NCJ Number
201433
Date Published
2001
Length
16 pages
Annotation
This chapter discusses complex ethical issues in research on violence against women under six topics, organized by approximately when they occur in the research process.
Abstract
The topics addressed are the research paradigm used, cultural context and community involvement, safety, participation and informed consent, confidentiality, and dissemination. The topics are framed within the ethical principles to which they are most pertinent. In discussing the research paradigm used, three are identified: prediction or seeking to predict outcomes, with emphasis on generalizability and statistical analysis of quantitative data; comprehension, which uses primarily qualitative data to understand phenomena in depth; and emancipation, under which qualitative and/or quantitative data are collected in a collaborative process for the basic purpose of improving conditions for the participants in the research process and the population they represent. The authors favor the emancipation paradigm, because they believe it fits most closely with the ethical imperative of justice for women victimized by violence. The authors advise, however, that no one paradigm is inherently more ethical than another and that unethical research can be conducted under any paradigm. For all paradigms, codes of ethics and ethical oversight are important, as is the consideration of gender as an ethical issue. Ethical issues considered under the topics of cultural context and community involvement are the importance of the community as research participant and cultural congruence in sample recruitment, interviewing techniques, data analysis and interpretation, and public dissemination of the information. Ethical issues under the topic of safety include autonomy and mandatory reporting and danger engendered by the research. The discussion of ethical issues related to participation and informed consent addresses violence research and public policy, the sensitive nature of inquiry, trauma from participation, freedom to not participate or withdraw, and incentives and participation. Ethical issues discussed under the topic of confidentiality are coding threats to confidentiality and certificates of confidentiality. Issues related to the dissemination of research results pertain to the content of the written reports, the resources used in reporting research results, and the targeting of dissemination to ensure that the results of the research serve the participants and other women victimized by violence. 52 references