Ethical implications and social sensitivity

• what are ethical implications

  the way in which research impacts on those who take part or how the findings are used in public
• what could these impacts be - for p's and society

  - the rights of participants in the research

  - influencing of public policy

  - perception and treatment of certain groups of people
• what is socially sensitive research

  there are potential social consequences/implications for the p's in research or the group represented by the p's in the study
• what topics are likely to be contraversial (= more SS)


  gender/sexuality, mental health, race, attachment
• what did Aronson say about psychologists and SS research

  1999: stated that psychologists have a 'social responsibility' to conduct socially sensitive research
• what examples are there of socially sensitive research in psychology

  - schizophrenia: Sz mothers = blame/guilt or Rosenhan study = affect on workers at mental institutions

  - attachment: Bowlby's maternal deprivation = work guilt

  - Bandura: could cause controversy that all aggression comes from witnessing it = cause stigma of bad parenting
• what are some potential ethical implications of research

  - effects of reserach on participants

  - effects of publication on the wider public

  - potential use of the findings after publication, e.g political

  - potential bias against people of certain cultures (Lombroso)

  - potential influence on moral attitudes towards individual/social/ethnic groups (Lombroso Atavistic form)

  - economic implications, e.g funding drug treatments
• give some examples of research that may have social sensitivity & ethical implications

  - Lombroso: all criminals as 'genetic throwbacks' and scientific racism (coloured people as more likely to be criminal)

  - Bowlby: Monotropic theory/IWM = pressure, guilt on mothers

  - Rosenhan study: negative impact for hospital workers, guilt over whether they've done the right thing/approach

  Milgram: influence on halocuast survivors, insensitive as it escuses their behaviour - obedience alibi

  - Zimbardo: Stanford prison experiment, lack of full informed consent, abuse of participants, lack of appropriate debriefings
• what are some positive implications from some of this research (B,R,M)

  + Bowlby: changes to hospital policies = longer time with child

  + Rosenhan: updates to DSM = needs to be symptoms of Sz over a long time to be diagnosed

  + Milgram: understanding the factors that influence obedience = practical applications, e.g co-pilots of a plane
• explain how the current ethical guidelines might be too limited

  ethical guidelines cover the protection of participants in research, but they don't consider the wider effects the research could have in society
• why is this an issue

  this is an issue because often harm can come to those the p's are representing through the findings of the study - perhaps the guidelines are too limiting in their protection of people
• how could this be dealt with


  by giving ethical consideration to impacts and uses after publication

  e.g: engage more actively with policy makers after publication of results to reduce the likelihood of data being misused & to ensure that evidence is used in socially sensitive ways
• explain one way of dealing with issues of social sensitivity

  issues with socially sensitive research, e.g homosexuality, mental health, race, gender etc could just not be done

  this would mean it wouldn't result in negative consequences for people, as those sensitive topics are not studied
• what is an issue with this

  however, this would rule out a lot of important research - people argue psychologists have a duty to study controversial topics and sensitive research can have positive benefits too, so it's important it isn't neglected
• what are the 4 ways that you can reduce social consequences

  1. the research should not add to any prevailing prejudice or stereotypes

  2. the information obtained should be treated with strict confidentiality

  3. ensure data is not misused by other organisations, especially if institution/government funding

  4. researchers should ensure that the interpretation of data/findings has no impact for the individual or group involved