Issues And Debates: Ethical Implications Flashcards
1
Q
What Are Ethical Guidelines?
A
- A set of principles set out by the BPS to help psychologists behave honesty and with integrity.
2
Q
What Are Ethical Issues?
A
- These arise when a conflict exists between the rights of the participants in research studies and the goals of the researchers to produce authentic, valid and worthwhile data.
3
Q
What Are Ethical Implications?
A
- The impact that psychological research may have in terms of the rights of other people, especially participants.
- This includes, at a societal level, influencing public policy and/or in the way in which certain groups of people are regarded.
4
Q
What Is Social Sensitivity?
A
- Studies in which there are potential consequences or implications either directly for the participants in the research or for the class of individuals represented by the research.
5
Q
Ethical Implications Of Milgram’s Obedience Study.
A
- Participants were deceive and were therefore unable to give full informed consent.
- It also caused significant distresses and the participants were coerced to continue against their will.
- However, the participants were debriefed at the end of the experiment and participated in an interview a year later, and it was found that there was no long term effects of the experiment.
- This research showed how Germans during Nazi Germany were no different, reducing the negative label attached to those who ‘followed,’ Hitler.
6
Q
Ethical Implications Of Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory.
A
- Bowlby’s Theory of Attachment suggested that children for one special attachment with their primary caregiver, during a critical period.
- He argued that this attachment can impact their future relationships through an internal working model.
- Contributed to the development of child care practices.
- Institutions now only have one caregiver rather than multiple, per child.
- However, it has also encouraged the view that the mother’s place is at home with her children, may make mothers who want to go back to work feel guilty.
7
Q
Social Sensitivity: Milgram’s Obedience Study.
A
- The findings of the study can be used to make people obey orders that they do not want to follow, which can have severe ethical implications.
8
Q
Social Sensitivity: Bowlby’s Monotropic Theory.
A
- Make mothers stay at home due to guilt and fear of being judged by others.
9
Q
Sieber And Stanley 4 Aspects To Be Considered When Conducting A Research.
A
- The Research Question: The researcher needs to consider whether the question will damage members of a particular group.
- The Methodology Used: The researcher needs to consider the treatment of the participant’s and their right to confidentiality and anonymity.
- The Institutional Context: The researcher should be mindful how the data is going to be used and consider who is funding the research.
- Interpretation And Application Of Findings: The researcher needs to consider how their findings might be interpreted and applied in the real-world.
10
Q
Cyril Burt Socially Sensitive Research.
A
- Cyril Burt used studies of identical twins to support his view that intelligence is largely genetic.
- His views greatly influenced the Hadow Report (1926) which led to the creation of the 11+ which was used from 1944-1976.
- This meant that generations of children were affected by the 11+ exam, even though there has been huge controversy regarding whether Burt had falsified his research data.
11
Q
Evaluation: Positive Impact - Greater Understanding.
A
- Socially sensitive research can benefit society.
- It can promote greater sensitivity and understanding of underrepresented groups and issues.
- For example, the effect that culture bias can have on the diagnosis of schizophrenia with regards to auditory hallucinations experienced by African and West Indian individuals.
- This helps reduce prejudice and encourage acceptance demonstrating there are positive outcomes of socially sensitive research.
12
Q
Evaluation: Positive Impact - Aid Legal System.
A
- Socially sensitive research can prevent miscarriages of justice within the legal system.
- Research into the unreliability of eyewitness testimony specifically the case of Ronald Cotton shows that socially sensitive research plays a valuable role in society and is a positive consequence.
- This is despite the fact that the research may have had a negative impact on those individuals who had been eyewitnesses in trials.
13
Q
Evaluation: Negative Impact - Support Discriminatory Practices.
A
- Socially sensitive research has been used to support discriminatory practices.
- In America during the 1920’s and 1930’s, a large number of US states approved laws that led to the compulsory sterilisation of citizens that were deemed to be “feeble-minded” and were drains on society.
- This was based on research from psychology and science that had suggested such people were “unfit to breed”.
- This shows that socially sensitive research has negative impacts as it has been used inappropriately to “support” discriminatory practices.
14
Q
Evaluation: Positive Impact - Reflexivity.
A
- The realisation that there are issues regarding the ethical implications of socially sensitive research has meant that researchers are more reflexive.
- This includes thinking more about what the research findings are likely to be used for.
- As a result, it can make researcher’s take more responsibility for their findings and ensure that the work that they do, does not lead to abuse or discrimination.
15
Q
Evaluation: Negative Impact - Importance Of Freedom Of Research.
A
- It is important that psychologists are free to carry out whatever research seems important to them.
- It is problematic if governments start passing laws to prohibit certain kinds of research, for example race-related research, due to there being issues of social sensitivity.
- There is a real danger that research will be stopped for political rather than for ethical reasons.
- Researchers may just need to be mindful that the benefits of the socially sensitive research must outweigh the costs.
