Abstract
Ethical standards in research with human participants typically include informed consent and avoidance of physical or emotional harm. In the field of peace psychology and related social justice research, the standard of “do no harm” may need to be extended. The values of our field include going beyond the standards for integrity in methods and customary protections of human subjects and move into the obligation for our research to make an actual contribution to limit the many forms of violence and injustice that are faced by the human family. With this higher standard we set the bar to include the actual voices of those who experience violence, an examination of the power relationships that perpetuate structural violence, and a reflection on how sponsorship of research and normative disciplinary practices may inadvertently serve to perpetuate a violent system. The suggestion is that “do no harm” as the sole standard in social research is not sufficient to fully understand and address the depth of social oppression and structural violence in the real-world contexts. This chapter suggests an additional standard for ethical research in peace psychology to “do good.” This ethical standard to “do good” empowers those harmed by the violent system to understand the need for change and develop effective strategies to promote and sustain change in any context.
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Pilisuk, M., Anderson-Hinn, M., Pellegrini, G. (2015). Ethical Objectives and Values in Peace Psychology and Social Justice Research. In: Bretherton, D., Law, S. (eds) Methodologies in Peace Psychology. Peace Psychology Book Series, vol 26. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-18395-4_7
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