Open Access"You child is just wonderful!”
Author(s) -
Sara Eldén
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
comparative social work
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.131
H-Index - 2
ISSN - 0809-9936
DOI - 10.31265/jcsw.v8i2.101
Subject(s) - negotiation , confidentiality , limiting , context (archaeology) , informed consent , best interests , psychology , parental consent , point (geometry) , sociology , law , public relations , social psychology , political science , medicine , engineering , mechanical engineering , paleontology , alternative medicine , geometry , mathematics , pathology , biology
This article discuss the consequences of the ambiguous view of children in the ethical guidelines – the ambitions to “give voice” while also “protect” – with a point of departure taken in the Swedish context, and in an actual research process of a project on children and care. It shows how the regulation of informed consent through the parent compromises the ideals of child-centred research; firstly, by limiting the child’s possibility to opt in to research; secondly, by affecting the relationship between researcher, child and parent in the research encounter; and thirdly, by jeopardizing the child’s right to confidentiality. The author argues that we should view not only the child’s but also the adult’s consent as a “continuous negotiation” and discusses strategies for strengthening the child’s right to opt in and participate in research on equal terms.