Ethical Research with Young People

Abstract

There is a belief among many from the wide field of Youth Work there is an increasing stress on the need for ethical approval to conduct empirical research with young people. The stress on ethical approval for research with young people includes issues of safeguarding, confidentiality, competency, consent and anonymity. The distinction needs to be made between a rules-based approach and a situated based approach. The rules-based approach is based upon a notion of ethical absolutes in relation to fundamental concerns such as informed consent, avoidance of harm, and guarantees of confidentiality and anonymity. A situated approach to ethics emphasizes the importance of making rational judgements on specific aspects of ethical dilemmas. Those who research young people and youth issues in general are more likely than not to argue that some form of a situated approach to research ethics represents an appropriate response to the sort of ethical dilemmas that are often faced in the conduct of research with young people. There would also be a concern for a greater emphasis on an ‘ethic of care’ as a governing principle of research practice involving young people. It is however important not to throw the baby out with the bath water. The advancement of a rules-based approach is coupled with the quandary and dilemmas of safeguarding while its importance of parental consent cannot be dismissed while it is beset with apparent contradictions. There is the assumption and misnomer that all young people live in a stable home with caring parents. A further dilemma is the contradiction of the ‘Gillick competency’. Gillick competency is based on the assumption that an under-16-year-old with ‘sufficient understanding’ can provide consent in their own right, and that under such circumstances a parent has no right to override their child's wishes. Although this ruling relates specifically to medical interventions, it is regarded as applicable to all other areas unless other legislation applies, including social (but not clinical) research. It is the purpose of this paper to address these dilemmas and contradictions of applying a rules-based approach to the research of young people's lives whereas a situated approach would be more appropriate