First of all, I appreciate the concern you show for the research you have decided
to undertake. It is not an easy thing to have to turn away a participant, but with
that said, I have taken a special interest in the dilemma you are currently facing.
Please rest assured that the department takes this matter seriously.
Even though her parents have decided on her behalf that she should not
participate in this study, you are correct in your mention of the APA Code
Principle E. It would in fact be a discriminatory act not to allow the student to
participate since she is of legal age. I admire her tenacity in having the right to be
heard and her desire to be a part of the research you are conducting.
Please keep in mind, that any time during this study if the participant chooses to
no longer participate, then you must respect her decision. According to APA Code
8.04, the prospective student is provided the opportunity of declining or the
student is provided the opportunity to quit the study at any time.
If you have any further questions or concerns in regards to clarifications, please
feel free to contact me. Thank you for reaching out as soon as you faced this
serious ethical dilemma. By reading your scenario it is not clear to me if you
witnessed the severe bullying situation, or if it was reported to you during your
visit. So, I would like to clarify this point, but my response to you assumes that
you witnessed it. Bullying is a serious matter, and it is a prohibited conduct in the
military (Army Command Policy, 2014, p. 38). The principles you addressed in
both of your responses are valid (Justice and Respect for People’s Rights and
Dignity), and both of your standards (Reporting Ethical Violations & Avoiding
Harm) in both responses are applicable to this dilemma (APA, 2017). However, I
challenge you, that all of them, the 2 principles and 2 standards are applicable to
your response 1, and your application of the Code of Conduct 3.04 is not properly
applied, since the harm is already done (if you witnessed it), therefore Response 2
is not an option. I would strongly advise you to proceed with your response 1, and
talk about the incident with the head of the military training establishment. The
wellbeing and health of people in our surroundings take priority to any kind of risk
in our data collection and our research process, if this risk does not harm people.
We always can change environments and start a new research in a different
organization and with different people, but people who is harmed is difficult to
undo the damage and trauma perpetrated to them.
References
American Psychological Association. (2017).
Ethical Principles of Psychologists
and Code of Conduct.
Retrieved January 27, 2022, from
https://www.apa.org/ethics/code
Army Command Policy. (2014).
AR 600-20
. Retrieved January 27, 2022, from
https://api.army.mil/e2/c/downloads/399376.pdf
American Psychological Association. (2017).
Ethical Principles of Psychologists
and Code of
Conduct.
January 30, 2022, from https://www.apa.org/ethics/code
