Ethical Considerations for Social Work Research With Vulnerable Children and Their Families

Abstract

The aim of this article is to impose solutions to the ethical dilemmas that derive from social work research involving vulnerable children. The main concern is how to balance the protection of children while progressing their participation. Several substitute mechanisms were put in place for protecting underage children. In particular, children were informed explicitly that participation was voluntary, they could pull out without risk of sanction, and their anonymity and confidentiality was guaranteed. However, anonymity did not prevent reporting the child abuse cases in line with the referral mechanism established for the current study. The MacArthur competence assessment tool for clinical research was used for measuring children’s competence to consent to research study. Only children with competence participated. Finally, the study highlighted the critical importance of providing research with vulnerable children considering the best interests of children in the absence of parental care.