Dear Caroline,
In applying for ethical approval, I had to ensure that a counsellor was available
to my participants immediately after the interview.
I also used a safety protocol to assist in the procedure of recruiting, accessing
and interviewing participants. I adapted Langford's protocol which was devised
for recruiting battered women for interview. (Langford, D.R. (2000) Developing
a safety protocol in qualitative research involving battered women. Qualitative
Health Research. 10 (1), 133-142). I'm not sure whom your group comprise
of but you might find it useful.
According to Irish law - I was obliged to report allegations of child abuse
which could have been disclosed at a BNIM interview. I wrote this into the
plain language statement which I read to the participants prior to interview.
They also had to sign a consent stating that they understood the plain language
statement. Thankfully I didn't have to enact this.
What I found interesting from my experience of seeking ethical approval was
the enhanced emphasis on the 'vulnerable' interviewees and the overlooking
of the effect on the 'potentially vulnerable' interviewer and transcriber
who is at the recieving end of the data which is obtained from this process.
On a practical note - I found the debriefing sessions post interview useful
for this.
I hope this is useful for you. Good luck with your studies!
Kind regards,
Melissa
>-- Original Message --
>Date: Tue, 2 Nov 2010 14:49:24 +0000
>Reply-To: "Barratt, Caroline" <[log in to unmask]>
>From: "Barratt, Caroline" <[log in to unmask]>
>Subject: Vulnerable groups, BNIM, and ethics.......help!
>To: [log in to unmask]
>
>
>Dear All
>
>I am trying to put together an ethics application to carry out BNIM with
>a
>group of potentially highly vulnerable people.
>
>
>
>Two major ethical issues have been raised by the team I am working with:
>
>1) Who would I refer the person to if I felt they needed extra support
>following an interview
>
>2) What happens if there are disclosures of abuse/violence/crime during
the
>interview
>
>I have some sense of the 'answers' however I'd like to know what others
have
>actually done in practice as well as what people have put on their ethics
>form.
>
>Also - does anyone have any references of work with vulnerable populations
>in the UK including the mentally ill, drug addicts, alcoholics using BNIM.
>Or alternatively personal experiences of working with similar groups?
>
>Although I am being supported in using BNIM there is also alot of concern
>about it and I need some evidence to fight my corner!!
>
>Many thanks in advance
>
>Caroline
>
>Dr Caroline Barratt
>KTP Associate: Housing and Mental Health
>School of Health and Human Sciences
>University of Essex
>Winvenhoe Park
>Colchester CO4 3SQ
>
>07786 661496
Melissa Corbally
Lecturer in Nursing
Dublin City University,
Glasnevin,
Dublin 9
Tel. 01 700 8432
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