Management research in criminal justice: Exploring ethical issues

While there has been a steady increase of management research in criminal justice organizations in recent years, far too little attention has been devoted to the dilemmas surrounding these research efforts. The first dilemma is associated with the treatment of information or data while the second is associated with the treatment of human subjects. The purpose of this paper is to begin the debate in this sensitive area by exploring the primary ethical issues of each dilemma which must be constructively dealt with by management researchers if they are to avoid potential harm to their subjects, while at the same time, assure the validity of their results. Finally, several strategies which appear useful in addressing these ethical issues will be considered.     

Methodological and ethical issues in child abuse research

The child abuse literature was surveyed but found lacking in analyses of fundamental ethical and procedural issues. The present paper, supported by a review of the relevant research, explores the problems surrounding the definition of physical child abuse, the gender and recruitment of subjects, the use of informed consent and deception, and the problem of maintaining confidentiality in this area. Greater detail in reporting of methods employed by researchers is recommended as an important first step to expanding discussion of these issues.