No abstract

Ethical issues in psychiatry are currently in a state of flux. As a profession the field of psychiatry has to clarify the ethical basis of treatment and research, by outlining the conceptual issues and empirical findings related to the ethics of human experimentation. Psychiatrists must endeavour to anticipate the ethical problems of the future and to respond conscientiously to the next generation of ethical dilemmas, that will inevitably arise with advances in science. Indeed, such considerations are already an aspect of genetic research. The ethics embracing research in humans are broadly governed by a number of basic principles: respect for people, beneficence, justice, and the ideal of informed consent.