Ethical Issues in Child Abuse Research

Katherine Guttmann
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Katherine Guttmann
Michelle Shouldice
Alex V. Levin

Ethical Issues in
Child Abuse Research

123
Ethical Issues in Child Abuse
Research
Katherine Guttmann
Michelle Shouldice • Alex V. Levin

Ethical Issues in Child

Abuse Research
Katherine Guttmann, MD, MBE Michelle Shouldice, MD
Children’s Hospital of Hospital for Sick Children
Philadelphia Toronto, ON
University of Pennsylvania Canada
Philadelphia, PA
USA

Alex V. Levin, MD, MHSc

Wills Eye Hospital, Sidney
Kimmel Medical College
Thomas Jefferson University
Philadelphia, PA
USA

ISBN 978-3-319-94585-9    ISBN 978-3-319-94586-6 (eBook)

https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94586-6

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018957085

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019

This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether
the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of transla-
tion, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on
microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage
and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimi-
lar methodology now known or hereafter developed.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service
marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific
statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and
regulations and therefore free for general use.
The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and
information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of pub-
lication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty,
express or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors
or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with
regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer

Nature Switzerland AG
The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland
This book is dedicated to all of
the children and families we have
had the privilege to serve, the hard
working child abuse researchers who
have dedicated their lives to creating
the evidence base which allows us
to serve and protect these children
and families, all those who helped
to make this book possible, and our
own families who have supported us
along this journey.
Preface

Prevention, diagnosis, management, and treatment of child

abuse require knowledge. This knowledge is generated
through research. Since the 1960s, with the evolution of the
field of medical bioethics, much progress has been made in
developing ethical strategies for research. The field of child
abuse research brings to the table unique challenges. Is it
ethical to use animals as models for human abuse? Can a par-
ent who has abused their child be relied on as an unbiased
substitute decision-maker to give informed consent? How do
researchers interface with the legal system in terms of disclo-
sure and sharing of results? How can the identity and privacy
of victims acting as subjects of research be respected? If
abuse is uncovered in the process of research, what are the
obligations to report and protect the child? Can perpetrators
serve as viable subjects to allow researchers to learn more
about the acts they’ve committed and why they did so? Lastly,
how can these questions be answered in a way that protects
vulnerable populations such as children and prisoners, yields
valuable information for future progress, and respects privacy
while interacting in a complex legal system?
It was with these and other questions in mind that a work-
ing multidisciplinary conference was convened over a decade
ago with 46 professionals trying to develop guidance for
researchers and also Research Ethics Boards/Institutional
Review Boards who may be struggling with these issues. Over
the years since that meeting, these ideas have been distilled
and investigated to create this book. The authors are grateful
to all the participants listed herein who laid the groundwork
for the development of what we believe is a novel useful
viii Preface

compendium to help direct researchers and regulatory bodies

with the goal of establishing sound evidence bases for our
care of children and families affected by abuse.
Research is essential. The best care can only be delivered
with the knowledge created by the scientific method. Decades
of thought and implementation have led us to a better world
in terms of our ethical considerations while doing research.
Now we hope to provide readers with a pathway to apply
these principles to the challenging field of child abuse
research ethics.

Philadelphia, PA, USA Katherine Guttmann, MD, MBE

Toronto, Ontario, Canada Michelle Shouldice, MD, FRCPC
Philadelphia, PA, USA Alex V. Levin, MD, MHSc, FRCSC
Acknowledgements

The authors wish to gratefully acknowledge the invaluable

support of our research fellows who were instrumental in
making this book happen.

Waleed Abed Alnabi, MD

Médecins Sans Frontières
Avrey Thau, BS
Sidney Kimmel Medical College at Thomas Jefferson
University
The following professionals participated in the 2006 con-
ference which served as the nidus of this work. Their dialogue
and input in working groups was essential to the formulation
of the concepts which became the content of this book. Their
affiliations at the time of the meeting are listed below, illus-
trating the diverse and multidisciplinary approach to the topic
which enriched the conversation at the meeting. Their partici-
pation was instrumental to our understanding of the ethical
challenges of research in the field of child abuse and neglect.
Marilyn Barr, BIS
Founder and Executive Director, National Center on
Shaken Baby Syndrome
Ronald Barr, MDCM, FRCP
Department of Paediatrics
University of British Columbia Faculty of Medicine
Jaques Belik, MD, FRCPC
Departments of Paediatrics and Physiology
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
x Acknowledgements

Sue Bennett, MB, ChB, FRCP, DTM&H, DRCOG, DCH,

Dip, Psych
President, Child & Youth Maltreatment Section at the
Canadian Paediatric Society
Diane Benoit, MD, FRCPC
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
Rachel P. Berger MD, MPH
Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
Anne-Claude Bernard-Bonnin, MD, FRCPC
Department of Pediatrics
Université de Montréal
Robert W. Block, MD, FAAP
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Barbara L. Bonner, PhD
University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
Cecile Brookes
President, Foster Parent Society of Ontario
David L. Chadwick, MD
Director Emeritus, Chadwick Center for Children and
Families
Rady Children's Hospital of San Diego
Cindy W. Christian, MD
The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Mary Clyde Pierce, MD
University of Louisville
David L. Corwin, MD
Pediatrics Department, University of Utah School of
Medicine
Kathleen Coulborn Faller, PhD, A.C.S.W.
Professor of Children and Families
University of Michigan School of Social Work
Claire Allard-Dansereau, MD, FRCPC
CHU Sainte-Justine, Université de Montréal
 Acknowledgements xi

Andrea Doria, MD, PhD, MSc

Department of Radiology
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
Howard Dubowitz, MD, MS, FAAP
Department of Pediatrics
University of Maryland School of Medicine
Margo Farren
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
Deborah Goodman, PhD, MSW
Children’s Aid Society of Toronto
Christine Harrison, PhD
Director of Bioethics
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
Karen Seaver Hill
Children’s Hospital Association
Carole Jenny, MD, MBA, FAAP
Department of Pediatrics
Brown University
Laurel A. Chauvin-Kimoff, MDCM, FRCPC, FAAP
Child & Youth Maltreatment Section at the Canadian
Paediatric Society
Paul K. Kleinman, MD
Department of Radiology
Boston Children’s Hospital
David J. Kolko, PhD
Department of Psychiatry
University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine
Eoghan Laffan
Department of Radiology
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
Antoinette Laskey, MD, MPH, MBA
University of Utah and Primary Children’s Hospital
xii Acknowledgements

Bruce Leslie
Children’s Aid Society of Toronto
Patricia Lindley
Director of Research Ethics, Dalhousie University
Harriet MacMillan, CM, MD, MSc, FRCPC
McMaster University
Valerie Maholmes, PhD, CAS
National Institutes of Health
Marcellina Mian, MDCM, MHPE, FAAP, FRCPC
Department of Pediatrics
Weill Cornell Medicine-Qatar
Aideen Moore MD, MHSc, FRCPC,
Department of Paediatrics
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
Vincent J. Palusci, MD, MS, FAAP
Department of Pediatrics
New York University School of Medicine
Gordon Phaneuf, MSW, RSW
Children’s Welfare League of Canada
Frank Putnam, MD
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Elizabeth Saewyc, PhD, RN, FSAHM, FCAHS, FAAN
University of British Columbia School of Nursing
Elizabeth Thorpe, MD
Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC
Roberta Sinclair
National Child Exploitation Coordination Center
Paul Stern, JD
Snohomish County Prosecutor’s Office
Karen Sterling
Toronto Child Abuse Centre Board Member
 Acknowledgements xiii

Christine Wekerle, PhD

Associate Professor, Education
Western University, London, ON
Lesley Wylie, RN, BA, M.H.S.M
Toronto Rehab, University Health Network
Randi Zlotnik Shaul, JD, LLM, PhD
Bioethics Department
The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto
This work is supported in part by the Foerderer Fund
(AVL); Robison D. Harley, MD, Endowed Chair in Pediatric
Ophthalmology and Ocular Genetics (AVL); Canadian
Institutes of Health Research: Institute of Health Services
and Policy Research (IHSPR); Canadian Institutes of Health
Research: Ethics Office; and Associated Medical Services,
Inc.
Contents

1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    1
2 Animal Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .    9
3 Informed Consent and Deception . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   29
4 Disclosure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   43
5 Anonymous Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   65
6 Obligation to Report and Normal Controls . . . . . . . .   77
7 Perpetrator Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   85
8 Retrospective Research . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   99
9 Conclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
List of Abbreviation

AHT Abusive Head Trauma

ASPA Animals Scientific Procedures Act
CFR Code of Federal Regulations
CPS Child Protective Services
HHS US Department of Health and Human Services
HIPAA Health Insurance Portability and Accountability
Act of 1996
IACUC Institutional Animal Care and Use Committees
IRB Institutional Review Board
NIH National Institutes of Health
REB Research Ethics Board
SBS Shaken Baby Syndrome
US United States
Chapter 1
Introduction

Evidence of child abuse is omnipresent in the historical

record. Although cultural and legal definitions of abuse may
vary, child maltreatment (a term which we will use inter-
changeably with child abuse) has certainly been practiced
since ancient times. Persian Physician Rhazes described
intentional harm to children as early as 900 B.C.E. [1]. Boys
were beaten in ancient Greece as part of the festival of
Artemis Orthia [2] and weak or infirm infants were often
subject to infanticide [3]. The first description of subdural
hematoma as a result of abuse came from a French sur-
geon, Pare, in 1559 [1]. Auguste Ambroise Tardieu is cred-
ited with the first published medical record of AHT (abusive
head trauma), having written a detailed account of abuse
and neglect in 32 children, making systematic observations
that set the groundwork for the child abuse work of the twen-
tieth century. Tardieu was the first to fully describe the
prevalence of child abuse as well as the ability of physicians
to diagnose it based upon physical examination [1]. The
changing conception of childhood itself has shaped the evo-
lution of our understanding of child abuse. As explained by
Lloyd deMause, “The history of childhood is a nightmare
from which we have only begun to awaken. The further back
in history one goes, the lower the level of child care and the
more likely children are to be killed, abandoned, beaten,
­terrorized and sexually abused” [4].

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 1

K. Guttmann et al., Ethical Issues in Child Abuse Research,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94586-6_1
2 Chapter 1. Introduction

As perceptions of children and childhood evolved so too

did the history of child maltreatment. In Elizabethan England,
child welfare policies focused on protecting society from
future delinquents, as society faced the changes brought on
by industrialization, immigration, and crime [2]. In Europe
and America, children were sent to orphanages, workhouses,
or incarcerated in a “house of refuge,” in an attempt to pre-
vent vagrancy, idleness or other vices. Corporal punishment
was widely accepted and child protection focused on “pre-
ventive penology” (punishment aimed at preventing misbe-
havior) [2]. Throughout the Industrial Revolution, child labor
was the norm until the mid-1900s when child labor laws
were enforced more strictly in the wake of World War II. The
first child protection agency, the New York Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Children, was founded in 1874 fol-
lowing a landmark court case in which a child was removed
from the care of her stepmother following abuse [2]. After
that case, many historians feel that child abuse in America
was largely ignored. Though prominent novelists like
Dickens and Hugo vividly described child maltreatment in
their nineteenth century works of fiction, what Chadwick has
called the “Silent Century” was the result of a broadly held
conception that abuse was rare. Freud, who contended that
histories of abuse were “fantasies”, supported this idea [1].
In the 1960s, pediatricians brought the issue to the forefront
beginning with the landmark paper by Kempe and cowork-
ers in 1962 defining the Battered Child Syndrome [5]. Up to
that time, politicians did not recognize the prevalence of
child maltreatment, nor did they acknowledge that the prob-
lem was present in all social classes and among all ethnic
groups [2]. Modern perspectives on child abuse continued
to develop into our current paradigm, which emphasizes
child protection, and, in recent years, prevention.
Defining child abuse continues to be difficult. Many con-
sider spanking or hitting to be normal and find such prac-
tices to be “an acceptable part of punishment and child
rearing” [6]. Studies conducted in the 1980s and 1990s
 Chapter 1. Introduction 3

found that 90% of parents had used some form of physical

punishment on their children and that 93–95% of young
adults reported having been punished physically [2, 6]. Even
in modern society, where child maltreatment is generally
viewed as a serious social problem, violence against chil-
dren is not universally condemned.
Child abuse research has a short history relative to the
long history of child abuse. Historically, the topic had not
been addressed in rigorous scientific journals prior to the
last 30–40 years. According to journal editors, this was
because the research available did not, on the whole, meet
their standards of scientific rigor [6]. Researching child mal-
treatment introduces significant challenges. The diagnosis
itself can be challenging, as accurate history may not be
forthcoming. Victims of child abuse constitute a vulnerable
population, which can be ethically challenging. Perpetrators
may not wish to be included in studies or may be difficult to
identify. Experimental designs face issues with feasibility
and long-term longitudinal studies are both costly and chal-
lenging to complete, in particular when children are placed
in care outside the biologic family home [6]. Complex psy-
chosocial factors intrude on analyzing cause and effect.
Experimental prospective studies are virtually impossible,
as one cannot plan abuse events. Studies tend to be retro-
spective and results are frequently difficult to generalize to
the population.
Like child abuse research, bioethics is a relatively new
field, having found its roots in the ethical unrest that followed
the atrocities of World War II. The Nuremberg code, devel-
oped in an attempt to prevent medical experimentation
without regard to the rights of subjects, is widely viewed as
the “most important document in the history of the ethics of
medical research” as well as the foundation for modern
medical ethics [7]. Though ideas essential to bioethics are
rooted in both ancient philosophy and the writings of
Hippocrates, the field was not formally conceived until rela-
tively recently. Prior to the middle of the twentieth century,
4 Chapter 1. Introduction

ethical reflections in medicine focused on the relationship

between the healthcare provider and the patient, neglecting
issues essential to modern bioethics including privacy, truth-
fulness and communal responsibility [8]. As medicine
advanced in the 1960s, with the survival of younger prema-
ture babies, organ transplantation, and the potential for
artificial extension of the patients terminal survival through
medical and mechanical support, the need for bioethical
consideration grew with equal exponential pace. Modern
bioethics was founded in response to these challenges as
well as the ancient philosophy, focusing on such critical
concerns as the principles of autonomy, beneficence, non-­
maleficence and justice. These principles were initially
defined by the seminal work of Beauchamp and Childress
[8]. Such principles are intended to guide clinical decision-­
making, research, policy and other relevant realms of
healthcare.
Perhaps it is not coincidental then, that the unique bioethi-
cal challenges of child abuse research would emerge in paral-
lel starting in the 1960s as both fields gained recognition.
While child abuse was becoming a growing concern in society,
there was, and there still remains, no ‘gold standard’ ethical
guidelines on conducting research in this important field.
Consequently, the need for ongoing discussion among major
stakeholders in child maltreatment research along with bio-
ethicists is critical. The first paper that systematically looked
at ethical issues in child abuse research was Kinard’s 1985
excellent review article [9]. Kinard addressed ethical issues
that maintain relevance today, including the challenge of
obtaining informed consent from caregivers who are also
suspected of child abuse, and consequently may be thought
not to have the best interests of the child at heart as well as
the risk of causing distress to a child during interviewing [9].
Researchers also struggle with anonymous research design
and how to react to anonymous disclosures from children
who may not understand that an adult will be unable to inter-
vene [10]. Research in which animal animals are harmed to
 Chapter 1. Introduction 5

better understand AHT presents ethical challenges, particu-

larly as questions exist about the validity of such models [11].
Likewise, there are considerations regarding the ethical dis-
closure (or non disclosure) of research results [9, 12], particu-
larly in medicolegal contexts, and research involving alleged
perpetrators [13]. Even retrospective research has possible
unique complications such as the discovery of abuse that was
never recognized or reported [12]. In many research situa-
tions, the researcher may have perceived obligations or desire
to intervene without clinical training, education or prepared-
ness to do so. Many of these issues are well known to child
abuse researchers who have struggled with their institutional
Research Ethics Boards (REBs, the Canadian equivalent to
the American Institutional Review Board [IRB]) to get study
approval, often because of a lack of familiarity with these
issues as they apply to child abuse research and also with
concern about legal implications. Research in this field can
thus become an arduous task.
We sought to address the void in bioethical consideration
regarding child abuse research. On June 7–8, 2006 a meet-
ing was convened of 46 professionals representing a wide
range of disciplines “Refer the list of participants section
from front matter of the book.” By increasing connectivity
among researchers, bioethicists, and major organizations rep-
resenting children, our goal was to achieve consensus on
specific bioethical issues in child abuse research that would
allow those involved with child abuse research, such as insti-
tutional ethics review boards, researchers and clinicians, to
have evidence-based and expert guidelines on which to
inform their decisions. Experts in child abuse from a variety
of fields formed working groups, each of which explored a
specific subset of issues within the field of child abuse
research. Groups discussed questions with the aim of coming
to a consensus regarding these complex issues and publishing
recommendations to assist REBs in considering proposed
protocols. Each of the following chapters represents a topic
discussed by one working group. The ­chapters begin with
6 Chapter 1. Introduction

questions discussed for each topic, followed by a literature

review, a summary of each group’s discussion, and finally,
recommendations. In this text, we will refer to all research
committees/boards, including ­ institutional Review Boards
(IRB), as REBs in keeping with Canadian terminology
although it is our hope that this monograph will be compre-
hensive in a way that allows it to be applicable to the United
States and many other countries as well. It is our hope that
the following text will help researchers navigate the ethical
challenges involved in studying the complex and important
problem of child maltreatment.

References
1. Chadwick D. The child abuse doctors. St. Louis: STM Learning,
Inc.; 2011.
2. Dorne CK. Child maltreatment: a primer in history, public policy
and research, vol. 2. Albany: Harrow and Heston Publishers;
1997.
3. Ober WB. Bottoms up!: a pathologist’s essays on medicine and
the humanities. Carbondale: Southern Illinois University Press;
1987.
4. deMause L. The history of childhood. New York: Psychohistory
Press; 1974.
5. Kempe CH, Silverman FN, Steele BF, Droegemueller W, Silver
HK. The battered-child syndrome. JAMA. 1962;7(181):17–24.
6. Miller-Perrin CL, Perrin RD. Child maltreatment: an introduc-
tion. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications; 1999.
7. Shuster E. Fifty years later:the significance of the Nuremberg
Code. N Engl J Med. 1997;337:1436–40.
8. Beauchamp TL, Childress JF. Principles of biomedical ethics, vol.
5. New York: Oxford University Press; 2001.
9. Kinard E. Ethical issues in research with abused children. Child
Abus Negl. 1985;9(3):301–11.
10. Amaya-Jackson L, Soclar RR, Hunter W, Runyan DK, Colindres
R. Directly questioning children and adolescents about maltreat-
ment: a review of survey measures used. J Interpers Violence.
2000;15(7):725–59.
 References 7

11. Maestripieri D, Carroll K. Child abuse and neglect: usefulness of

the animal beta. Psychol Bull. 1998;123(3):211–23.
12. Urquiza AJ. Retrospective methodology in family violence
research: our duty to report past abuse. J Interpers Violence.
1991;6(1):119–26.
13. Bradley E, Lindsay R. Methodological and ethical issues in child
abuse research. J Fam Viol. 1987;2(3):239–55.
Chapter 2
Animal Research
Rachel P. Berger*

Do the societal benefits of the research justify the use of ani-

mal models?
As the use of animals for research may be concerning from
an ethical perspective, one must ask if the potential human
societal benefits supersede the concerns about animal
research.

Literature Review
Child abuse and maltreatment in the United States and
worldwide remain a public health epidemic. According to
Centers for Disease Control statistics, Child Protective
Services (CPS) received four million reports of child abuse
and neglect involving 7.2 million children in 2015 [1]. Of
those reports, approximately 18% were found to be sub-
stantiated cases of child abuse. Of substantiated cases,
75% were neglect, 17% physical abuse, and 8% sexual
abuse [1]. The rate of child abuse and maltreatment has
increased when comparing reports in 2015 to 2011 and its
prevalence makes it a category of disease that deserves
research attention ranging from diagnosis to treatment and
prevention. Such research has the potential to provide a

Rachel P. Berger is coauthor of this chapter

*

© Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2019 9

K. Guttmann et al., Ethical Issues in Child Abuse Research,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94586-6_2
10 Chapter 2. Animal Research

very important benefit to society today, and in particular to

the population of abused children who are doubly vulnerable
through both age and victimization.
The literature on the societal benefit of child abuse
research targets a number of issues, especially preventative
programs, the potential of post-diagnosis treatment, and
recovery from the various types of maltreatment. Clearly,
there is a societal benefit in protecting children from harm.
The economic costs of child abuse are also considerable,
although difficult to quantify. For example, Prevent Child
Abuse America estimates an annual bill to the federal gov-
ernment of approximately $80 billion, more than 1.3 times
suggested in the 2011 budget for the Department of Health
and Human Services [2, 3]. The same report estimates that
in 2012 the government paid more than $33 billion for direct
interventions, of which the largest portion covered child wel-
fare system activities, at $29.2 billion annually [2]. Expenses
included hospitalizations, treatments for physical injuries,
and mental health and law enforcement interventions.
Clearly there is a societal mandate to engage in research to
help address the epidemiologic, pathophysiologic, diagnostic,
and prevention related aspects of this epidemic that affects
not only vulnerable children but also economic, educational,
political, family, and health care systems. To our knowledge
there is no specific research or commentary that addresses
the relative value of animal research from an ethical perspec-
tive with regards to the potential societal impact specifically
as it relates to child abuse research using animal models.

Summary of the Discussion

Child abuse is a childhood illness. As such, we need research
in an effort to improve its diagnosis, treatment, and preven-
tion. Research should be conducted according to basic ethics
guidelines: minimize harm to all experimental subjects and
maximize benefit. As it is unethical to purposefully induce
illness in human beings without consent, one must study the
 Literature Review 11

natural illness when it occurs or in alternate models. This is

particularly true with injury research involving the vulnerable
population of children, as the harms are sufficiently high and
the ability to consent or assent is so low that even a substitute
decision maker becomes morally problematic.

Recommendations
Given the societal need to prevent, diagnose, and treat child
maltreatment, there is a moral duty for researchers to be
active in this area. When research directly on human sub-
jects is not possible, alternative models should be explored,
including live animal subjects.

Are live animals needed for child abuse research?

When considering the use of animals in child abuse research
one must consider whether there are alternative research
strategies (e.g. finite element modeling), whether the animal
model can adequately mimic the human condition, and
whether the research scientific design is sufficiently valid to
yield clinically useful results.

Literature Review
In order to address the question of whether live animal
research is an essential and ethical component of child abuse
research, it is necessary to consider first whether reasonable
alternatives exist. Modern bioethics, in relation to animal
experimentation, centers on the principal that in order to be
ethical, no such alternative to the use of animals may exist. If
animals represent the only or best option for answering the
research question, then one should minimize the number of
animals used and refine or limit the pain and distress to which
animals will be exposed [4]. These principles have been sum-
marized in the literature as the “3Rs”: reduce the number of
12 Chapter 2. Animal Research

animals used, refine or limit pain and distress, and replace

animals with non-animal alternatives when possible or use a
species considered less sentient [4]. These have become foun-
dational guidelines for those who do research using animals.
Finally, there would have to be a valid research question that
could be addressed with the use of live animals.
Human subjects represent one possible alternative to ani-
mals as research subjects. Retrospective studies of patients
with known abusive head trauma (AHT) attempting to dif-
ferentiate AHT from non-abusive head trauma abound in the
literature [5]. Interviews and observational studies involving
victims of abuse, like those reviewed by Amaya-­Jackson and
colleagues, represent other examples of human subject
involvement in child abuse research [6]. While such studies
have made important contributions to the available body of
knowledge on this subject, they do not allow for prospective
research that grants insight into mechanism of injury by
directly causing injury to subjects. It would clearly be unethi-
cal to intentionally inflict injury on children subjects as part
of research. No such studies should or do exist in the litera-
ture. Similarly, studies conducted by the Nazis in which
human subjects were actively harmed without benefit or
consent are unethical and data extracted from such studies
should not be used or published [7].
Human autopsy specimens have also been utilized in child
abuse research. Holck used a cadaveric specimen to explore
the force that an infant skull can withstand to explore the
plausibility of one proposed mechanism of injury. He notes,
however, that “there are several uncertain points connected
to this experiment, and the results may only to some extent
be transferred to an estimation of head injuries in living
infants” [8]. Duhaime and colleagues compiled multiple stud-
ies in order to detail classic autopsy findings of the Shaken
Baby syndrome (or abusive head trauma) [9]. Because they
lack prospective data, however, uncertainty remains regard-
ing mechanism, producing ongoing debate [10]. Maguire and
colleagues also reviewed s­ tudies that look at pathology speci-
mens in an attempt to better understand AHT [11]. While
 Literature Review 13

such studies certainly add to the existing body of literature,

they are also limited in particular given the absence of vascu-
lar blood flow, active vascular auto-regulation and other fac-
tors present only in the whole living organism. Though it
would be possible to similarly use deceased animal speci-
mens, these present the same limitations.
Mechanical dummy research allows for the development
of a definition of the types of forces that can be applied by
perpetrators and perhaps the predicted tissue areas of high
stress/strain as a result of those forces. Dummies also do
not adequately model active muscle response and protec-
tive reflexes that occur during injury [12]. Bertocci and col-
leagues conducted one such study in which they
demonstrated that falling from a bed (a frequent explanation
for head trauma suspected to be due to abuse) is unlikely to
cause head injury [12]. Duhaime and colleagues created a
dummy model in order to investigate the mechanism of
injury from AHT [13]. Because dummy models can’t mimic
vascular auto-regulation, apoptosis, biochemical cellular
responses to applied force and permeability responses to
trauma, there is no truly biofidelic mechanical model for
experimentation. Bertocci and colleagues note that “biome-
chanical response data on children are scarce [and] child
(test dummies) are typically less biofidelic than their adult
counterparts” [12].
Computer models have been employed in recent years in
an attempt to achieve theoretical biofidelity. Finite element
analysis is also relatively inexpensive compared with animal
and dummy modeling [14]. Forces can be applied beyond
the ability of humans to inflict and parameters may be
altered to analyze force application patterns more or less
associated with particular mechanisms and tissue stress/
strain. Though promising, these complex models are incom-
plete and not yet fully applicable. As they do not include
actual tissue, they “remain a theoretical application to the
abused human infant” [14].
Animal models, in particular those involving primates,
have the potential to mimic behaviors that offer a biofidelic
14 Chapter 2. Animal Research

comparison with humans. As such, they have been utilized in

a variety of experimental situations to produce knowledge
that has advanced human understanding of particularly
cogent issues that are complicated and not generally open to
human experimentation, including child abuse. The question
of whether animal models bear enough resemblance to
humans to be useful is a difficult one to answer. With regards
to animal behavior in the wild and in captivity, Cichetti notes
that basic characteristics of abuse in monkeys are different
from abuse in humans and that animal studies are conducted
in captivity, which produces unusual conditions. However, he
also indicates that useful information regarding human mal-
treatment has been derived from the Harlow attachment
studies. He therefore concludes, “My answer to what monkey
research today can reveal about human child maltreatment is
equivocal” [15]. Carroll and colleagues state, alternatively,
“the advantage of an animal model is that it allows scientists
to investigate specific aspects of the phenomenon in question
in a simplified manner and in isolation from potentially con-
founding influences. The inevitably narrow focus of an animal
model of child maltreatment is compensated by the opportu-
nity to develop different animal models for different aspects
of child maltreatment” [16].
A separate question is whether, physiologically, animals
represent a reasonable model for human injury. Hall and col-
leagues suggest that, in general, there is a high degree of rel-
evance in the context of modeling human brain injury [17].
Xiong and colleagues note that “current animal models
mimic some but not all types of human brain injury” [18]. In
general, many authors feel that current models, although not
perfect, may replicate important aspects of human SBS [19].
“Natural animal shaking,” in which animals were observed
being shaken by another animal, has also been explored as a
less ethically complex animal model that unfortunately may
not fully mimic non-accidental trauma due to differences in
mechanism [20].
 Recommendations 15

Summary of the Discussion

Human children cannot be subjected to abuse for the pur-
pose of research. There are multiple alternatives to using
animals in order to engage in child abuse research but each
may have shortcomings. Mechanical dummy and finite ele-
ment model computer based systems are limited with regards
to their biofidelic properties. Using tissues apart from a living
biologic system does not allow for full interrogation of
dynamic processes. Although we can do research on children
who have already been abused, there are limitations of infer-
ence given that histories are often incomplete. Previously
deceased animals (e.g. animals that die natural deaths) have
some utility but are also absent the living biologic processes
that influence clinical manifestations of trauma. The enroll-
ment of research subjects, human or animal, into a study is
predicated on the assumption that the protocol asks an
important question in a fashion that is likely to yield results
with sufficient power to justify the involvement of those sub-
jects. If the question is not valid, or the methodology unlikely
to produce results (positive or negative) that are of sufficient
power to be clinically relevant, then the involvement of ani-
mals or humans cannot be justified.

Recommendations
When considering the necessity of using live animals in child
abuse research, researchers should ensure that the following
criteria are met:
–– The research question is valid and important.
–– The methodology of the proposed study is likely to pro-
duce useful data that is adequately powered.
–– Alternatives to live animals have been considered and
there is no reasonable option that would provide a satis-
factory answer to the research question.
16 Chapter 2. Animal Research

–– All efforts have been made to minimize number of live

subjects, avoid pain and discomfort and to use the least
sentient animal possible

Is studying child abuse using animal models different than

studying other types of injury?
Child maltreatment is a form of trauma and its nature can be
described as unique due to its non-accidental nature and the
vulnerability of the subject. The use of animal subjects in
abuse and trauma research may raise ethical concerns for the
research’s potential of being especially cruel or unjustified to
the animal subject.

Literature Review
Some ethicists and animal rights activists feel that research
studies involving abusive trauma that causes injury are more
ethically problematic that other types of studies. According to
Orlans and colleagues, “some critics of … head injury studies
[have] argued that certain experiments should never be per-
formed- irrespective of societal benefits and the advancement
of scientific knowledge- because the costs to the animals are
too substantial” [21]. They list proposed “unacceptable” study
types as those including severe trauma to the brain or spinal
cord, burns and prolonged deprivation. The authors note that
in human experimentation, there are similarly procedures that
cannot be justified even with a consenting participant and an
expectation of societal benefit [21].
In 1983 the University of Pennsylvania drew national
attention in part because of concern that baboon research
was, by design, unethical. Researchers had designed a
protocol that involved injuring sedated baboons in a machine
meant to simulate the whiplash that can occur during motor
vehicle accidents [22]. The Office for Protection of Research
Risks ultimately found there to be multiple problems with the
conditions under which this study was being conducted,
although the premise and design of the study were not
Another random document with
no related content on Scribd:
The Project Gutenberg eBook of Engineering
reminiscences contributed to "Power" and
"American machinist"
 This ebook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United
States and most other parts of the world at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away
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included with this ebook or online at www.gutenberg.org. If you
are not located in the United States, you will have to check the
laws of the country where you are located before using this
eBook.

Title: Engineering reminiscences contributed to "Power" and

"American machinist"

Author: Charles T. Porter

Release date: November 5, 2023 [eBook #72043]

Language: English

Original publication: New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1908

Credits: deaurider, Harry Lamé and the Online Distributed

Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file
was produced from images generously made available
by The Internet Archive)

*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK

ENGINEERING REMINISCENCES CONTRIBUTED TO "POWER"
AND "AMERICAN MACHINIST" ***
Please see the Transcriber’s Notes
at the end of this text.
New original cover art included with
this eBook is granted to the public
domain.
Faithfully yours
Charles T. Porter
 Engineering Reminiscences
CONTRIBUTED TO

“Power” and “American

Machinist”

BY
CHARLES T. PORTER
Honorary Member of The American Society of Mechanical Engineers
A u t h o r o f “ A Tr e a t i s e o n t h e R i c h a r d s S t e a m - e n g i n e I n d i c a t o r
and the Development and Application of Force in the
Steam-engine,” 1874; “Mechanics and Faith,” 1885

REVISED AND ENLARGED

 FIRST EDITION

FIRST THOUSAND

NEW YORK
JOHN WILEY & SONS
London: CHAPMAN & HALL, Limited
1908
 Copyright 1908
BY
CHARLES T. PORTER
 THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED

TO THE MEMORY OF

MY FATHER AND MOTHER

My Father
My Mother
 PREFACE
A word of explanation seems due to both the reader and myself.
The idea of writing these reminiscences did not originate with me. I
was invited to write them by Mr. F. R. Low, the editor of Power. This
invitation I declined, saying that I felt averse to writing a story in
which I must be the central figure. Mr. Low replied that I should
regard it as a duty I owed to the profession. Engineers demanded to
know the origin and early development of the high speed system of
steam engineering. I was the only person who could meet this
demand; no one else possessed the necessary information.
I felt obliged to yield to this view, and can only ask the reader to
imagine that I am writing about somebody else.
C. T. P.
Montclair, N. J.,
December, 1907.
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER I
PAGE
Birth, Parentage and Education. Experience in the Practice
of Law. Introduction to Centrifugal Force. Invention and
Operation of a Stone-dressing Machine 1

CHAPTER II
The Evolution and Manufacture of the Central Counterpoise
Governor. Introduction of Mr. Richards 17

CHAPTER III
Invention and Application of my Marine Governor 34

CHAPTER IV
Engineering Conditions in 1860. I meet Mr. Allen. Mr. Allen’s
Inventions. Analysis of the Allen Link 42

CHAPTER V
Invention of the Richards Indicator. My Purchase of the
Patent. Plan my London Exhibition. Engine Design. Ship
Engine Bed to London, and sail myself 58

CHAPTER VI
Arrival in London. Conditions I found there. Preparations 65
 and Start

CHAPTER VII
My London Exhibit, its Success, but what was the matter?
Remarkable Sale of the Engine 71

CHAPTER VIII
Sale of Governors. Visit from Mr. Allen. Operation of the
Engine Sold to Easton, Amos & Sons. Manufacture of the
Indicator. Application on Locomotives 80

CHAPTER IX
Designs of Horizontal Engine Beds. Engine Details.
Presentation of the Indicator at the Newcastle Meeting of
the British Association for the Advancement of Science 93

CHAPTER X
Contract with Ormerod, Grierson & Co. Engine for Evan
Leigh, Son & Co. Engine for the Oporto Exhibition.
Getting Home from Portugal 101

CHAPTER XI
Trouble with the Evan Leigh Engine. Gear Patterns from the
Whitworth Works. First Order for a Governor. Introduction
of the Governor into Cotton Mills. Invention of my
Condenser. Failure of Ormerod, Grierson & Co. 113

CHAPTER XII
Introduction to the Whitworth Works. Sketch of Mr.
Whitworth. Experience in the Whitworth Works. Our
Agreement Which was never Executed. First Engine in
England Transmitting Power by a Belt 122
 CHAPTER XIII
The French Exposition of 1867. Final Break with Mr.
Whitworth 139

CHAPTER XIV
Study of the Action of Reciprocating Parts. Important Help
from Mr. Frederick J. Slade. Paper before Institution of
Mechanical Engineers. Appreciation of Zerah Colburn.
The Steam Fire Engine in England 153

CHAPTER XV
Preparations for Returning to America. Bright Prospects 165

CHAPTER XVI
Return to America. Disappointment. My Shop. The Colt
Armory Engine Designed by Mr. Richards. Appearance of
Mr. Goodfellow. My Surface Plate Work. Formation of a
Company 173

CHAPTER XVII
Mr. Allen’s Invention of his Boiler. Exhibition at the Fair of
the American Institute in 1870 190

CHAPTER XVIII
Demonstration to the Judges of Action of Reciprocating
Parts. Explanation of this Action. Mr. Williams’ Instrument
for Exhibiting this Action 198

CHAPTER XIX
Boiler Tests in Exhibition of 1871. We Lose Mr. Allen. 208
Importance of Having a Business Man as President.
 Devotion of Mr. Hope

CHAPTER XX
Close of the Engine Manufacture in Harlem. My Occupation
During a Three Years’ Suspension 219

CHAPTER XXI
Production of an Original Surface Plate 233

CHAPTER XXII
Efforts to Resume the Manufacture. I Exhibit the Engine to
Mr. Holley. Contract with Mr. Phillips. Sale of Engine to
Mr. Peters 238

CHAPTER XXIII
Experience as Member of the Board of Judges at the
Philadelphia Centennial Exhibition 245

CHAPTER XXIV
Engine Building in Newark. Introduction of Harris Tabor 259

CHAPTER XXV
Engine for the Cambria Iron and Steel Company 271

CHAPTER XXVI
My Downward Progress 275

CHAPTER XXVII
My Last Connection with the Company 325
 CHAPTER XXVIII
The Fall and Rise of the Southwark Foundry and Machine
Company. Popular Appreciation of the High-speed Engine 331