Understanding Child Abuse and Neglect (1993) / Chapter Skim
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9 ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN CHILD MALTREATMENT RESEARCH
9 ETHICAL AND LEGAL ISSUES IN CHILD MALTREATMENT RESEARCH
Pages 324-342
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From page 324... ...
Such studies can help clarify the needs and values of the research community, research subjects, and other parts of society; strengthen the integrity of research on child maltreatment, especially in the development of large data sets; and offer guidance when conflicts develop among competing interests. Certain key ethical questions deserve explicit attention in the field of child maltreatment studies: · Is it acceptable to misinform or withhold information about the purpose of a study from prospective subjects in a child maltreatment research project?
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From page 325... ...
Comprehensive reviews of legal issues in the field of child maltreatment have recently been published (see, for example, Myers, 1992) , but such reviews focus primarily on legal issues associated with the treatment of child abuse cases within administrative agencies and the courts rather than research studies.
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From page 326... ...
Disregard for these issues can disrupt research investigations and can stimulate additional legislative or bureaucratic requirements that could diminish the scope or creativity of future efforts. Consequently, the panel's research agenda includes topics that can foster greater understanding and possible resolution of difficult ethical or legal issues in child maltreatment research.
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From page 327... ...
The research protocol is reviewed by an appropriately constituted institutional review board to assess the impact of the proposed research on human subjects and to ensure that the safeguards are adequate. In the research protocol, the research investigator must develop an appropriate informed consent procedure that includes an explanation of potential risks of the research project to each research subject.2 Parents or authorized guardians (who may be court-appointed)
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From page 328... ...
Although IRBs are not the primary arbiters of scientific matters, frequently they discuss aspects of research design and procedures, both in terms of their impact on research subjects and on the likelihood of achieving the stated objective. If risks are involved in the research project, IRB members may request modifications in research design features to improve the validity of the study or to provide safeguards for human subjects in the proposed research project.
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From page 329... ...
Some studies may raise only one or another ethical or legal issue; some may raise all of them. Projects that involve large numbers of research subjects, whose behavior is studied in the home over extensive periods of time, are more likely to contain a wider range of difficult ethical and legal issues than those that involve small study samples requiring only minimal interactions between the investigator and subject in an institutional setting.
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From page 330... ...
Instead of monetary stipends, some investigators offer such items as videotapes of the subjects' children, small household appliances, and toys for the children as incentives for participation, a practice that has not been discussed in professional research guidelines. Informed Consent and Deception One of the most difficult ethical issues to resolve in child maltreatment studies is the extent to which the true purpose of the research project is disclosed to and discussed with the subject or parent.
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From page 331... ...
(American Psychological Association, 1987; Holmes, 1976a,b; Sieber, 1992b)
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From page 332... ...
The National Institutes of Health has issued policy statements for inclusion of minorities and women in research, which should be considered in the development of child maltreatment studies (National Institutes of Health, 1991~. Ethnic and social class representation should also be considered in the assignment of research subjects to experimental and control groups.
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From page 333... ...
Debriefing As in the area of recruitment of research subjects, research reports of child maltreatment studies rarely describe procedures used at the end of the project; either debriefings do not occur, or they are not considered impor
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From page 334... ...
Child maltreatment research often involves retrospective study of reported cases, an approach that provides a convenient, but often limited,assessment of basic psychological and ecological factors that influence the development of child victimization. In contrast, multivariate longitudinal studies of large populations that include abused as well as nonabused children are presumed to provide more valid and generalizable conclusions, as long as appropriate methods are employed (Weis, 1989; Widom, 1988~.
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From page 335... ...
The issue of the reliability of adult memories of childhood abuse, in particular, remains controversial. One major methodological problem associated with studies of child abuse and neglect is how to get a sample of young children to talk candidly about abuse and attempted abuse, especially abuse involving sexual behavior (Finkelhor and Strapko, 1992:161~.
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From page 336... ...
that have not been carefully considered in the development of the program (Come, 1987~. In addition to these ethical issues, legal considerations may affect the validity of child maltreatment research.
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From page 337... ...
Scientists do not have an unrestricted right to determine whether to reveal to a law enforcement officer or a court official the identity of their research subjects or the nature or sources of their information. Field researchers who conduct studies of criminal behavior or socially sensitive behavior may be subject to legal interventions when data are thought to be relevant to cases that are in litigation or are under judicial or legislative review (Myers, 19921.
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From page 338... ...
The ethical and legal issues in child maltreatment research discussed here have been derived from legal and ethical literature regarding the use of human subjects in research, the use of children as research subjects, and the conduct of research on socially sensitive topics. If larger prospective, longitudinal studies of child maltreatment are developed, as recommended in this report, the ethical and legal issues discussed in this chapter will acquire greater importance and emphasis.
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From page 339... ...
These issues would benefit from clarification of the nature of conflicting interests in the course of research, development of clinical advice and experience that can resolve such conflicts, and identification of methods by which such guidance could be communicated to researchers, institutional research boards, research administrators, research subjects, and others. Ethical issues likely to arise in longitudinal prospective studies need to be identified, to clarify principles of responsible conduct regarding the treatment of risk factors, suspected abuse scenarios, and the rights of research subjects to privacy and confidentiality.
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From page 340... ...
When children are involved as research subjects in the study, the parent or guardian is requested to sign an "assent" form as a proxy for the child. The documentation for informed consent may be waived in some instances.
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From page 341... ...
1992 Legal Issues in Child Abuse and Neglect. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.
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From page 342... ...
Widom, C 1988 Sampling biases and implications for child abuse research.
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