Navigating Ethical Considerations in Research with Children of Incarcerated Parents

Abstract

Showing Kids The Way has three specific programs that work with elementary and junior-high-aged students that either have parents currently incarcerated, absentee parents, or have siblings that are chronic (juvenile or adult) offenders. Showing Kids the Way recently hired a university-based researcher to evaluate the program in hopes to demonstrate that Showing Kids the Way is an “evidence-based."  A major foundation expressed interest in financially supporting the program do demonstrate as best practice. There are several areas of ethical concern when handling any sort of personal identifying information, ensuring that research participants' or patients' valuable information remains confidential. This is where randomizing names to numbers is effective in preventing a breach of confidentiality but also reduces potential bias. There are other issues to concern such as the researchers' competency of their ability to accurately formulize, measure, collect, and analyze the data correctly, resulting in poor quality work.  Consent to participate is a basic obligation that a researcher has to their participants, content includes participants are made aware that they can withdraw at any time, enough knowledge of the study to accurately determine if they want to participate, if any harm is expected, readability of the consent form as well as ensuring the participants have the legal capacity to give consent. The research participants would also be considered a special population subject and subjected to U.S. federal regulations, that specify that induviduals who fall under special population status need special protections for any type of research (DHHS, 2005). These protections would include informed consent; weighing how much a child actually desires to participate in such a study and their vulnerabilities to being coerced. Regarding the participants' legal capacity to give consent, considering the population to be studied the researcher should be aware of his or her bias towards other people who...