Jen Maguire SW 582 Fall 2013

 Institutional Review Boards  Weighing Benefits and Costs  Bias and Insensitivity Regarding Culture and Gender  The Politics of Social Work Research

 Studies involving human subjects need to obtain approval from an independent panel of professionals called an Institutional Review Board (IRB)  IRBs became widespread during the 1970s as result of federal legislation and public concern with the ethics of biomedical and behavioral research

 Voluntary Participation & Informed Consent  A major tenet of research ethics is that no one should be forced to participate.  All participants must be aware that they are participating in a study, be informed of all the consequences, and consent to participate  This norm, however, can conflict with the scientific need for generalizability

 No Harm to Participants  IRB will insist that risk of harm is minimized  Includes embarrassment and other forms of psychological harm  Most research runs some risk of harm; IRB must be persuaded that study benefits outweigh minimal risks of harm

 The protection of participants’ identities is the clearest concern in the protection of their interests and well-being in research  Anonymity and Confidentiality are two techniques to safeguard the identity of your participants Never use the term anonymous to mean confidential

 Deceiving Participants  Deception is unethical, and if it is necessary it must be justified to IRB by compelling scientific or administrative concerns  Analysis and Reporting  Negative findings should be reported  Do not imply that unexpected findings were hypothesized or expected

 Syphilis Experiment in Tuskegee, Alabama Syphilis Experiment in Tuskegee, Alabama 

 In some instances, the long term benefits of a study are thought to outweigh the violations of certain ethical norms  But, determining whether a study’s ends justify its means is a difficult and often highly subjective process  IRBs make such determinations in approving studies

 In addition to conducting ethical research, approved by an IRB, social workers are also guided by the profession’s code of ethics See code section “Evaluation and Research”  Our code of ethics reminds us that we can violate our ethical responsibilities not only when we conduct research, but also when we refrain from using it to guide our practice

 Social workers should critically examine and keep current with emerging knowledge relevant to social work  Social workers should routinely review the professional literature  Social workers should base practice on recognized knowledge, including empirically based knowledge, relevant social work and social work ethics NASW, 1999, Section 4.01

Definitions Cultural Humility – continual self-evaluation regarding the interaction and impact one’s own culture has on a Native American – is defined in the next exercise as any member of Indigenous Peoples in the Americas. Non-Native – Any individual who is not Native American Tribal Sovereignty – Authority of a state or nation to govern itself.

ACTIVITY

 Native Centered  Respect  Self-Reflection  Authentic Relationships  Community Time Frames  Build on Strengths  Co-Learning and Ownership  Continual Dialogue  Transparency and Accountability  Integrity  Community Relevance

 Ethics and politics are often closely intertwined  The ethics of social work research deals more with the methods employed  Political issues are more concerned with the practical costs and use of research

 Ideological priorities can restrict inquiry out of a fear that certain truths can be misperceived or misused in a manner that will harm certain vulnerable groups  These restrictions can lead to incomplete or distorted knowledge building that risks harming the people the research seeks to protect

 Even though the norms of science cannot force individual scientists to give up their personal values, the use of accepted scientific practices provides a safeguard against “scientific” findings being the product of bias alone