Research on violence in developing countries: benefits and perils.

This editorial summarizes the advantages and moral dilemmas associated with research on public mental health and on human rights among risk populations in various countries. Risk populations include extraordinarily ruptured individuals from their cultures and communities and victimized by various forms of abuse and violence. The impact of the conflict as well as human rights violations and well being of the afflicted is a recognized concern of the public health and medical communities. The possible benefits and dangers of investigations were considered. On the benefit side mental health research on traumatized populations can help advance the programmatic and advocacy needs of both local and international relief organizations. However beyond these benefits this research could be neutral in method only. It could bear to have moral witness against inhuman events whose reality might later be denied.