COLLABORATIVE ETHICS when researching VULNERABLE COMMUNITIES
The ethics of researching vulnerable groups has been, for a long time, centred on the perspective of the researcher and not from the individuals being researched. Ethics are largely a safeguard for the researcher to ensure they are not deemed as liable for potential harm caused by the research. A protective measure for the researcher does not always consider the agency of vulnerable groups. One can argue that ethics has been paternalistic towards vulnerable groups. Researchers have unintentionally centred themselves in ethics and disregarded the agency and autonomy of vulnerable groups. Therefore, we require a shift in how we conceptualise ethics E thics in research have largely been informed by institutional and organisational regulations; a body of work developed and stored in the high towers of academia or a framework to ensure research adheres to the cardinal law of beneficence and non-maleficence. A traditional San dance performed at a living museum in Namibia. Credit: Oleksandr Rupeta Getty Images
52 | Collective Action Magazine
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