Ethical implications

• Sieber and Stanley proposed that socially sensitive research is studies in which there are potential consequences or implications either directly for the participants or for the class they represent e.g. sex, gender, race.

  They stated 3 key areas to be mindful of when producing research.
• 1. You must be mindful of implications - this refers to the wider effects of the research and how it should be considered as some studies may justify prejudice or discrimination
  2. Uses / public policy - this refers to whether the research can be used to make policies, are the policies going to useful or might they cause issues
  3. Validity - this refers to the integrity of the research and whether it is biased or fraudulent
• An example of socially sensitive research is the historical approach to offending behaviour.

  This is because Lombroso highlighted dark skin and curly hair as factors of criminality.

  This is socially sensitive because it paints anyone who represents this figment as a criminal.

  This then leads to stigmatising and pathologising of people of afro-Caribbean descent which can lead to public policy introduction such as eugenics which rid the world of the ‘criminals’.
• Another example of socially sensitive research is Bowlby’s research into maternal deprivation which drew light onto mothers who weren’t always there for their children.

  It made mother’s feel as though they could not leave their children through fear of causing their child to become affectionless psychopaths or cause developmental defects.

  This then in turn caused psychological harm to the mothers as they were refined to their homes and to their children and could not go out and work which then in turn led to economical implications as women were not contributing to society.
• However, there are strengths to socially sensitive research in that it can have benefits to those it represents.

  An example of this is the removal of homosexuality as a sociopathic personality disorder from the DSM.

  This was due to anonymous interviews with 5000 men about their sexual behaviour (Kinsey et al) which concluded that homosexuality is a typical expression of human sexual behaviour.

  Therefore this shows the benefits to socially sensitive research and shows that it is important for researchers to tackle these topics so certain groups aren’t pathologised and stigmatised.
• A limitation of socially sensitive research is that poor research design may lead to erroneous findings which when in the public eye continue to have an impact.

  For example Burt‘s research into the 11+ exam contained 2 imaginary research assistants and showed that intelligence could be detected at age 11, however the research was proven to be fraudulent but continued to be used and is still used as a selectional tool in parts of the UK today.
• Therefore any research on socially sensitive topics needs to be planned with the greatest care to ensure findings are valid because they have enduring effects on particular groups of people
• Further research suggests perhaps psychologists should avoid investigating anything socially sensitive.

  The American Psychological Association reported that ethical committees approve non sensitive proposals 95 % of the time and sensitive proposals 50 % of the time.

  However Sieber and Stanley argue this by saying more researchers should just use qualitative research where they are upfront about their biases and are reflexive in their approach.