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- Title
"You child is just wonderful": On ethics and access in research with children.
- Authors
Eldén, Sara
- Abstract
The need to conduct research not only on children, but also with children, has gained almost complete acceptance in the social sciences in recent decades. The capturing of the agentic voices of children has resulted in new perspectives on the social world, as well as creating an awareness of the necessity of new ways of doing research. Not least, children's involvement in research has become fraught with ethical issues, visible in the codes and guidelines of research organizations, in addition to being in some contexts – such as Sweden – legally binding Ethical Review Acts. Within the ethical guidelines, there is often a tension between enabling children's voices to be heard, while at the same time protecting them from harm. The "need-for-protection" argument is most visible in the, in most ethical guidelines, recommendations – and sometimes requirements – for informed consent from adult custodians: Access to children's voices is often dependent on an adult custodian's approval. This article discuss the consequences of the ambiguous view of children in the ethical guidelines – the ambitions to "give voice" while also "protect" – with a point of departure taken in the Swedish context, and in an actual research process of a project on children and care. It shows how the regulation of informed consent through the parent compromises the ideals of child-centred research; firstly, by limiting the child's possibility to opt in to research; secondly, by affecting the relationship between researcher, child and parent in the research encounter; and thirdly, by jeopardizing the child's right to confidentiality. The author argues that we should view not only the child's but also the adult's consent as a "continuous negotiation" and discusses strategies for strengthening the child's right to opt in and participate in research on equal terms.
- Subjects
MEDICAL care research; CHILDREN'S rights; GUARDIAN &; ward; CHILD care; MOTIVATION (Psychology); CONFIDENTIAL communications
- Publication
Journal of Comparative Social Work, 2013, Issue 2, p1
- ISSN
0809-9936
- Publication type
Article