Joining the ethics debate

The Unit has had an article accepted in the latest edition of the Research Ethics Review journal, the official publication of the Association of Research Ethics Committees.

The paper, written by Vashti Berry, describes the ethical difficulties facing researchers investigating family violence and its effects on children. It will be published in the 2009 edition, Volume 5, Issue 3. 
 
It provides a case study from a project the Social Research Unit undertook in Dublin, ROI, to illustrate the problems surrounding decisions of informed consent, confidentiality and disclosure, distress and danger, and questioning children directly about their experiences of family violence.
 
The advice of the ethics committee and the solutions agreed by the research team are shared. The paper argues that greater reporting of ethical protocols and procedures by researchers would further debate in this field and that there is an urgent need for an agreed set of guidelines for ethical social research.