Ethical Quandaries - Provision of School Psychological Services - Assignment Example

Question: Is it an appropriate practice to use a translator when administering an individual test such as the WISC-III? Kodish (2003b) had stated that ‘for pediatric ethics, informed consent is more properly understood as a combination of informed parental permission and (when appropriate) the assent of the child’ (cited by Field & Behrman, 2004). Abiding by the ethical, legal, and sociocultural norms is a mandate for researchers and investigators because this process involves human participants.

In the case of children who have not reached an age of understanding, the parents or guardians should be involved in all ethical and legal considerations binding the testing process. When a child of 9 years is being tested for learning disabilities, the same rule applies. However, in the case of the language barrier, the investigator can take help from a qualified translator or interpreter. If the translator is not qualified and includes someone like a caretaker, informed consent of the child’s parents becomes a must.

Based on various researches, Field and Behrman (2004; p.198) advise that when language barriers exist, investigators should see that the consent forms translated from English to other languages are adequate and that the content is equivalent to that in the original. As necessary for a meaningful process of seeking parental permission, investigators should use interpreters who have the knowledge, language skills, and awareness of cultural factors that are necessary both to translate information about clinical research and to assess the level of understanding of that information by the participant of the participant’s parents.

In support of effective communication with patients, accreditation standards and various federal and state policies now expect hospitals to have available interpreters of the languages frequently used by their constituent groups of patients. The investigator should ensure that the translator understands the sensitivity of the issue of confidentiality, especially in aspects of the social relationship with the child.