ETHICAL ISSUES IN PSYCHOLOGICAL RESEARCH & PRACTICE
RESEARCH INVOLVING VICTIMS OF ABUSE
The conduct of research involving participants who have been subject to childhood abuse and trauma has not been without controversy. Whether it is better to conduct such research, and find out the factors contributing to the cause of such abuse, how it affects victims, and what may be done to reduce or overcome the effects, or to conduct research that, even inadvertently, could result in "vulnerable individuals" being further hurt has been an uncomfortable and difficult question to answer and constituted the topic of several articles in the journal American Psychologist. A consensus has been reached that it is better to conduct such research, provided safeguards are followed, than not to, so that victims can ultimately benefit from the research and practice guidelines resulting therefrom.
The question has been raised as to how such research can be best conducted, and Lange and Ruwaard (2010) [LINK] in a freely available article has examined ethical dilemmas in online research and treatment of sexually abused "adolescents" (young people up to age 25) [LINK].OTHER ISSUES
Ethics & Malpractice -- Ken Pope's page for Psychologists [LINK]