title: Ethical problems in research on families who are abusing children.
abstract: Child abuse within the family is a highly sensitive issue and therefore difficult to research. This article is based on our experiences of a child abuse research project in Finland. Special attention is given to ethical considerations during the initiation of the study, and in the sampling procedures, data collection and reporting. Most importantly, all those taking part in studies on sensitive issues must be guaranteed full confidentiality and anonymity. There are also other ethical considerations that go beyond the usual concerns in the research process.
authors.affiliation: University of Tampere, Department of Nursing Science, Finland.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Paavilainen
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Astedt-Kurki
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Paunonen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D035841:Behavioral Research; D002648:Child; D002649:Child Abuse / Q000523:psychology; D003219:Confidentiality; D004993:Ethics, Nursing; D005190:Family / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D015399:Nursing Research / Q000592:standards*; D011368:Professional-Family Relations; D036301:Qualitative Research; D012106:Research; D035844:Researcher-Subject Relations