Question

You read in this chapter a quote from an ethnographer in the McKinney housing study who learned that a house resident was talking seriously about cutting himself. If you were the ethnographer, would you have immediately informed house staff about this? Would you have told anyone? What is the resident asked you not to tell anyone? In what circumstances would you feel it is ethical to take action to prevent the likelihood of a subject harming him or herself or others?

Answer 1

Anthropologists, like other social researchers, are faced with ethical dilemmas and moral actions, competing duties, obligations to their participants, the larger society under study as well as their academic community. In the process they often come across conflicts of interest, with the need to make between the interests of different individuals and groups. In a case such as the one presented where the life of the participant is at stake, as an ethnographer, I would consider to resolve the situation by minimising harm to the research participant even if it is due to the participant’s conscious actions.

The primary ethical code is about Protecting research participants and honouring trust as an Anthropologist, I would attempt to protect the physical, social and psychological well-being of the participant and respect his/her rights, interests, sensitivities and privacy. While, his/her right to his/her own life may be in conflict with my own values about ensuring his/her safety, the situation demands that I give primacy to his survival over his/ her choice to harm himself/herself. The paramount obligation is to the research participants and that when there is conflict, the interests and rights of those studied should come first;

Furthermore, as a researcher caught in such an ethically difficult situation, it needs to be highlighted that one should try to minimise disturbances both to subject himself/herself and to the subjects' relationships with the environment. Even though research participant here may be immediately protected by the condition of confidentiality, the researcher’s larger commitment to protecting the very life of the participant would be the precedent to any decision.