Re: Research and Reporting

["Stan or Dee Bringer" <sbringer@xxxxxxxx>]

Here's another published article (which I have not yet read) on the ethics
of researchers reporting.

TI- Are researchers bound by child abuse reporting laws?
AU- Steinberg, AM;Pynoos, RS;Goenjian, AK;Sossanabadi, H;Sherr, L
JN- CHILD ABUSE & NEGLECT
PY- 1999
VO- 23
NO- 8
PG- 771-777
AB- Objective: To discuss issues concerning mandatory reporting of child
abuse in research settings.
Method: An overview of existing Federal and State statutes regarding
mandatory reporting of child abuse is presented. A critical review of
the literature addresses the following issues: (1) whether
researchers have a moral duty to place the health and safety of
children above concerns about confidentiality and the benefits of
obtaining new knowledge; (2) whether the Certificate of
Confidentiality preempts reporting requirements; (3) whether
researchers who are not health professionals (such as child
developmentalists, psychobiologists, neuroscientists) should be
required to report; and (4) whether researchers should be required to
expand their protocols to include more in-depth investigation of
potential abuse.
Results: Existing child abuse reporting laws do not specifically
designate researchers as among the category of individuals mandated
to report suspected child abuse. Currently, Human Subject Protection
Committees and Federal funding agencies are tending to interpret
reporting laws as applying to researchers, including requiring that
research subjects are informed of this responsibility in consenting
procedures. It is unclear whether the Certificate of Confidentiality
preempts child abuse reporting laws.
Conclusion: The authors recommend that legislatures specifically
designate researchers as mandated reporters to ensure more uniform
reporting practices in research settings. For both investigators and
Human Subject Protection Committees, inclusion of researchers among
the categories of those mandated to report would also help address
issues of immunity from civil and criminal liability for ''good
faith'' reports that turn out to he false and injurious. (C) 1999
Elsevier Science Ltd.

-----------------------------------------------
Joy Bringer, MSc
Doctoral Candidate
Leisure and Sport Research Unit
Cheltenham & Gloucester College of Higher Education
Francis Close Hall
Swindon Road
Cheltenham, GLOS.
GL50 4AZ   UNITED KINGDOM

tel: 44 (0) 1242 543311
fax: 44 (0) 1242 543283
joybringer@usa.net
---------------------------------------------------


-----Original Message-----
From: Ineke Way <ifway@gwbmail.wustl.edu>
To: Child Maltreatment Researchers
<CHILD-MALTREATMENT-RESEARCH-L@cornell.edu>
Date: Friday, September 03, 1999 11:09 AM
Subject: Re: Research and Reporting


>regarding research and reporting new disclosures of child maltreatment, I
found the references below helpful as I planned my dissertation research on
adolescent sexual offenders.  We did obtain a Federal Certificate of
Confidentiality but emphasized in our consent process that this did not
override our need to report new disclosures
>
>Attkisson, C.C., Rosenblatt, A.,,, & Hoagwood, K. (1996). Research ethics
and human subjects protection in child mental health services research and
community studies. In K. Hoagwood, P.S. Jensen, & C.B. Fisher (Eds.),
Ethical issues in mental health research with children and adolescents (pp.
43-57). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
>
>Bradley, E.J., & Lindsay, R.C.L. (1987). Methodological and ethical issues
in child abuse research. Journal of Family Violence, 2, 239-255.
>
>Fisher, C.B., Hoagwood, K., & Jensen, P.S. (1996). Casebook on ethical
issues in research with children and adolescents with mental disorders. In
K. Hoagwood, P.S. Jensen, & C.B. Fisher (Eds.), Ethical issues in mental
health research with children and adolescents (pp. 135-266). Mahwah, NJ:
Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
>
>Glantz, L.H. (1996). Conducting research with children: Legal and ethical
issues. Journal of American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 34,
1283-1291.
>
>Putnam, F.W., Liss, M.B., & Landsverk, J. (1996). Ethical issues in
maltreatment research with children and adolescents. In K. Hoagwood, P.S.
Jensen, & C.B. Fisher (Eds.), Ethical issues in mental health research with
children and adolescents (pp. 113-132). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum
Associates.
>
>Urquiza, A.J. (1991). Retrospective methodology in family violence
research: Our duty to report past abuse. Journal of Interpersonal Violence,
6, 119-126.
>
>
>
>
>Ineke Way
>Doctoral Candidate
>George Warren Brown School of Social Work
>Campus Box 1196
>Washington University
>St. Louis, MO  63130-4899
>
>314/721-2141
>
>ifway@gwbmail.wustl.edu
>
>