Introduction: identity, jeopardy and moral dilemmas in conducting research in ‘risky’ environments

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to provide some initial reflections on the complexities and challenges faced when conducting observations with police officers working in response and neighbourhood policing roles from the perspective of a young, female, researcher.Design/methodology/approachThe research consisted of 200 hours spent with operational police officers in a medium sized UK police force, predominantly in 3 cities, to explore the realities of frontline policing and policy implementation. This paper offers a reflexive account of conducting the research, as opposed to a discussion of the findings which align to the original research aim.FindingsConducting this fieldwork highlighted a number of complexities arising as a result of conducting ethnographic research in policing. This paper is concerned with the constructing of a researcher identity and navigating moral dilemmas based on the culture and use of language observed.Originality/valueWhilst this will be of interest to those engaged with similar policing research, such findings are also likely to apply to those conducting ethnography where there is conflict between their insider/outsider status, the potential for internalised moral debates and women conducting research in male-dominated settings.

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Introduction: identity, jeopardy and moral dilemmas in conducting research in ‘risky’ environments

Contemporary Social Science ◽

10.1080/21582041.2017.1388463 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 13 (3-4) ◽

pp. 305-322 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Monique Marks ◽

Julten Abdelhalim

Keyword(s):

Moral Dilemmas ◽

Conducting Research

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Moral Dilemmas of Modern War

10.1017/cbo9780511811562 ◽

2009 ◽

Cited By ~ 18

Author(s):

Michael L. Gross

Keyword(s):

Moral Dilemmas ◽

Modern War

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Doctoral Training of Psychology Students in France

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027//1016-9040.8.1.3 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 8 (1) ◽

pp. 3-8 ◽

Cited By ~ 2

Author(s):

Christine Roland-Lévy

Keyword(s):

Doctoral Programs ◽

Psychology Students ◽

Doctoral Training ◽

University System ◽

The Third ◽

Conducting Research ◽

The University ◽

Psychology Doctoral ◽

Phd Programs ◽

Phd Program

Abstract: The aim of doctoral programs in psychology is to help students become competent psychologists, capable of conducting research and of finding suitable employment. Starting with a brief description of the basic organization of the French university system, this paper presents an overview of how the psychology doctoral training is organized in France. Since October 2000, the requisites and the training of PhD students are the same in all French universities, but what now differs is the openness to other disciplines according to the size and location of the university. Three main groups of doctoral programs are distinguished in this paper. The first group refers to small universities in which the Doctoral Schools are constructed around multidisciplinary seminars that combine various themes, sometimes rather distant from psychology. The second group covers larger universities, with a PhD program that includes psychology as well as other social sciences. The third group contains a few major universities that have doctoral programs that are clearly centered on psychology (clinical, social, and/or cognitive psychology). These descriptions are followed by comments on how PhD programs are presently structured and organized. In the third section, I suggest some concrete ways of improving this doctoral training in order to give French psychologists a more European dimension.

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Ethical Issues Relevant to the Assessment of Suicide Risk in Nonclinical Research Settings

Crisis ◽

10.1027/0227-5910/a000110 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 33 (1) ◽

pp. 54-59 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Carolyn M. Wilson ◽

Bruce K. Christensen

Keyword(s):

Undergraduate Students ◽

Suicide Risk ◽

Ethical Issues ◽

Current Paper ◽

Self Report ◽

Ethical Guidelines ◽

Schizotypal Personality ◽

Increased Risk ◽

Genetic Features ◽

Conducting Research

Background: Our laboratory recently confronted this issue while conducting research with undergraduate students at the University of Waterloo (UW). Although our main objective was to examine cognitive and genetic features of individuals with schizotypal personality disorder (SPD), the study protocol also entailed the completion of various self-report measures to identify participants deemed at increased risk for suicide. Aims and Methods: This paper seeks to review and discuss the relevant ethical guidelines and legislation that bear upon a psychologist’s obligation to further assess and intervene when research participants reveal that they are at increased risk for suicide. Results and Conclusions: In the current paper we argue that psychologists are ethically impelled to assess and appropriately intervene in cases of suicide risk, even when such risk is revealed within a research context. We also discuss how any such obligation may potentially be modulated by the research participant’s expectations of the role of a psychologist, within such a context. Although the focus of the current paper is on the ethical obligations of psychologists, specifically those practicing within Canada, the relevance of this paper extends to all regulated health professionals conducting research in nonclinical settings.

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