Criminology Research Questions

Criminology Research Questions

1. Discuss the following three major ethical issues thoroughly in criminal justice research:

Voluntary Participation, no harm to participants, Deceiving Subjects (327 words)

• Voluntary participation

Voluntary participation is defined as the free will of research subjects to exercise their free will in deciding whether to participate in research activity (O. Hogan, 2008). It is one of the arising ethical issues in criminal justice research. The free will of participants is protected by international law, national law, and the codes of conduct in scientific criminal justice (O. Hogan, 2008). In determining whether participation is voluntary, criminal justice researchers need to pay special attention to the subjects’ socioeconomic circumstances. Learning the participants’ socioeconomic conditions is essential in determining the proper steps to be put in place to protect the exercise of free will (O. Hogan, 2008). Some of the factors that influence the free will of the participants include the ability of the subjects to resist pressure from authority figures, financial and another form of persuasion in the course of criminal justice research (O. Hogan, 2008).

• No harm to participants

Ethical standards in criminal justice require that criminal justice researchers should not put participants in a risk of physical or psychological damage in the course of their participation (Vanclay, T. Baines & Taylor, 2013).  No cost to participants is an ethical issue that requires that participants in criminal justice research are not exposed to immediate pain or danger. Besides, there must be no adverse effects or consequences to the participants as a result of their participation (Vanclay, T. Baines & Taylor, 2013). Prevention of harm or danger to participants must go hand in hand with informed consent. Participants must be fully informed about the consequences and the implications of participating in the criminal justice study (Vanclay, T. Baines & Taylor, 2013).

• Deceiving Subjects

The deception of participants is an essential ethical issue in criminal justice research. Ethics requires that the principle of respect for participants and professional integrity must be upheld (Vanclay, T. Baines & Taylor, 2013). Respect for participants would imply that the use of deception or other methods not aware by the subjects should only be used under certain circumstances. Besides, the use of fraud in certain situations can only be used when approved by a duly appointed ethics committee (Vanclay, T. Baines & Taylor, 2013).

2. Discuss your views on either “Trouble in the Tearoom” around (depending on the edition) page 76 of our course text OR “The Stanford Prison Experiment” on the same page. Also, what do you understand by the Institutional Review Board (IRB)? Discuss the various functions of IRBs. (319 words)
3. Views on Trouble in the Tearoom

Was Humphrey ethical in doing what he did? The tearoom research by Laud Humphrey has contradicting opinions on whether it was moral or not- moral. However, my views on the issue are in support of the minority who believed that the Humphrey experiment was noble, considering the nature of his study.

What parts of the research were acceptable or not in Humphrey’s experiment? Humphrey was fully aware of the ethical requirements of his study. However, he also knew that the test was unique and could not fit the criteria and procedures in which other experiments were conducted. In terms of voluntary participation, he followed that to the latter. Humphrey did not make coarse or force any of the men in the public restrooms to engage in homosexual activities. Besides, he did not force them to accept him to watch or voyeur on them. The participants of his study were fully aware that someone was watching them. However, Humphrey was deceitful because he did not inform the men of their participation in his experiment. Humphrey invaded the privacy of the men in the tearoom by taking the license plates of their cars and further following them to their homes for further questions. However, the deceit by Humphrey can be justified because he did not disclose the names or the information of the participants.

1. Institutional Review Board (IRB)

Institutional review board (IRB) is an administrative body established to protect the rights and welfare of human research subjects recruited to participate in research activities within criminal justice (Motil, Allen & Taylor, 2004).

What are the various functions of IRB? The primary role of IRB is to safeguard human participants by training researchers in criminal justice research ethics and best practices (Motil, Allen & Taylor, 2004). Besides, IRB is also involved in the review of research proposals and research protocols to asses or determine the balance between the research’s risk to the human participants with the benefits to the society (Motil, Allen & Taylor, 2004).

REFERENCES

Motil, K., Allen, J., & Taylor, A. (2004). When a Research Subject Calls with a Complaint,

What Will the Institutional Review Board Do?. IRB: Ethics And Human Research, 26(1), 9. doi: 10.2307/3563581

1. Hogan, S. (2008). SAGE Reference – Voluntary Participation. Retrieved 1 February 2020,

from http://sk.sagepub.com/reference/survey/n629.xml

Vanclay, F., T. Baines, J., & Taylor, N. (2013). Principles for ethical research involving humans:

ethical professional practice in impact assessment Part I. Retrieved 1 February 2020, from https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14615517.2013.850307