Ethics and considering the risks of de-sensitization

McCartan, Kieran

Abstract

Ethical practice is nothing new for those who work in the criminal justice sector and policing has its own Code of Ethics within which police practice is framed. The ethical practices required by social researchers are of similar ilk, ensuring the researcher follows a process of moral practice, protecting participants and the credence of any study. In this chapter McCartan draws upon his experience of researching those most vulnerable in our society, whether victims of serious crime or indeed, those who perpetrate such crime. He asks the reader to consider the risks associated with any research that involves either cohort or any topic of interest that is sensitive in nature. He takes them through the ethical approval process, why it is required and what it entails. Lastly, he asks the reader to consider their own position in relation to working with their chosen participants, how to negate the bias of desensitisation with the sensitivity needed to conduct meaningful and ‘safe’ data collection from those who may experience inadvertent trauma or a sense of revictimisation; what McCartan refers to as a ‘balancing act’.

• Online Publication Date: Jan 1, 2023
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2023
• Deposit Date: Sep 30, 2022
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan
• Pages: 73-89
• Book Title: The Police Officers Guide to Academic Research
• Chapter Number: Chapter 5
• ISBN: 9783031192852
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19286-9_5
• Keywords: Ethics, De-sensitization, Police, Policing, Vulnerability; Research Questions; Risk
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/10015336
• Publisher URL: https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-031-19286-9_5
• Related Public URLs: https://link.springer.com/book/10.1007/978-3-031-19286-9#bibliographic-information
• Contract Date: May 31, 2022