Thank you for taking the time to address this situation by seeking my expertise.
As said, 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. Bullying is a patterned behavior
that we cannot take lightly. I believe in this case I should address the issue
because as stated in ethical standard 1.0 5 Reporting Ethical Violations
(APA,2017) deals with reporting of violations that have caused substantial harm
or is not appropriate for an informal resolution. Trust is essential in research and
you informing me of this matter is a true sign of your work ethic and diligence.
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 wellbeing of the participants above the
data. I will speak with my superiors to find a solution for this situation that will
not interfere with the results of your study. The wellbeing of our military
personnel is detrimental, and this is an unfortunate occurrence that we will handle
immediately. I am happy to assist you with your research issue. Researchers
often find themselves in a difficult situation when participants are under the age
of eighteen or incapable of making decisions for themselves and must have a
legal guardian to protect their rights under the Code of Conduct 3.10 Informed
Consent (APA, 2016). Both options you have selected could be utilized to resolve
your issue. You can however, as you mentioned, forego obtaining consent for your
research. The Code of Conduct Rule 8.10 Dispensing with Informed Consent for
Research (APA, 2016) specifically states that if your research does not inflict
damage upon or causes any stress on your subjects and your study occurs in a
typical educational setting.
I think allowing the student to participate in the research study is a promising
idea, but with his/her parents disagreeing you may want their participation to be
in a different manner. I know you want to include everyone and do not want the
student to feel they are being discriminated against as advised under Code of
Conduct 3.01 Unfair Discrimination (APA, 2016). The idea of sending home
anonymous surveys to the students’ homes may cause conflict and distress for
them. I believe a less intrusive method and good compromise would be
naturalistic observation of the participants during class time. Typical class
instruction could be observed along with some small new challenges and/or
teaching techniques introduced to the class that could provide valuable research
and permit all students to participate in the study. The staff who work with the
students could still do the anonymous questionnaires and surveys at home online,
so no one knows who turned theirs in and when. b I look forward to hearing what
decision you make and how your research turns out. All the very best.
