Ethical Mindfulness Research Articles

PSİKOLOJİK DANIŞMAN ADAYLARININ ETİK KONUMLARININ BİLİNÇLİ FARKINDALIK DÜZEYLERİ İLE İLİŞKİSİ

Ethical positions shape within life experiences via confronting and resolving ethical dilemmas of moral issues, and were consisted of idealism and relativism. Within cultural context, Western cultures had low scores on both idealism and relativism (exceptionists) while Eastern ones had high relativism scores with both high idealism (situationists) and low idealism (subjectivists) scores on Ethical Position Questionnaire. Recently, a combination of ethical decision making and awareness started to be investigated under the roof of ethical mindfulness while enabling ethical clinical practices and implementation. Prior to stepping into that area, more explanatory presentation of the relationship between ethical decision making process and mindfulness among prospective psychological health professionals, psychological counseling students were presented in this descriptive study. Results of preliminary analyses showed that approximately half of the participants (39.85 %) are on the situationist side on ethical decision making. As a result of main analyses, it was found that level of mindfulness is related with high scores on both idealism (Mlow=3.90, Mmiddle=4.02, Mhigh=4.26) and relativism (Mlow=3.34, Mmiddle=3.75, Mhigh=4.08).

Back to indigeneity: The philosophy of Loób and Kapwa as education’s past and future

Filipino philosophy of education involves layers of meanings blurred by foreign assumptions. Any study that enlightens this theme is relevant and necessary. Hence, I intend to contribute to the aim of shedding light and exploring the richness of this discourse. Specifically, I focus on the historicity of Filipino philosophy, particularly under its colonial past. The literature suggests that education has been shaped by the colonizers, in particular, Christianity by the Spaniards and Pragmatism by the Americans. Albeit systematic, these philosophies of education did less to alleviate national consciousness that could have developed into genuine economic progress, ethical mindfulness, and quality living for its people. I argue that this dissonance between theory and practice is entrenched in adherence to distant educational philosophies. This study proposes to address the issue by returning to Filipino indigenous teachings. Jeremiah Reyes (2015) identifies two Filipino virtues: loób and kapwa, which I attempt to appropriate in the contemporary pedagogy amidst the worldwide capitalist environment. This return to indigeneity further hopes to shape a critical yet optimistic trajectory of Filipino philosophy of education in the future.

The search for scientific meaning in mindfulness research: Insights from a scoping review.

There are on-going debates about what is and is not ‘mindfulness’. These debates are stifling rigorous academic research as scientific precision is a precursor to shared meaning. While mindfulness is a growing field of research, these divergent and conflated meanings are limiting deeper interdisciplinary research. Interventions designed in one practice context may not be useful in other contexts because meaning is not transferred between settings. This review clarifies the various research domains that study mindfulness and the conceptual and operational definitions in each domain. This two-stage study comprises a scoping review of mindfulness classifications and a comparative content mapping of mindfulness studies from 2015 to 2021. The initial comprehensive search strategy followed the preferred reporting items for scoping reviews and meta-analysis (PRISMA) method. The comparative analysis was conducted using Leximancer. Findings illustrate a complex growing research corpus on mindfulness that is somewhat confused. The results from the scoping review show three shared domains in mindfulness classifications: short-term effects of mindfulness, long-term effects of mindfulness, and mindfulness practices. The results from the content mapping show four domains of mindfulness research: mental health, behavioural change, cognitive neuroscience, and ethical mindfulness. Operational definitions of mindfulness are not articulated clearly in these domains. Conceptual and operational definitions in the ‘ethical mindfulness’ domain are not yet developed. To enhance scientific progress in mindfulness research, further investigations of mindfulness classifications need to be developed. Content mapping and semantic typology is a potential candidate for future classification. More attention should be paid to developing operational definitions according to specific research domains. Scholars in the ethical mindfulness domain will need solid conceptual and operational definitions to support their research efforts.

Building Ethical Mindfulness to Maximize Your Practice of EFT

This article explores the ways that ethical mindfulness can enhance EFT practice by focusing on four distinct areas for increased awareness: (a) the current context of energy therapies as a whole within the larger picture of leading national health care disciplines; (b) the exceptional aspects of a new energy therapy, such as EFT, that require practitioner awareness beyond the usual considerations needed for cognitive therapies; (c) criteria for selection of clients most appropriate for EFT interventions such as client willingness, responsiveness, and ability to give feedback; and (d) the best risk management practices to avoid pitfalls in one’s practice while enhancing safeguards and rapport. Keywords: ethical mindfulness, client selection criteria, cautions for using EFT, risk management, energy medicine ethics

Operationalising a real-time research ethics approach: supporting ethical mindfulness in agriculture-nutrition-health research in Malawi

BackgroundThere have been notable investments in large multi-partner research programmes across the agriculture-nutrition-health (ANH) nexus. These studies often involve human participants and commonly require research ethics review. These ANH studies are complex and can raise ethical issues that need pre-field work, ethical oversight and also need an embedded process that can identify, characterise and manage ethical issues as the research work develops, as such more embedded and dynamic ethics processes are needed. This work builds on notions of ‘ethics in practice’ by developing an approach to facilitate ethical reflection within large research programmes. This study explores the application of a novel ‘real-time research ethics approach’ (RTREA) and how this can support ethical mindfulness. This involves embedding ethical analysis and decision-making within research implementation, with a continuous dialogue between participants and researchers. The aim is to improve ethical responsiveness and participant experience, which in turn may ethically support adherence and retention. In this case study, a bioethics team (BT) was embedded in a community-based randomised, controlled trial conducted in rural Malawi, titled the ‘Addressing Hidden Hunger with Agronomy’. To identify ethical issues, the researchers conducted ten focus group discussions, fourteen in-depth interviews with key informants, two workshops, observed two sensitisation and three activity meetings conducted by the trial team, and analysed fifteen reports from pre-trial to trial implementation.ResultsThe RTREA facilitated the identification of social and ethical concerns and made researchers aware of participants’ ‘lived research experience’. To address concerns and experiences, the BT worked with researchers to facilitate conversation spaces where social and ethical issues were discussed. Conversation spaces were designed to create partnerships and promote participatory methods to capture trial participants’ (TPs) perspectives and experiences.ConclusionsThe use of RTREA showed the value of real-time and continuous engagement between TPs and researchers. These real-time processes could be embedded to complement traditional ethical guidance and expert opinions. A deeper engagement appeared to support greater operationalising of principles of inclusion, empowerment, and participant autonomy and supported researchers ‘ethical mindfulness’ which in turn may support instrumental outcomes of high recruitment, retention, and adherence levels.

Ethical Dilemmas in Qualitative Research: A Critical Literature Review

The respect for ethical principles is required during the entire scientific research process, including the dissemination phase. Due to the dynamism of qualitative studies, there are often adverse ethical situations. The aim of this integrative review was to analyze and synthetize ethical dilemmas that occur during the progress of qualitative investigation and the strategies proposed to face them. The search for studies used LILACS and MEDLINE databases with descriptors “ research ethics” and “qualitative research”, originating 108 titles. Upon reading all titles, 42 articles were elected according to the inclusion criteria. The main conflicts were related to confidentiality breach, disregard of autonomy, potential damages, confusion about the roles of researcher/therapist/friend, and impasses in the Research Ethics Committees. Various types of conflicts may occur in a research. The solutions proposed are based on self-awareness, reflexivity, continuous consent, and ethical mindfulness.

“Could You Help Me Die?”: On the Ethics of Researcher-Participant Relationship and the Limitations of Qualitative Research

Qualitative research is beneficial for researchers and society, and even for the participants themselves. Yet, end-of-life qualitative research also entails unique challenges given the sensitive topic and questions relayed to the participants, and the participants’ requests of the researchers. This paper was written following ethical issues that arose while conducting in-depth interviews with Israeli members of the Swiss Dignitas Organization in 2019. The interviews enabled participants to air their thoughts on assisted suicide and gather information about related plans that were not available to the public due to various issues. Yet, during these interviews, I also found myself dealing with significant ethical dilemmas that I had not previously encountered, such as participants asking me to lie for them, or accompany them to Switzerland to fulfil their wishes. While the interviews served as a safe environment in which the participants could air their thoughts on the topic, they led me to reexamine the ethical limitations of qualitative research and the researcher-participant relationship (within and outside the research context). By analyzing three of these interviews, I attempted to answer the following research question: What do the ethics of qualitative research entail with regards to researcher-participant boundaries, as established in sensitive situations and that involve vulnerable populations in end-of-life situations? The analysis was conducted in line with the ethical mindfulness framework and combined theoretical analysis of the literature. My analysis indicates that while qualitative research encourages the establishing of a researcher-participant relationship through trust and rapport – especially on sensitive topics that involve vulnerable populations – the researcher must also ensure both participant and researcher safety, by establishing and maintaining boundaries, even post-research. Introspective ethical inquiry, triggered by participants, requires the researcher to be vulnerable, potentially resulting in emotional discomfort. It also mandates re-engaging with the participants on ethical meanings that stem from this process.

Post-incident reviews\u2014a gift to the Ward or just another procedure? Care providers\u2019 experiences and considerations regarding post-incident reviews after restraint in mental health services. A qualitative study

Public guidelines in many western countries recommend post-incident reviews (PIRs) with patients after restraint use in mental health care. PIRs are one of several elements of seclusion and restraint reduction in internationally used programmes. PIRs may improve restraint prevention, patients’ recovery processes and care providers’ ethical mindfulness. The knowledge base on PIRs is, however, vague. This qualitative study explores professional care providers’ experiences and considerations regarding PIRs that included patients after restraint use in a Norwegian context.MethodsWithin a phenomenological hermeneutical framework, 19 multidisciplinary care providers were interviewed about their experiences and views regarding PIRs that included patients after restraint events. The interviews were performed over the period 2015–2016. Data analysis followed a data-driven stepwise approach in line with thematic content analysis. A group of two patient consultants in mental health services, and one patient’s next of kin, contributed with input regarding the interview guide and analysis process.ResultsCare providers experienced PIRs as having the potential to improve the quality of care through a) knowledge of other perspectives and solutions; b) increased ethical and professional awareness; and c) emotional and relational processing. However, the care providers considered that PIRs’ potential could be further exploited as they struggled to get hold on the patients’ voices in the encounter. The care providers considered that issue to be attributable to the patients’ conditions, the care providers’ safety and skills and the characteristics of institutional and cultural conditions.ConclusionHuman care philosophies and a framework of care ethics seem to be preconditions for promoting patients’ active participation in PIRs after restraints. Patients’ voices strengthen PIRs’ potential to improve care and may also contribute to restraint prevention. To minimise the power imbalance in PIRs, patients’ vulnerability, dependency and perceived dignity must be recognised. Patients’ individual needs and preferences should be assessed and mapped when planning PIRs, particularly regarding location, time and preferred participants. Care providers must receive training to strengthen their confidence in conducting PIRs in the best possible way. Patients’ experiences with PIRs should be explored, especially if participation by trusted family members, peers or advocates may support the patients in PIRs.

Why Did You Not Act on Our Suggestion? Regulatory and Growth-Oriented Opportunities During Ethical Review: A Case Study

In Australia, before conducting research with human participants, researchers must have their research plan reviewed by a Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) to ensure that proposed methods meet ethical requirements and protect the welfare of participants. In addition, it has been proposed that HRECs can contribute to a novice researcher’s ethical mindfulness. To explore this suggestion, the current self-reflective case study examines the dialogue between a PhD candidate and the HREC that reviewed his proposed study of family bereavement in the context of the potential for organ donation. Findings suggest that when a respectful, problem-solving attitude is adopted by both parties, a learning environment evolves where diverse views, differences of opinion, and novel solutions are tolerated. In this context, the research plan is improved and the novice researcher’s ability to apply research ethics is developed. Simultaneously, members of the HREC gain practice in the identification of ethical dilemmas and the application of ethical principles that help resolve those dilemmas.

The MET(T)A Protocol: Mindfulness and EMDR Treatment Template for Agencies.

Evidence indicating the relationship between trauma and substance use disorders (SUDs), in addition to relapse and treatment retention rates for this population, suggests there is a need for a trauma-focused solution to treat SUDs. Eye movement desensitization and reprocessing (EMDR) therapy has been studied extensively as an effective approach for treating trauma and Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). The research evaluating its treatment for other mental health disorders such as SUDs is promising. Merging mindfulness and ethical mindfulness practices with EMDR therapy lends additional evidence-based elements to make the case for this integrative system of treatment to be studied as a trauma-focused primary psychotherapy to treat SUDs. The resulting treatment, the MET(T)A Protocol (Mindfulness and EMDR Treatment Template for Agencies), has been created to address the need for a trauma-focused solution to treat SUDs. Procedures of the MET(T)A Protocol as applied in each of the 8 phases of EMDR therapy are described in detail. Clinical examples are provided to explain the application of the MET(T)A Protocol.

Right Is What that Benefits All, or that Which Is Morally Correct: An Enquiry on How Ethical Standards of Judgment (Consequentialism Vs Formalism) Complements the Effect of Empathy, Personal Values, and Personality Traits on Moral Cognition, and Conation Processes, Leading Towards Ethical Competence

Ethical predispositions are foundational to how an individual’s reason. They shape both moral awareness and moral decisions. Within organizations, they influence perceptions of justice and administrative policies. Descriptions of ethical predispositions are broadly based around two frameworks: consequentialism and formalism (the tendency to assess ethical situations in terms of their consequences to people, or, in terms of their consistent conformity to patterns or rules or some other formal features). But the question remains that how these predispositions affect moral judgment and behavior that ultimately leads towards ethical competence. For this, we proposed a theoretical framework modifying the Pohling et. al. (2016) model of Ethical Competence to include an Ethical predispositions framework based on the Love et. al. (2020) conceptualization of Ethical Standards of Judgment. We hypothesized that empathy through personal values, as well as personality, affects moral cognition, and Conation processes. These processes ultimately shape Ethical Competence. Moreover, judgment standards of consequentialism and formalism complement this effect. We used moral judgment and discourse competence and counterproductive work behavior as indicators of moral cognition, and Conation processes, respectively. Empirical validity was established by conducting a survey using a close-ended questionnaire. Dataset was collected from about 200 bank employees and analyzed using confirmatory factor analysis and structured equation modeling. The results showed personality and values seem to have a significant impact on both moral conation and cognition. All seem to have a positive effect except the negative effect of values on moral conation. This means moral value can be able to recognize morals but the behavior is more linked to personality. Both moral conations also lead to ethical competency. Results also found a strong and positive effect of moral cognition on moral conation. The ethical predisposition of each formalism seems to have a positive impact on personal values. However, formalism seems to negatively influence the moral conation process. Moreover, no significant complementarities were witnessed in any relationship as both moderators of formalism and consequentialism did not have a significant impact on the relationship. Results also showed moral cognition seems to positively mediate the effect of personality and values on ethical competency. Similarly, moral cognition also mediates personality and ethical competency nexus. Formalism also leads towards ethical competency through moral conation and values directly, as well as through values then moral conation. Whereas Consequentialism also affects ethical competency first through values, then onwards through Moral Conation. Findings suggested that the moral systems of consequentialism and formalism foresee ethical mindfulness and conduct in people, but modern-day measures both don’t deal with these structures as self-sufficient or want sample hypothetical underpinnings and factual steadfastness.

The Enchantment of the Archaeological Record

Empirical studies increasingly testify to the capacity for archaeological and cultural heritage sites to engender wonder, transformation, attachment, and community bonding amongst diverse individuals. Following political theorist Jane Bennett, these sites have the power to ‘enchant’ and, in so doing, they are seedbeds of human generosity, ethical mindfulness, and care for the world at large. However, the means by which such enchantment is created, and the extent to which these intimate encounters with the prehistoric or historic record can be deliberately crafted, are little understood. Worsening the predicament, professional practices commonly thwart the potential for archaeology to provoke ethical action amongst humans. Here, I propose a multi-stranded conceptual model for generating enchantment with the archaeological record across both professional audiences and broader publics. With reference to the European Commission-funded EMOTIVE Project, I articulate one particular strand of this model: facilitated dialogue. Alongside exploring the role of digital culture in its advancement, I argue that an enchantment-led approach is imperative for achieving a truly socially-beneficial archaeological discipline.

Reflexivity and ethical mindfulness in participatory research with children: What does it really look like?

This article draws attention to the ethical nuances of conducting participatory research with children and young people growing up in a popular tourist destination in Australia. It responds to calls for more reflexively oriented approaches to documenting the ethical dimensions of qualitative research, particularly with children. Prolonged engagement in the field facilitated a deeper understanding of young people’s lived experiences and the challenges they face in negotiating identity, belonging and connection with community. Findings reveal there are a number of important benefits when actively involving young people in research. With the democratisation of the research process, however, comes an increased ethical responsibility which requires a reflexive and relational approach if meaningful and inclusive participation is to be achieved.

Incorporating Ethics Into Brief Mindfulness Practice: Effects on Well-Being and Prosocial Behavior

Mainstream mindfulness programs, as in first-generation mindfulness-based interventions, generally do not incorporate Buddhist ethics, causing some scholars to worry that they may encourage self-indulgence and have limited capacity to promote well-being. We compare the effects of practicing mindfulness with additional ethical instruction (EthicalM) or without such instruction (SecularM) on well-being and prosocial behavior. Participants (N = 621) completed 6 days of ethical or secular mindfulness exercises or active control exercises. Secular and ethical mindfulness both reduced stress (EthicalM: p = 0.011, d = − 0.25; SecularM: p = 0.005, d = − 0.28) and increased life satisfaction (EthicalM: p = 0.008, d = 0.26; SecularM: p = 0.069, d = 0.18) and self-awareness (EthicalM: p = 0.011, d = 0.25; SecularM: p = 0.051, d = 0.19). Ethical mindfulness also enhanced personal growth (p = 0.032, d = 0.21). Ethical, relative to secular, mindfulness also increased prosocial behavior—money donated to a charity (p = 0.020, d = 0.24). This effect was moderated by trait empathy: Trait empathy predicted donation amounts for participants who had completed mindfulness exercises (ethical or secular) but not controls. Furthermore, low trait empathy participants gave significantly less money following secular mindfulness practice than control exercises, whereas high trait empathy participants gave more money following ethical mindfulness practice than control exercises. Mindfulness training may thus have unintended consequences, making some people less charitable, though incorporating instruction on ethics, as in some second-generation mindfulness-based interventions, may forestall such effects.

Gaining Access to Socially Stigmatized Samples

Gaining access to stigmatized populations using qualitative sampling requires the application of carefully planned strategies to avoid inadvertent slights to research participants. While there is a growing body of literature on qualitative sampling strategies, there is less discussion on how to manage the sensitivities of stigmatized research participants, such as African American females with incarcerated mates. This paper provides insight into how successful recruitment strategies, aligned with best practices described as checkpoints, enabled this researcher to gain access to a sample of 20 African American women who experienced grief and loss, and social withdrawal as a result of their mate’s incarceration. Women in the study revealed their need to mask their emotions and hide their circumstances, mainly because of the social stigma associated with incarceration. Successful strategies were used to recruit the sample, including: implementing a transparent process, offering flexible interview logistics, acknowledging and managing microaggressions; refraining from claiming insider status, and maintaining access to the sample through ethical mindfulness.

Educating for ethical leadership through web-based coaching.

Ethical leadership is important for developing ethical healthcare practice. However, there is little research-based knowledge on how to stimulate and educate for ethical leadership. The aim was to develop and investigate the feasibility of a 6-week web-based, ethical leadership educational programme and learn from participants' experience. Training programme and research design: A training programme was developed consisting of (1) a practice part, where the participating middle managers developed and ran an ethics project in their own departments aiming at enhancing the ethical mindfulness of the organizational culture, and (2) a web-based reflection part, including online reflections and coaching while executing the ethics project. Focus group interviews were used to explore the participants' experiences with and the feasibility of the training. Participants and research context: Nine middle managers were recruited from a part-time master's programme in leadership in Oslo, Norway. The research context was the participating leaders' work situation during the 6 weeks of training. Ethical considerations: Participation was voluntary, data anonymized and the confidentiality of the participating leaders/students and their institutions maintained. No patient or medical information was involved. Eight of the nine recruited leaders completed the programme. They evaluated the training programme as efficient and supportive, with the written, situational feedback/coaching as the most important element, enhancing reflection and motivation, counteracting a feeling of loneliness and promoting the execution of change. The findings seem consistent with the basic assumptions behind the educational design, based partly on e-health research, feedback studies and organizational ethics methodology, partly on theories on workplace learning, reflection, recognition and motivation. The training programme seems feasible. It should be adjusted according to participants' proposals and tested further in a large-scale study.

Emotions, narratives, and ethical mindfulness.

Clinical care is laden with emotions, from the perspectives of both clinicians and patients. It is important that emotions are addressed in health professions curricula to ensure that clinicians are humane healers as well as technical experts. Emotions have a valuable and generative role in health professional ethics education.The authors have previously described a narrative ethics pedagogy, the aim of which is to develop ethical mindfulness. Ethical mindfulness is a state of being that acknowledges everyday ethics and ethically important moments as significant in clinical care, with the aim of enabling ethical clinical practice. Using a sample narrative, the authors extend this concept to examine five features of ethical mindfulness as they relate to emotions: (1) being sensitized to emotions in everyday practice, (2) acknowledging and understanding the ways in which emotions are significant in practice, (3) being able to articulate the emotions at play during ethically important moments, (4) being reflexive and acknowledging both the generative aspects and the limitations of emotions, and (5) being courageous.The process of writing and engaging with narratives can lead to ethical mindfulness, including the capacity to understand and work with emotions. Strategies for productively incorporating emotions in narrative ethics teaching are described. This can be a challenging domain within medical education for both educators and health care students and thus needs to be addressed sensitively and responsibly. The potential benefit of educating health professionals in a way which addresses emotionality in an ethical framework makes the challenges worthwhile.

“Should I Send a Condolence Card?” Promoting Emotional Safety in Qualitative Health Research Through Reflexivity and Ethical Mindfulness

We present a case study involving the unexpected deaths of two young people whose parents were taking part in a qualitative study concerning adolescents with chronic disease. We explore and highlight the ethically important moments, both procedural and emotional, and the implications for the research team, the ethics committee, and for qualitative health researchers more broadly. Our reflections are drawn from team discussion and analysis of the trainee researcher’s responses to the situation. We focus on (a) reflexivity and ethical mindfulness as a strategy for enhancing emotional safety, (b) the concept of emotional safety for qualitative researchers, and (c) the procedural issues and emotional responses that led to engagement with the human research ethics committee and resulting changes in policy. The article concludes by proposing recommendations for the promotion of emotional safety in qualitative health research that is relevant for researchers, especially trainee researchers, as well as ethics committees.

Leadership ethical orientations, mindfulness and procurement contract performance in the COMESA central governments

Purpose – In this study, the authors seek to examine the prevalence and relationships between constructs of mindfulness, task autonomy, inter‐functional coordination, teamwork, contract implementation and monitoring which have been largely ignored or not fully explored in previous empirical research; and attempt to use them to predict contract performance.Design/methodology/approach – The paper uses descriptive and analytical research designs guided by multi‐methods qualitative and quantitative research approaches to collect and analyze data predicting contract performance in the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) member states. Data was collected from a representative sample of ten countries and subsequent sampling was done at the government ministries. Contracts were the unit of analysis as suggested by Brousseau and Glachant.Findings – The study findings reveal that deontology, mindfulness procurement task performance, competence of the procurement staff, inter‐functional coordinati...

Ethical imperialism or ethical mindfulness? Rethinking ethical review for social sciences

This article is a response to the challenge with which Zachary Schrag concluded his article, ‘The case against ethics review in social sciences’ − that ‘the burden of proof for its continuation rests on its defenders’ (Schrag, 2011). This article acknowledges that there is substance in the charges he lays against some reviews of social sciences and that these are of sufficient quantity and seriousness to justify his challenge. Instead of favouring abandonment of ethical review of social sciences, the author of this article draws upon his experience as Research Ethics Officer for Social Sciences and Law in a research intensive UK university to identify the sources of some of the problems and suggest potential remedies. These start with reviewing the warrant for ethical review as the basis for understanding reviewer’s role concerning the core ethical issues of rigour, respect and responsibility in the proposed research. This response concludes by considering the implications of a warrant for enhancing trust between scientists and the public as the context in which ethical review is only one component in a number of ethical strategies designed to promote ethical mindfulness as integral to social science research.