Suchergebnisse

The ethics process properly amplifies ethical concerns about safety, risks, autonomy, well-being of researcher and researched, and the importance of consequences. However, the regulatory function of the ethics process may fail to anticipate the limited transparency and radical uncertainty facing researchers in the field. Research in post-conflict zones magnifies these problems. In East Timor, this research study about how diverse social actors defined "a good birth" confronted a research field marked by stark memories of historical injustices, widespread abuse, and state brutality. There were also ongoing political tensions. Formal ethical clearance was not possible from the host country prior to commencement, and practical exigencies made it impossible to comply with many ethical protocols around risk assessment, transparency, and accountability. Specifically, poverty, lack of developed health infrastructure, language difficulties, and cultural variances between researcher and researched provided ongoing challenges in meeting abstract Kantian principles of universality, beneficence, and autonomy on which ethical guidelines are based. Researchers facing these challenges must proceed in an ethical way by constantly negotiating, re-negotiating, and re-defining them as practical conundrums throughout the research process. Relational ethics provides a more realistic and attainable framework-one based upon self-reflexivity, empathy, integrity, and social justice.