Abstract
The understanding of vulnerability in this chapter is informed by Ten Have’s approach to the concept. We consider how children and prisoners which are seen as vulnerable groups by researchers, have “double vulnerability” in common and explore the interrelated factors which impact their external and internal conditions of vulnerability. This is followed by a pragmatic consideration of the ethical aspects of doing research with these groups. We conclude the chapter highlighting the importance of including children and prisoners in research.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
Note that it is a policy requirement of the South African Department of Correctional Services that research applicants have to refer to prisoners as offenders and to prisons as correctional centres.
- 2.
Although “Ubuntu” is strictly speaking a term used by the Nguni-speaking people (e.g. Sotho-speaking people will refer to this concept as Botho) – academic literature tends to generalise this term to represent African ethics .
References
Agbenyega, J. (2013). Early childhood education in Sub-Saharan Africa. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Agboola, C. (2017). “Why do they need to punish you more?”: Women’s lives after imprisonment. South African Review of Sociology, 48, 32.
Black, M., Walker, S., Fernald, L., Anderson, C., DiGirolamo, A., Lu, C., & Gratham-McGregor, S. (2016). Early childhood development coming of age: Science through life course. The Lancet, 389(10064), 77–79. https://doi.org/10.1016/so140-6736(16)31389-7.
Boddy, J., Neumann, T., Jennings, S., Morrow, V., Alderson, P., Rees, R., & Gibson, W. (2010). The research ethics guidebook: A resource for social scientists (Institute of Education ed.). London. University of London. Retrieved from http://sro.sussex.ac.uk/39319/
Brown, K. (2011). “Vulnerability”: Handle with care. Ethics and Social Welfare, 5(3), 313–321. https://doi.org/10.1093/OBO/9780199756810-0079.
Crewe, B. (2011). Depth, weight, tightness: Revisiting the pains of imprisonment. Punishment and Society, 13(5), 509–529. https://doi.org/10.1177/1462474511422172.
Denny, S. G., Silaigwana, B., Wassenaar, D., Bull, S., & Parker, M. (2015). Developing ethical practices for public health research data sharing in South Africa: The views and experiences from a diverse sample of research stakeholders. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics: JERHRE, 10(3), 290–301. https://doi.org/10.1177/1556264615592386.
Department of Helath (DOH). (2015). Ethics in health research: Principles, processes and structures. Department of Health. Retrieved from www.nhrec.org.za/index.php/grids-preview?download=10:doh-2015-ethics
Edens, J. F., Epstein, M., Stiles, P. G., & Poythress, N. G. (2011). Voluntary consent in correctional settings: Do offenders feel coerced to participate in research? Behavioural Sciences and the Law, 29, 771–795.
Erasmus, P. E. (2013). Investigating prevalence rates of traumatic brain injury and associated behavioural and emotional outcome variables in adolescent male young offenders in Cape Town. Unpublished honours thesis. University of Cape Town, Cape Town.
Farrington, D. P., Ttofi, M. M., & Farrington, D. P. (2015). Developmental and life-course theories of offending. In The development of criminal and antisocial behavior: Theory, research and practical applications. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-08720-7_2.
Fazel, S., Xenitidis, K., & Powell, J. (2008). The prevalence of intellectual disabilities among 12 000 prisoners—A systematic review. International Journal of Law and Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijlp.2008.06.001.
Fishbein, D., Sheppard, M., Hyde, C., Hubal, R., Newlin, D., Serin, R., & Alesci, S. (2009). Deficits in behavioral inhibition predict treatment engagement in prison inmates. Law and Human Behavior, 33(5), 419–435. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10979-008-9163-7.
Gostin, L. O., Vanchieri, C., & Pope, A. (2007). Ethical considerations for research involving prisoners. National Academies Press. Retrieved from http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK19882/
Hanson, B. L., Faulkner, S. A., Brems, C., Corey, S. L., Eldridge, G. D., & Johnson, M. E. (2015). Key stakeholders’ perception of motivators for research participation among individuals who are incarcerated. Journal of Empirical Research on Human Research Ethics, 10(4), 360–367.
HSRC. (2006). Code of research ethics. Pretoria: Human Sciences Research Council. Retrieved from http://www.hsrc.ac.za/en/about/research-ethics/code-of-research-ethics
Inside-out Outside-in South African Corrections Interest Group. (2018). Annual report. Retrieved from https://www.facebook.com/insideoutoutsideinprison. Accessed on 20 Nov 2018.
Johnson, L. R. (2015). Offenders’ perceptions of correctional education programmes in the correctional facilities of Tshwane. Pretoria: University of South Africa. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/10500/23392
Johnson, R., & Gray, R. (2010). A history of philosophical and theoretical issues for mixed methods research. In Tashakkori, A. & Teddlie, C. (Eds.), SAGE handbook of mixed methods in social & behavioral (2nd ed., pp. 69–94). Los Angeles: SAGE. Retrieved from https://scholar.google.co.za/scholar?q=A+history+of+philosophical+and+theoretical+issues+for+mixed+methods+research+Johnson+and+Gray&btnG=&hl=en&as_sdt=0%2C5#0
Kalima, K., & Menon, A. (2017). Working memory, reading and math fluency in children with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV+). International Journal of Humanities Social Sciences and Education, 4(3), 37–41.
Lansdown, G. (2005). Early childhood development. Can you hear me? The right of children to participate in decisions affecting them (No. 111). The Hague: Bernard van Leer Foundation.
Laws, S., & Mann, G. (2004). So you want to involve children in research? A toolkit supporting children’s meaningful and ethical participation in research relating to violence against children. Stockholm: Save the Children.
Mabuza, A., & Roelofse, C. (2013). A study of contributory factors towards recidivism among incarcerated youth in the Barberton Youth Development Centre, South Africa. Acta Criminologica: South African Journal of Criminology, 26(1), 49–70.
Moore, L. W., & Miller, M. (1999). Initiating research with doubly vulnerable populations. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 30(5), 1034–1040. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-2648.1999.01205.x.
Morrow, V. (2008). Ethical dilemmas in research with children and young people about their social environments. Children’s Geographies, 6(1), 49–61.
Muntingh, L. (2009). Ex-prisoners’ views on imprisonment and re-entry. Retrieved from http://repository.uwc.ac.za/handle/10566/231
Muntingh, L., & Gould, C. (2010). Towards an understanding of repeat violent offending: A review of the literature (Institute for security studies papers, 213). Pretoria: Institute for Security Studies.
Naidoo, S., & Mkize, D. L. (2012). Prevalence of mental disorders in a prison population in Durban, South Africa. African Journal of Psychiatry, 15(1), 30–35. https://doi.org/10.4314/ajpsy.v15i1.4.
Parker, I. (2005). Qualitative psychology: Introducing radical research. Maldenhead: Oxford University Press.
Pinheiro, C., Souza, L., Motta, J., Kelbert, E., Souza, M., Martins, C., & Pinheiro, R. (2016). Depression and diagnosis of neurocognitive impairment in HIV-positive patients. Brazilian Journal of Medical and Biological Research, 49(10). https://doi.org/10.1590/1414-431x20165344.
Potter, T., & Brotherton, G. (2013). What do we mean when we talk about “vulnerability”? In G. Brotherton & M. Cronin (Eds.), Working with vulnerable children, young people and families (pp. 1–15). London: Routledge.
RCSLT. (2012). Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists speech, language and communication needs in the criminal justice system and best practice responses to these. United Kingdom. Retrieved from https://www.mendeley.com/research/royal-college-speech-language-therapists-speech-language-communication-needs-criminal-justice-system/?utm_source=desktop&utm_medium=1.14&utm_campaign=open_catalog&userDocumentId=%7B7f0c2f0e-1b1d-4460-9d47-f818a663612e%7D
Roos, V., Visser, M., Pistorius, A., & Nefale, M. (2007). Ethics and community psychology. In N. Duncan, A. Naidoo, J. Pillay, & B. Bowman (Eds.), Community psychology: Analysis, context and action (p. 463). Cape Town: UCT Press. Retrieved from https://books.google.com/books?id=ZqiqjBtLsbAC&pgis=1
Sampson, R. J., & Laub, J. H. (2016). Turning points and the future of life-course criminology: Reflections on the 1986 criminal careers report. Journal of Research in Crime and Delinquency, 53(3). https://doi.org/10.1177/0022427815616992.
Schilling, C. M., Walsh, A., & Yun, I. (2011). ADHD and criminality: A primer on the genetic, neurobiological, evolutionary, and treatment literature for criminologists. Journal of Criminal Justice, 39(1), 3–11. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jcrimjus.2010.11.001.
Shepherd, G. (2010). A lifetime of exclusion? The Psychologist, 23(1), 24–25.
Simpson, J. R. (2014). DSM-5 and neurocognitive disorders. The Journal of the American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, 42(2), 159–164.
Somekh, B. (2006). Action research: A methodology of change and development. Maidenhead: McGraw-Hill.
South Africa. (2005). Children’s Act, No. 38 of 2005, last updated October 2012.
Strode, A., Slack, C., & Essack, Z. (2010). Child consent in South African law: Implications for researchers, service providers and policy-makers. South African Medical Journal, 100, 247–240.
Tadi, F. N., & Louw, D. A. (2013). First-time offenders versus recidivists: Demographic-risk. Acta Criminologica: Southern African Journal of Criminology, 26(1), 86–105. Retrieved from https://journals.co.za/content/crim/26/1/EJC145829
Ten Have, H. (2016). Vulnerability: Challenging bioethics. Oxon: Routledge.
United Nations. (1989). Convention on the rights of the child convention on the rights. Geneva: United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. https://doi.org/10.1177/0907568213481816.
Van Zyl Smit, D., & Dünkel, F. (Eds.). (2001). Imprisonment today and tomorrow: International perspectives on prisoners’ rights and prison conditions (2nd ed.). The Hague: Kluwer Law International.
Zwi, A., & Grove, N. (2006). Researching with children in conflict-affected settings. Humanitarian Exchange Magazine, 34, 7.
Further Readings
Berman, G., Hart, J., O’Mathuna, D., Mattelone, E., Potts, A., O’Kane, C., Shusterman, J. & Tanner, T. (2016). What we know about ethical research involving children in humanitarian settings. An overview of principles, the literature and case studies. Retrieved from https://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/849-what-we-know-about-ethical-research-involving-children-in-humanitarian-settings-an.html. Accessed 9 Apr 2018.
Charles, A., Rid, A., Davies, H., & Draper, H. (2014). Prisoners as research participants: Current practice and attitudes in the UK. Journal of Medical Ethics, 42(4), 246–252.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Prinsloo, J., Claassens, M., Kalima, K., Mdakane, M. (2019). The Vulnerability of Children and Prisoners in Social Science Research. In: Nortjé, N., Visagie, R., Wessels, J. (eds) Social Science Research Ethics in Africa. Research Ethics Forum, vol 7. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15402-8_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-15402-8_15
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-15401-1
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-15402-8
eBook Packages: Religion and PhilosophyPhilosophy and Religion (R0)