Dear Graduate Research Advisor,
I hope this letter finds you doing well. I am in a dilemma and would like your
advice in regard to a current situation that is going on. I am currently working on
a study that is investigating the induction processes of military training
establishments. While conducting the study I witnessed two of the staff severely
bullying one of the new recruits. Though reporting the bullying would interfere with
the current study, and could jeopardize the data collection and integrity of the
study; I don’t feel as though I have any other choice based on the bullying that
was observed.
The advice that I am seeking from you is the way in which I should report the
behavior. According to the “Ethical Principles of Psychologist and Code of
Conduct” (APA, 2017) the very first principle, Beneficence and Non-maleficence,
states that psychologists strive to benefit and to do no harm (2017). To ignore
the behavior would not only being doing the individual harm in this particular
situation, but if this is a patterned behavior then there will surely be more that will
be, or have been harmed by this sort of behavior.
Not only does not reporting do harm, but it violates the trust of others that are
involved in research. Principle B: Fidelity and Responsibility, (APA, 2017)
discusses establishing relationships of trust, and to be aware of the responsibility
that the psychologist has to the communities that they work with. Reporting said
behavior establishes and proves the trust that we value the well being of the
participants above the data.
My dilemma comes in whether I should approach the staff members myself, or
whether I should report it to the supervisors of the staff members that were
involved? Ethical standard 1.04 Informal Resolution of Ethical Violations
(APA,2017) specifically deals with when one psychologist believes another
psychologist has violated an ethical standard, they then bring it to the attention of
the individual. Though this situation is not dealing with another psychologist, they
are staff members of the organization that this study is affiliated with. I believe
that if I were to address the staff members in a calm manner, and make them
aware of the ethical standards that bullying violates, and the repercussions that
could follow, the behavior might subside.
On the other hand, ethical standard 1.05 Reporting Ethical Violations (APA,2017)
deals with reporting of violations that have caused substantial harm or is not
appropriate for an informal resolution. This is where there seems to be a
subjective line of whether this can be handled on the individual level, or whether I
need to contact their supervisors. I am currently leaning in the direction of
contacting their supervisors because I don’t think confrontation, even if in a calm
manner will be very effective in helping the individual or stoping the pattern of
behavior in the future. Your advice is greatly respected and appreciated.
Thank You
References
American Psychological Association. (2017). Ethical Principles of Psychologists
and Code of Conduct. https://www.apa.org/ethics/code/index
