of risk required for informed consent.

This study investigates the current practice of referrers with regard to consent to treatment of adult patients who have learning disabilities. It addresses specifically referrers' awareness of any guidelines on consent, whether they obtain consent before referral and, if so, whether and how they keep written records on gaining consent. Professionals who had referred an adult patient to the Community Team Learning Disability (CTLD) in Newcastle in the last two years were sent a postal questionnaire. The results of the questionnaire are being used to gain better understanding of present practice among referrers and to provide local guidelines on gaining consent in line with recommendations from the Department of Health.

The main purpose of the study was to investigate practices relating to informed consent for radiological procedures.

All Health Boards in Scotland (15) were included in the survey and 62 hospitals were contacted. A questionnaire was developed and sent to superintendent radiographers and radiology managers. Quantitative data were entered in to SPSS‐PC for analysis.

A response rate of 95.2 per cent (59/62) was achieved. A total of 15 hospitals described having a trust policy document on consent and six hospitals reported departmental policies. The majority of hospitals used consent forms for interventional procedures, but not for conventional procedures, although two hospitals obtained informed consent for intravenous urography, and one for barium enemas. All departments (n=25/25) using consent forms required the patient to sign the consent form and 20 departments retained the form. Nine departments placed these in the patient's medical records.

The survey demonstrated considerable diversity in hospital practices regarding informed consent for radiological procedures. The findings have significant implications for clinical governance, especially regarding risk management. Some staff may be putting themselves at risk in an increasingly litigious society. The transferability of this Scottish study needs to be established through surveys in other parts of the UK.

The study reports diversity in practice when gaining informed consent for radiological procedures and the lack of standardisation for this process.

No previous UK empirical studies on informed consent for radiological procedures has been published.

In 2020, the Westminster Government proposed statutory provision prohibiting the use of ‘consent to serious harm for sexual gratification’ as a defence to criminal charges of violence. This addition to the Domestic Abuse bill was made in response to the 18 month campaign by We Can’t Consent To This and a cross party group of MPs, after rising numbers of homicides of women where the perpetrators claimed the woman asked for the violence, in ‘rough sex’, ‘gone wrong’.

This research is based on new data and detailed analysis on 67 non-fatal violent assaults and 24 homicides where the accused claimed that this violence was consensual, focussing on criminal cases in England and Wales over the 10 years from 2010. Some earlier cases are included for historical context and particularly where they became influential in later Criminal Justice System (CJS) outcomes. It addresses a shortage of data on the use of ‘consent’ claims in defence to charges of fatal and non-fatal violence, using keyword searches on historic news and legal archives and submissions from victims in criminal cases to establish the extent of these claims, the nature of the assaults claimed consensual, and to assess the CJS’s response to the claims.

This research – part of the evidence from We Can’t Consent To This which was considered by Government – set out the case for new law on consent defences to violence, despite there being existing common law in England and Wales. This research finds that the so-called ‘rough sex’ defences have been successful in deflecting prosecution for violence against women for decades, identifying failings at every stage of the CJS, in fatal and non-fatal violent assaults. Notably the women injured in these criminal cases do not agree that they consented to the violence, where they are able to take part in criminal proceedings. But still the claims that they did appear to have succeeded.

This research proposes that change in attitudes and outcomes is needed at every stage of the CJS, and, with the UK Government proposing to keep the criminal law on this ‘under review’, identifying where further provision in law or in practice may be needed.

This chapter critically evaluates the use of the so-called ‘rough sex defence’ in Australian rape cases. We argue that the ‘rough sex defence’ in this context is an example of ‘implied consent’, specifically in that it relies on evidence that the defendant and victim-survivor had engaged in (or had even simply discussed) ‘rough’ sexual activity on a previous occasion(s). This narrative of implied consent to rough sex is used to establish either of two things. The first is that the victim-survivor actually did consent to ‘rough’ sexual activity on the occasion in question. The second is that the defendant mistakenly believed in consent, since roughness had been a feature of previous sexual discussions or activities. We argue that the use of the rough sex defence in rape trials is problematic for at least two reasons. First, the defence allows defendants to rely upon false and harmful ‘rape myths’ to avoid accountability for their actions. Second, a reliance on the rough sex defence also contradicts moves to adopt an affirmative consent standard as part of Australian rape law. We conclude by recommending reforms to the legal framework that would help reduce the reliance on the argument that a rape allegation can be explained away as ‘rough sex gone wrong’.

Purpose – This study tests three theories of determinants of workers' subjective response to work situations – structural factors (measured by individual, organization, and job characteristics), general disposition, or informal work arrangements as constructed by Laubach's (2005) “consent deal.”Design/methodology/approach – Data were obtained from the Indiana Quality of Employment Survey, a survey of workers covering general working conditions. We constructed 10 models regressing worker perceptions and attitudes (e.g., satisfaction, relations with supervisors, meaningfulness) on structural determinants. We then used structural equation modeling to identify an underlying factor representing a general worker response from elements of the attitudes and perceptions. Finally, we regressed a scalar version of the general response factor on the structural determinants using the previous models.Findings – We identified a single second-order latent factor underlying the 10 attitudes and perceptions which represented the “general subjective response” of workers. This supported the concept of a dispositional effect. We then found that structural factors had a minimal effect on the subjective response, but that informal arrangements had a very strong effect. This undermined the first two theories and supported the third.Implications – Worker attitudes and perceptions are very resilient to different formal work arrangements but are highly influenced by the informal arrangements negotiated between workers and frontline management. Organizations can have the strongest effect on developing worker support by empowering frontline managers to make informal deals on workplace rules.Originality/value – This study offers a means to probe the relationship between formal and structural and the informal and subjective worlds of the workplace.

In this chapter I consider the need for consent in two cases of posthumous donation of parts of one’s body: organ donation and the donation of sperm to allow one’s partner to conceive a child after one’s death. What kind of consent is appropriate in these cases and why? In both cases, jurisdictions tend to prefer explicit consent, although many countries now adopt presumed consent (opt-out) in the case of organ donation, and there has been a recent plea for presumed consent in the case of sperm donation as well. In this chapter I first argue that arguments in favour of presumed consent are inadequate as they stand, and then describe another way of understanding opt-out schemes, one that focuses on different models of what is at stake and on the ethical requirements incurred on such models.

This chapter examines the rights of those who have their photograph taken for use by non-profit organisations (such as non-governmental organisations, charities, and academic institutions) and the obligations of those producing and using these images to not abuse those rights. The chapter focusses on informed consent as the key intersection of these rights and obligations. It examines the specifics of what is meant by ‘informed consent’ and the importance of the process of it being requested and given. The argument presented suggests, rather than seeing this process as a legal, one-off contract, that it should be seen as a relationship that may evolve over time and, to a degree, attempts to establish a more equitable relationship between those who produce and publish images and those who appear in them. It is suggested that this process can play a role in addressing a number of ethical issues, including the safety of the individual being photographed and how vulnerable populations are represented visually.

Purpose – In this chapter, we address the ambiguous nature of parental consent requirement decisions for the purpose of conducting minimal risk research of at-risk youth.

Methodology/approach – We evaluate current guidelines, which are used to determine the appropriateness of parental consent waivers, review related literature, and offer a case study to understand some of the resulting dilemmas that arise when seeking approval and researching youth in potentially abusive and neglectful situations.

Findings – We offer the researcher, practitioner, ethics committee, and policy maker new strategies to aid in the determination and application of parental consent waivers for minimal risk research participation among at-risk youth populations.