Process: Choose one of the case studies provided (in week 8 of the class space) and analyse the potential ethical issues involved in conducting the research, applying the NHMRC national statement and guidelines, and the code of ethics relevant to your discipline. Your Academic Essay needs to address:

 Discussion of case study in terms of ethical issues

 Identification of current or potential ethical breaches

 Discussion of ethical issues in terms of a relevant Professional Code of Ethics, policy or legislation

 Critique and analysis of ethical breaches in terms of ethical guidelines in research informed by the NHMRC Ethical Guidelines in Social Research, including (where relevant) ethical guidelines to working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (case study 2) and mental health consumers (case study 1 or 2)

 Main ideas clearly and logically presented

 relevant research and scholarship literature used appropriately to support claims  Correct academic writing style used, including correct spelling, grammar and Punctuation

 Presentation guidelines followed as specified in the learning support website

 In-text referencing and reference list follows APA referencing style (6th ed.) as set out in the APA website: http://www.apastyle.org/ Marking Criteria – Academic Essay

1. Discussion of one case study in terms of ethical issues

2. Identification of current or potential ethical breaches

3. Discussion of ethical issues in terms of a relevant Professional Code of Ethics, policy or legislation

4. Critique and analysis of ethical breaches in terms of ethical guidelines in research informed by the NHMRC Ethical Guidelines in Social Research, including ethical guidelines to working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people (case study 2) and mental health consumers (case study 1 or 2) Structure, Presentation and Referencing

1. Main ideas clearly and logically presented

2. Relevant research and scholarship literature used appropriately to support claims

3. Correct academic writing style used, including correct spelling, grammar and punctuation

4. Presentation guidelines followed as specified in the learning support website (http://learningsupport.acap.edu.au) and first/ third person writing style is applied where relevant

5. In-text referencing and reference list follows APA referencing style (6th ed.) as set out in the APA website: http://www.apastyle.org/

6. Word count is within + or – 10% of requirement Case Studies Case Study 1 Hannah is committed to designing research procedures to evaluate the process and outcome of her counselling programs. She is convinced that in order to obtain valid data, she must keep the research participants ignorant in many respects of what she is doing. She believes that it is important that her clients be unaware that they are being studied and also unaware of the hypothesis under investigation. Although she agrees that some ethical issues may be raised by her failing to inform her clients, she thinks that good research designs call for such procedures. She does not want to influence her clients and thus bias her results. She contends that her practice of gathering data from her clients without them knowing are justified because there are no negative consequences or risks involved with her research. She further contends that if she is able to refine her therapeutic techniques through her research this will benefit future clients. Questions for consideration: What are your thoughts about Hannah’s ethical approach and the rationale she gives for not obtaining informed consent? Assume that she was interested in studying the effects of therapist’s reinforcement of statements by clients during sessions. Do you think that if the clients knew she was using certain procedures and studying certain behaviours, it would bias results? If the value of the research seems to be greater than the risks involved to participants, do you think the researcher is justified in not obtaining the informed consent of her clients? What other ethical principles do you believe the researcher is breaching? Your essay will be marked according to the marking criteria given in this unit’s outline. Case Study 2 Hope works with clients with mental health issues in a state facility. In the interests of refining therapeutic interventions that will help clients with depression, she is combining therapy and research procedures. Specifically, she employs a client centered approach in a group therapy setting. Her research design specifies treatment techniques for clients experiencing depression and she carefully monitors their rate of improvement as part of the treatment program. The group is made up of various ethnic groups including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander clients. Hope says that she believes in the value of client centered therapy, yet she feels a professional and ethical obligation to empirically validate her treatment strategies. For her to know whether the treatment procedures alone are responsible for changes in the client’s behaviours and moods, she deems it essential to have a comparable group that does not receive therapy. She meets with this ‘control group’, who believe they are receiving treatment and benefiting from therapy but in fact are not. This is the placebo group. When challenged on the ethics of withholding treatment that she believes to be potent from the placebo group, she justifies her practice on the ground that she is working within the dictates of sound research practices. Questions for consideration: Do you think Hope was acting ethically in withholiding treatment from the placebo group? What are the ethics of withholding treatment or using placebos in counselling research? Do you see an apparent contradiction between the demands of sound research methodology and sound ethical practice? Does this approach constitute deception? Can you think of any situations that justify this approach? What ethical guidelines, if any, do you believe Hope has breached? Do you have ethical concerns that the group included Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island people?