Why Do Ethics Matter in Research With Children and Young People - Essay Example

Why do ethics matter in research with children and young people? Introduction The study of ethics has intrigued the faculties of scholars since early philosophers and ethicists during the times of Plato, Socrates, and Aristotle, to name a few. Johnson (1965) defined ethics as “the systematic inquiry into man’s moral behavior with the purpose of discovering the rules that ought to govern human action and the goods that are worth seeking in human life”. These ethical standards governing the existence of human life also encompass the realm of diverse entities including research, business and other fields of endeavor. Ethics, like preference, may be considered a product of values. To some, the suggestion that an orderly and analytical process of decision making, not only on a personal level – but more so in the field of research, should include the discussion of highly controversial ethical issues, about which honest differences of opinion are common and self-deceiving rationalization endless, is repugnant. The subject is more pronounced as research delved more into issues concerning children. In this regard, the objective of this essay is to determine the rationale for the importance of ethics in research with children and young people. It initially would determine the relevant ethical issues in research involving children. Likewise, it would discuss the importance of ethics and status of children in research. Various literatures would be used as theoretical frameworks for the subject especially those of Cousins & Milner (2007), Priscilla Alderson, and the article written by Robinson & Kellett. Relevant Ethical Issues in Research Involving Children Ethical issues in research involving children range from concerns affecting children directly and the areas involved in undertaking the research. Those critical ethical issues that emerge affecting children are giving informed consent, competencies of children, environmental and social context, among others. Issues affecting the research process itself take into consideration the aims of the research, methodologies, sources of funds, to name a few. Children are susceptible to being ethically affected by decisions made by adults due to their age, immaturity, competence to decide for themselves, and their willingness to participate in adult activities, especially on research projects involving them. Ingredients for an appropriate ethical research included discussing both disrespectful and respectful methods of research. Making covert observations are considered under disrespectful methods. Respectful method seeks the consent of children and observes and talks with them in their natural environment. The method employed by Coates under ethical perspectives is actually a violation of the respectful method on two counts: consent was not sought from the children and from their parents and the aim of the research as also not fully disclosed. According to Coates in her commentary, she sought the assistance of the schools through the head teachers. Subsequently, it was the head teachers who informed the parents of her research. In addition, she did not reveal the objective of her research and would advise the children only when asked. Although the subject of seeking consent proves to be controversial in terms of who the researchers should seek consent from in addition to the children themselves, the subject of competence is more debatable due to the age by which competence in children is agreed on. Competence was clearly depicted by Alderson (1995) as having 3 characteristics: understanding, wisdom, and freedom. Cousins & Milner (2007, 449) emphasized that competence of children to participate in research undertakings fall under all school-aged levels. Coates used pre-school children in her research and Thomas & O’Kane (2000) found that “younger children were well able to express their own views”. ) Competence was manifested when Coates observed young children with diverse ages ranging from 3 to 7 who participated in their free choice of activities in the classroom setting (Coates, 2002, 5). Cousins & Milner (2007, 450) proffered three principles of consent which must be taken into consideration when doing research: (1) inclusion based on active agreement on the part of the child and passive agreement on the part of the caretaker, (2) children’s option to withdraw their consent anytime during the research, and (3) children are given as much choice as possible on how they participated in the research. The research approaches used by Coates and Takei both allegedly sought consent from parents, head teachers and the children themselves prior to conducting the respective researches, as required. However, as indicated earlier, Coates sought the consent from the head teachers of the school, rather than the children, who participated in the research. The children’s permission to keep their drawings was solicited only during the conversation while they were doing their drawings (Coates: Commentary, 2002, 25). In addition, the children were not informed as to the aim of the research as Coates thought it might affect their interactions. In the case of Takei, the children were still infants so it was not possible to seek their consent. However, the parents’ consent was sought and the observation method was used in the research. Takei acknowledged that as an intruder in their home, which is the venue for the observation, the possibility for the infants getting nervous was still high and proper measures were designed to address this such as: toys and books of the infants which they are accustomed to playing were used (Takei, 2001, 29). According to Alderson, the ethical frameworks of a good research were identified as: (1) the principles of respect and justice, (2) rights based research which considers the 3Ps, to wit: providing for basic needs, protection, and participation, and (3) best outcome research minimizing costs and maximizing benefits (98). Importance of Ethics in Research involving Children Alderson presented several rationales for awareness of ethics and status of children in research. The following discourse discusses the importance of ethics in the subject: 1. To serve as safeguards for children in terms of exposing them to emotional stress and other danger with would affect their growth and development, as well as their lives in the future. It was revealed that several ethical problems could ensue from irresponsible publication of the results of research studies causing shame, stigma, and disadvantages for children. Safeguards for ethical research require the approval of an ethical committee appointed to review and evaluate the scope and findings of the research before any reports or projects are subsequently published (Alderson, n.d., 99). 2. To consider the ethical status of children in research through the following categories: (i) as unknowing objects of research, (ii) as aware subjects, and (iii) as active participants. There are both advantages and disadvantages for increased participation and awareness of children in ethical researches. The advantage being that children enjoy participating in the process and the findings prove to be more accurate with their insights and experiences relayed. In contrast, if the results of the research project prove to be disrespectful due to the nature of relevant information revealed, there are tendencies that children feel greater shame, regret, or anger beyond their power. (Alderson, n.d., 100). In a discourse presented by Robinson & Kellett, the authors cited Christensen & Procet (2002, 480) as outlining four ways by which children and childhood were classified according to status: (i) as an object, (ii) as subject, (iii) as social actor, and (iv) as participant or co-researcher (Robinson & Kellett, n.d., 85). The three ways view children as solely dependent on adults and are therefore powerless members of society. 3. To ingrain models of childhood in the researchers’ minds and enable them to be fully aware of the ethical relationship of concerned children in the research project. For example, if the research topic is about an abused child who seeks immediate protection and rehabilitation through therapies, the research should look at the situation from a holistic perspective by determining the root cause and suggest the appropriate intervention, as required. Robinson & Kellett closely examined the subject of child abuse and the exercise o power by adults (n.d., 88). They averred that findings on children’s experiences of child abuse revealed the “unwillingness of adults to actually talk to children” (Robinson & Kellet, n.d., 89). This confirms the imbalance nature of power between adults and children contributing to the tendencies of adults to impose various perspectives on children, resulting to abuse. 4. The study of ethics enables researchers to monitor how participants feel along the research process. The social and environmental context, specifically, must be evaluated in terms of fairness in location and power play. School is the location for research on children and was reviewed by Robinson & Kellett as partial in terms of the following: (i) children spend most of their time and childhood in school with adults as the imposing figures, (ii) majority of research is undertaken in school locations (as exemplified by the research undertaken by Coates), and (iii) it is in school where adults-child power imbalance is clearly manifested. The authors clearly illustrated violations of ethical consideration of informed consent in various scenarios – typically when an OFSTED inspector or a school administrator observes and takes notes during classes without prior advice or consent. (Robinson & Kellet, n.d., 91). Likewise, power imposed by adults in terms of deciding time allocation for class courses without the participation of children through a solicitation of their views and insights on work and play time are eminently displayed in school. This finding was validated by Cousins & Milner (2007) when they emphasized that “the environment and social context under which interviews take place with children are also of particular importance… There is an inherent tension in conducting child-centered interviews within an authoritarian system” (449). The school is thereby classified as an adult power location violating free and comfortable encounter where research is frequently conducted. 5. To make the researchers aware of power as an impartial factor affecting children in the research. According to Giddens (1995, 54), power is “the ability of individuals or groups to make their own concerns count, even when others resist. Power sometimes involves the direct use of force, but is almost always accompanied by the development of ideas (ideologies) which justify the actions of the powerful”. In a subtle way, the research conducted by Coates exemplified the use of power to solicit response from her sample. Since she is a practicing teacher as infant teacher in Birmingham focusing on reception age children, she used this as leverage to seek the consent only from the head teachers instead of the children. Further, the ethical issue of competence was vagrantly eminent when she averred that if she would explain to the children what she is doing, would they really understand? (Coates, 2002, 25). Analysis Generally, every endeavor requires a code of ethics which encompass principles and values of integrity, objectivity, competence, respect and protection of legal and personal rights – particularly of children, confidentiality, nondiscrimination, promotion of wellness and disease prevention, refusal to participate in illegal and unethical acts, following scientific and ethical research procedures and compliance with state and federal laws, among others. There are other areas touching on avoiding conflicts of interests and promotion of stewardship of resources. There are basically five underlying theoretical framework for ethical decision making in the any profession, to wit: deontological theory (what one must do, based on duties and obligations), teleological theory (the purpose or consequences of the moral acts), consequentiality theory (the moral value of an act, rule or policy is to be found in its consequences, not in intentions or motives), virtue ethics (seen in the way we feel is the ‘right’ way to behave towards colleagues) and casuistry (or case based reasoning, does not focus on rules and theories but rather on practical decision-making in particular cases based on precedent). (Slowther, et.al. 2004) Slowther, et.al. (2004) averred that “Beauchamp and Childress’ Four Principles approach is one of the most widely used frameworks and offers a broad consideration of ethical issues generally, not just for use in a clinical setting”. These principles are: “(1) respect for autonomy: respecting the decision-making capacities of autonomous persons; enabling individuals to make reasoned informed choices), (2) beneficence: balancing benefits of treatment against the risks and costs; the professional should act in a way that benefits the constituents, (3) non maleficence: avoiding causing harm; the professional should not harm the constituents. Most treatment involves some harm, even if minimal, but the harm should not be disproportionate to the benefits of the treatment. And (4) justice: respect justice which takes the following forms: distribution of a fair share of benefits, legal justice - doing what the law says, rights based justice, which deals in the language, and perhaps the rhetoric, of claimed human rights, and hence goes beyond, though it includes, legal rights” (Slowther, et.al. 2004). Conclusion The essay achieved its goal of determining the rationale for the importance of ethics in research with children and young people from relevant literatures written by Cousins & Milner (2007), Priscilla Alderson, and Robinson & Kellett. References were cited from the works of Coates and Takei, particularly on the methodologies employed for their research with children. The relevant ethical issues in research involving children were highlighted with concerns on informed consent, competence, research methodologies, and the concept of power. The importance of ethics and status of children in research were also discussed featuring diverse classifications of children’s status in research studies. The relevance of children being categorized as active participants in research studies were also examined in the light of advantages and disadvantages that this status accords. In this regard, based on the underlying framework for ethics, in general, one should examine the rules that govern human action and the goods one is seeking in life. Conflicts arise when the interests and rights of people, particularly of children, do not coincide. More importantly, the study of ethics in research involving children ensures that their welfare is properly safeguarded against adults who apply power as a way to impose their actions and selfish interest on them. Works Cited: Alderson, P. (n.d.). Chapter 7: Ethics. _______________________________________ Christensen, . & Prout, (2002). _________________________________________ Coates, E. (2002). ‘“I forgot the sky!” Children’s stories contained within their drawings.’ International Journal of Early Years Education, 10(1): 21-35. Cousins, W. & Milner, S. (2007). “Small Voice: Children’s Rights and Representation in Social Work Research”. Social Work Education. Vol 26, No. 5, pp. 47 – 457. Giddens, . (1995). ______________________________________________________ Johnson, O.A. (1965). Ethics: Selections from Classical and Contemporary Writers. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc. New York. Robinson, . & Kellet, . (n.d.). Chapter 6: Power. _____________________________ Slowther, A., Johnston, C., Goodall, J., & Hope, T. (2004). A practical guide for clinical ethics support. The Ethox Centre. Section C: Ethical Frameworks. Retrieved 26 March 2010. Takei, W. (2001). “How do deaf infants attain first signs?” Developmental Science, 4: 71-78. Thomas, N. & O’Kane, C. (2000). “Discovering what children think and conversations between research and practice”, British Journal of Social Work, Vol. 21, pp. 819 – 835. Read More