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Following Up Children Who Have Been Abused: Ethical Considerations for Research Design

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 1999

Margaret A. Lynch
Affiliation:
Guy's, Kings, and St Thomas School of Medicine, Newcomen Centre, Guy's Hospital, St Thomas Street, London SE1 9RT
Danya Glaser
Affiliation:
Department of Psychological Medicine, Great Ormond Street Hospital, London WC1N 3JH
Vivien Prior
Affiliation:
Institute of Child Health, Great Ormond Street Hospital, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH
Vivien Inwood
Affiliation:
NCH Action For Children and Guy's Hospital, St Thomas Street, London SE1 9RT
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Abstract

Recruiting subjects for follow-up studies in child abuse raises ethical dilemmas. This paper examines the effects of the ethical stance taken in a study of a community sample of sexually abused children. The ethical code adopted required strict confidentiality and active consent to be interviewed from both child and carer, based on full information about the research objectives and method. The response rate was very low. A less rigid stance, which might have resulted in a larger sample, was considered inappropriate. Nevertheless, the quantitative and qualitative data yielded findings of interest to practitioners. Suggestions for future research practice are presented.

Type
Original Article
Copyright
© 1999 Association for Child Psychology and Psychiatry

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