Ethical Issues in Research with Young People

Although the concept of ethical issues can be considered to be very old, sharing it’s origins with the Hippocratic Oath of the fifth century BC, in other respects, the application of ethical issues to research can be considered a relatively new concept.  Following Nazi research in the 1940’s, The Nurembourg Code (1947) stressed the importance of recognising that children could not consent, due to immaturity, to participate in research and were banned unless it was beneficial to them.  Following the birth of babies with deformities after their mothers had taken thalidomide during pregnancy, doctors insisted upon the necessity of studies involving children being carried out.  They did recognise, however, the importance of newly developed ethics committees where ethicists would vet proposed research. (Study Guide, p.57) (Alderson, P., 2004) Following these developments, ethical frameworks were devised to consider ethical issues in research.  These were categorised into three ways of thinking.  The first is the Duty based framework which works on the principle of respecting each child as an individual. 

The second is the Rights-based framework which takes into account the child’s rights to the 3 P’s; protection, providing and participation (United Nations, 1989).  The third is the Harm/Benefit based framework, which is best-outcomes based ethics.  This takes into consideration whether the research is beneficial to the child or whether there is potential to cause harm to the child. The harm may come in the form of embarrassment, betrayal, upset and the production of false findings that may result in policies being made that harm the child.(Alderson, P., 2004).  In Audio Band 3, four professionals who have researched children and young people are interviewed as a group about their experiences and opinions regarding ethical issues when researching children and young people.  When asked how they defined research which they would consider to be unethical a number of  points were made.  These included the portrayal of young people in a negative stereotypical way following research, if consent had not been obtained in an appropriate manner, research that was market orientated, where research could have a negative impact or cause harm to the children and young people involved and where research was unnecessary.  Other issues raised from other aspects of the interview included access to the young people, deception, power relations, confidentiality, age for consent, clarity of issues in research and payment of participants.  A discussion also took place highlighting the importance of recognising ethical issues as being an intrinsic part of the research process at every stage of the process.  Not just as an afterthought before presenting research ideas to an ethical committee.  It must begin with the research question and continue throughout.  (Audio Band 3). The first ethical issue that to be considered is the relationship between the researcher and those being researched and whether power relations between the two groups can influence how ethically viable the study is.  Power can be understood as,       ‘The ability of individuals or groups to make their own concerns count, even when        others resist.  Power sometimes involves the use of force, but is almost always        accompanied by the development of ideas which justify the actions of the        powerful.’ (Giddens, 1995:54) In terms of research with young people, Robinson and Kellett, 1994, suggest that children’s knowledge can be both disregarded and controlled by force and that adults are able to perceive and exercise force through communication.    Although to a certain extent, the level of power will be biased towards the researcher, as they have the advantage of age and knowledge and have also designed the research, this power may be used in an unethical way.  The researcher, for example may have stereotypical views for the young people, thus enabling them to dismiss the views of the young people and to select only the information that reinforces their pre- determined views on the young people.