A code of ethics for social work and social care research

Research Ethics with Gender and Sexually Diverse Persons

Identifying and developing inclusive policy and practice responses to health and social inequities in gender and sexually diverse persons require inclusive research ethics and methods in order to develop sound data. This article articulates 12 ethical principles for researchers undertaking gender and sexually diverse social, health, and related research. We have called these the 'Montréal Ethical Principles for Inclusive Research.' While writing from an international social work perspective, our aim is to promote ethical research that benefits people being researched by all disciplines. This paper targets four groups of interest: 1. Cisgender and heterosexual researchers; 2. Researchers who research 'general' populations; 3. and sexually diverse researchers; 4. Human ethics committees. This article was stimulated by the 2018 Global Social Work Statement of Ethical Principles, which positions human dignity at its core. It is critically important to understand and account for the intersectionality of gender and sexuality with discourses of race, ethnicity, colonialism, dis/ability, age, etc. Taking this intersectionality into consideration, this article draws on scholarship that underpins ethical principles developed for other minoritized communities, to ensure that research addresses the autonomy of these participants at every stage. Research that positions inclusive research ethics at its foundation can provide a solid basis for policy and practice responses to health and social inequities in gender and sexually diverse persons.

Developing Service User Skills in Co-Production of Research: Course Development and Evaluation

urpose: The purpose of this article is to enhance understanding of the increasing importance of service user and carer involvement in social work research. The paper outlines actions taken to develop knowledge and skills at post-qualifying level. M ethod: In 2016 three postgraduate modules on research methods and evidence-into-practice for service users and carers were created and taught jointly with existing parallel post-qualifying modules for experienced social workers. Over a three-year period 2016-2019 modular assessments; pre and post-testing of knowledge and self-efficacy; regular participant feedback sheets; and end-of-course reflections were undertaken. R esults: Qualitative feedback indicated that the classroom experience was regarded positively. Valuable literature reviews and projects were produced which have the potential to contribute to transferring knowledge into practice. Though small in scale and using non-validated tools, increased mean scores were recorded on both Test of Knowledge (3.97; p <.001) and Self Efficacy (478.8 (p <.001) showing promise. Formal measures, exam results, and informal feedback demonstrate the success of the initiative as a means of enhancing a wider understanding of user participation in the research process. Discussion: Demonstrating how well-equipped service users and carers are to be more effective on research advisory panels and grant committees will take more time. Conclusion: Providing teaching on research methods for service users jointly with experienced social workers shows potential for developing coproduction of social care research and translating evidence into practice.

Children's Everyday Lives Shadowed by Stalking: Post separation Stalking Narratives of Finnish Children and Women

This qualitative study discusses post separation stalking and its implications in children's everyday lives. Based on narratives of 13 Finnish children and 20 women, the research fills a gap in the knowledge regarding the psychosocial, emotional, and physical impacts of stalking on children when their mothers are stalked by a former partner. It identifies four forms of impact: (a) an atmosphere of fear and feelings of insecurity; (b) disguised acts of stalking and the father's performance of care, love, and longing; (c) exploitation of children in stalking; and (d) physical abuse, acts of violence, and threats of death. The findings indicate that stalking severely constrains children's everyday lives and strengthens, yet often distorts, the mother-child bond. The study concludes that in cases where mothers are stalked, professionals in the social and health services, law enforcement, and criminal justice should view the children, too, as victims and construct supportive social relationships for women and children facing threatening life situations.

Analysis on leisure patterns of the pre-elderly adults

The purpose of study is to analyze how leisure activities affect the near elders’ preparation for successful and productive aging. To achieve the purpose of the study, this study was conducted in 2012 and the data was collected by using multi-stage stratified cluster random sampling method in the great city area (6 places), metropolitan area (7 places), medium-sized urban area (6 places), and rural area (6 places). Out of the total number of 1,000 copies of questionnaire distributed to pre-elders (Baby-boomers from 55 yr to 64 yr), 978 were collected and used for data analysis. According to the result, the more time, frequency and intensity in leisure and recreational participation, the higher the satisfaction level and the happiness level in their life. It means that leisure and recreational activities play an important role for their life. In other words, for pre-elders, leisure activities can be regarded as the important element for preparation of their old age. Therefore, the leisure and recreation for pre-elderly adults should not be recognized as a tool for improving the economic productivity but for reinforcing the recovery resilience.

Hierarchies of Loss: A Critique of Disenfranchised Grief

Two aspects of the concept of disenfranchised grief are examined: its binary assumption that grief is either enfranchised or disenfranchised; and its emancipatory agenda that grief should not be socially regulated. Focusing on the mourner's relationship to the deceased, we argue that social norms about the legitimacy of bereavement are not binary (yes-no), but are scalar or hierarchical, or even more complex still. We report on a tool for identifying hierarchies of loss, and describe the hierarchy identified by this tool in one British study. If norms about loss are not binary but hierarchical, how has disenfranchised grief—which claims to be a theory of norms—become an uncontested concept within bereavement research and clinical practice? We point to its rhetorical value in the postmodern politics of grief and its seductive emancipatory symbolism within the clinic; its value both for clinical practice and for empirical research into bereavement norms, however, may be limited.

Researching “Good Death” in a Hong Kong Palliative Care Program: A Clinical Data-Mining Study

This study operationalizes and assesses the percentage of “good deaths” achieved among Chinese cancer patients in a palliative care program, the profile of these patients, the relationship between patients with a good death and psychosocial factors, and the differences in background factors, and physical and psychosocial conditions between patients who experienced a good death and those who did not. Clinical data mining was the research method used. Records of deceased cancer patients between 2003 and 2005 in a palliative care unit were the sole data source. Good death was operationally defined as the patient's record indicating no pain (physical) or anxiety (psychological), and having open and honest communication with family (social) in the final assessment by the Support Team Assessment Schedule (STAS) just before death. Using these criteria, about one-fifth of patients (21.5%; 137 out of 638) experienced a good death. Those with a good death were significantly older and were in palliative care longer. Their records also indicated lower levels of constipation, insomnia, oral discomfort, and family anxiety at their first and at their final STAS assessments. Good death was positively associated with recorded indicators of fullness in life, caregivers' acceptance and support, and negatively with reported feelings of upset about changes in the course of their illness. The results heighten awareness among social workers and other healthcare professionals about the value of good death in patients in palliative care. This empirically-based awareness can foster professionals' ability to set intervention objectives to help patients in palliative care achieve this universally accepted goal.

Optimizing the use of video-tapes of clinical sessions: the data-mining approach for scale construction and theory building for bereaved persons in Hong Kong

Video-taping clinical sessions is a common practice among social workers so that the tapes may be used for clinical supervision and reviewed with the individuals or families involved. They are usually underused for research purposes. This article reports on an innovative research method using such tapes as a basis for clinical data mining to explore the bereavement experience of Chinese people in Hong Kong. Using this data, a rich item pool, containing both negative and positive reactions, was generated to allow the development of a culturally relevant measurement tool of grief reactions. The data also facilitated theory building in the area of grief and bereavement. This study extended the use of video-tapes in clinical sessions for research purposes and helped to collect reliable and timely data in a non-intrusive way. It has also advanced the use of quantitative data in the clinical data-mining approach. The study encouraged collaboration between clinicians and researchers to develop knowledge and skills about their special target group of clients.