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What is a sensitive topic? . Box 9. 1 a focus on research with children
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WHAT IS A SENSITIVE TOPIC?
The term ‘sensitive research’ has been used to describe a range of different types of research that pose ethical and/or methodological dilemmas for the researcher. These include: topics that may be difficult to discuss, socially controversial or taboo; topics that pose a level of risk or involve potential costs to the respondent;
or research that elicits the views of vulnerable or ‘powerless’ groups such as children (see Box 9. 1).
In criminology and victimology, many of the central research questions are of a ‘sensi- tive’ nature because the topics may be difficult for respondents to discuss, have potential to cause distress and may elicit information that can be damaging to the respondent, with serious implications for them, their communities and, on occasions, the researcher.
BOX 9. 1 A FOCUS ON RESEARCH WITH CHILDREN
Research with children presents specific ethical and methodological issues (Hood et al., 1996; Mahon et al., 1996; Morrow and Richards, 1996). The British Society of Criminology’s (2006) guidelines, Code of Ethics for Researchers in the Field of Criminology, reinforce the need for caution to be exercised with research concerning children:
Researchers should consider carefully the possibility that the research experi- ence may be a disturbing one, particularly for those who are vulnerable by virtue of factors such as age, social status, or powerlessness and should seek to minimise such disturbances. (BSC, 2006: 4. 1)
Morrow and Richards (1996) argue that the difference between research with chil- dren and that with adults can be reduced to two perceptions that adults hold of children: first, that children are vulnerable and adults should take responsibility for them; and second, that children are not as competent as adults. Further, they argue that these perceptions are reinforced by legal notions of the child as powerless and irresponsible. These perceptions have implications for gaining consent for research, the choice of methods and the interpretation of data.
Children are potentially vulnerable in two respects: first, because of their compara- tive physical weakness and lack of experience and knowledge; and second, ‘because of their total lack of political and economic power and their lack of civil rights’ (Lansdown, 1994: 35). According to Lansdown, it is children’s lack of civil status that has not been adequately addressed as a factor that produces vulnerability.
Some researchers have assumed that children lack the competence to provide valid sociological data (see Morrow and Richards, 1996). American researchers, Fine and Sandstorm (1988), for example, have likened the knowledge gained from children during participant observation to that gained from kittens, and fear that an adult interpretation of the data may be inaccurate. A further question of compe- tence is raised around children’s informed consent to the research (Kinaird, 1985).
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(Continued)
Lee (1993) argues that sensitive research should be understood as that ‘which potentially poses a substantial threat to those who are or have been involved in it’ (Lee, 1993: 4). Lee defines the threat in three ways:
The first is where the research poses as an ‘intrusive threat’, dealing with areas which are private, stressful or sacred. The second relates to the study of deviance and social control and involves the possibility that information may be revealed which is stigmatis- ing or discriminating in some way. Finally, research is often problematic when it impinges on political alignments, if ‘political’ is taken in its widest sense to refer to the vested interests of powerful persons or institutions, or the exercise of coercion or domi- nation. In these situations, researchers often trespass into areas which are controversial or involve social conflict. (Lee, 1993: 4)
Lee’s definition of the three threats posed by sensitive research highlights an additional set of considerations for the researcher: how to access and engage with respondents on sensitive topics. Many respondents of sensitive research are known as ‘hard-to-reach’ groups; indeed, one could consider them hard to reach simply by virtue of the sensitive topic of the research, as well as by social or situational vulnerabilities. (See Box 9. 2 for the Home Office definition and examples of hard-to-reach groups. )
Within criminological research, hard-to-reach respondents are not readily availa- ble or able, or willing to be ‘the researched’, and so have been under-represented. Engaging positively with hard-to-reach groups in order to give them ‘a voice’ in research requires a particular set of methodological skills. The latter part of this chapter brings together advice, experience and insights into conducting research with hard-to-reach groups on sensitive topics.
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