4.2 Discussion
lanny.wilson
Chapter2.ppt© 2014 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
Class Name,
Instructor Name
Date, Semester
Hagan, Research Methods in Criminal Justice and Criminology, 9/e
Chapter 2
Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
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Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
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- Many practitioners within criminal justice have met with repeated failure over the years because they relied upon only their common sense.
- Thus, millions of dollars have been spent on police patrol efforts that do not reduce crime, judicial practices that are widely perceived as unfair, rehabilitation programs that do not rehabilitate offenders, and countless other failures.
Ethical Horror Stories
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Unethical Research
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Biomedical Examples
Nazi doctors tortured, maimed, and murdered innocent captive subjects.
Some scientists have purposely allowed subjects to suffer and even die of a disease while withholding a known cure (Tuskegee Syphilis Study).
Ethical Horror Stories
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Unethical Research
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Social Science Examples
Most of the foregoing examples have been biomedical in nature. However, because social and behavioral research likewise puts subjects at risk, its activities have led to similar ethical concerns.
Ethical Horror Stories
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Some Guidelines for Questionnaire Construction
Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
Variables list
A list of variables to be measured, keyed to the question number(s) in the questionnaire which are designed to measure each variable
Dummy tables
Preliminary blank tables constructed prior to data-gathering that suggest the type of data needed, as well as the type of data analysis
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Researcher Fraud and Plagiarism
Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
Research Fraud
Occurs when researchers purposely fabricate or misrepresent their findings
Plagiarism
A type of fraud in which a writer presents the ideas or work of someone else as his/her own
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The Researcher’s Role
Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
The role of researcher requires that one be objective and “value-free” in approaching and reporting on the subject matter.
The researcher’s role as scientist may intersect (and sometimes conflict) with roles of criminal justice practitioner, citizen, and humanitarian.
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The Researcher’s Role
Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
Research Targets in Criminal Justice
The targets or subject matter of research may include:
Practitioners
The criminal justice system
The victim
The criminal
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The Researcher’s Role
Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
Professional Ethics
May be regulated by codes of ethics,
institutional review boards, the courts,
Professions, and the government
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History of Federal Regulation of Research
Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
Institutional review boards
College/university research committees that
oversee and ensure ethical research standards
Informed consent
Agreement of subjects to participate in research
after they have been briefed
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History of Federal Regulation of Research
Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
The original 1971 DHEW guidelines contained six elements for obtaining
informed consent (Code of Federal Regulations, 1975, pp. 11854–11858):
- A fair explanation of the procedures to be followed, and their purposes, including identifications of any experimental procedures.
- A description of any attendant discomforts and risks that can be expected.
- A description of any benefits reasonably to be expected.
- A disclosure of any appropriate alternative procedures that might be advantageous for the subject.
- An offer to answer any inquiries concerning the procedures.
- Instruction that the person is free to withdraw consent and discontinue participation at any time without prejudice to him or her.
Because DHEW supported both physical (particularly biomedical) and social science research, these rules originally applied equally.
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The Belmont Report
Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
National Commission for the Protection of Human Subjects of Biomedical and Behavioral Research, 1978
Reviewed health, education, and welfare
guidelines, altered these guidelines, and
recommended looser standards for informed
consent in field research
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Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
The Belmont Report
The principle of justice
The principle of beneficence
The principle of respect for persons
The Belmont Report called for the recognition of three basic principles:
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DHHS Review
Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
Research activities exempt from DHHS review
include research in educational settings related
to normal educational practices, such as
curriculum strategies and instructional
techniques.
Also exempt is research using educational tests,
as long as confidentiality is maintained.
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National Institute of Justice’s Human Subject Protection Requirements
Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
NIJ’s regulations on confidentiality protect individuals by forbidding the use of any research or statistical information that might identify them.
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Confidentiality of Criminal Justice Research
Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
Shield Laws
Laws that protect researchers from being forced to reveal sources in a court of law
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Ethical Issues in Criminology/Criminal Justice Research
Ethics in Criminal Justice Research
The criminal justice researcher must take personal responsibility to:
Protect
confidentiality
and privacy of
respondents
Exercise objectivity and professional integrity in performing and reporting research
Honor commit-ments to respondents and respect reciprocity
Avoid procedures that may harm respondents
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Ethical Problems
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The Brajuha Case (Weinstein Decision)
The Ofshe Case
The Hutchinson Case
The Scarce Case
© 2014 by Pearson Higher Education, Inc Upper Saddle River, New Jersey 07458 • All Rights Reserved
Research targets in criminology and criminal justice include the criminal, the victim, the criminal justice system, practitioners, and the general public.
A potential role conflict exists for the investigator who has to balance the roles of researcher, criminal justice practitioner, citizen, and humanitarian.
Each research situation presents its own unique set of ethical problems, just as ethics itself is relative to the setting.
The most influential guidelines governing funded research in the United States are those of the DHHS, Model Policy on Human Research Subjects.
CHAPTER SUMMARY
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