Title is Privacy

Post an explanation of the unique ethical challenges of protecting privacy, minimizing harm, and respecting the shared experience of others. Use your Learning Resources to support your explanation as well as the article you found in your search. Use proper APA format, citations, and referencing. Similar to the following Ethics and Confidentiality

Ethics is something I am always used to considering, especially in my work as a mental health career, as ethical behavior is crucial for maintaining a professional practice. Like in mental health, qualitative research also presents with unique ethical challenges because researchers are usually asking participants to share personal or sensitive experiences, emotions, or beliefs. Qualitative research is relational; therefore, the researcher must consider how their interactions, positionality, and interpretations affect participants (Ravitch & Carl, 2021). When doing research, the researcher is not just asking questions and getting answers, but is also developing a relationship with the participants while interpreting their experiences. Due to this, protecting privacy, minimizing harm, and respecting shared experiences of participants must remain a priority for the researcher, similarly in counseling, where the counselor must protect confidentiality and also do no harm per the ethical codes. Since qualitative research often involves information that could make the participants identifiable, it is important to ensure their confidentiality and privacy is being protected. Confidentiality is an important consideration in establishing trustworthy qualitative research and protecting participants (Shenton, 2004). An example using my topic of first responders and PTSD, I may ask questions about their specific workplace, title, position, event, or personal experience that would allow others to recognize them. I should then consider what information is included in transcripts, reports, presentations, and publications. Identifying information should be used and names should be changed, especially when working with sensitive topics such as trauma, mental health, substance use, and workplace experiences.

Minimizing Harm

Another ethical challenge is minimizing harm, which is also important in mental health and the American Counseling Association Code of Ethics. Participants in research may experience emotional discomfort when discussing emotional or traumatic experiences. The researcher holds the ethical responsibility to recognize the interview questions may appear harmless, but can bring up significant emotions or memories for the participant. The researcher should clearly explain that participation is voluntary and they have the right to decline to answer questions or withdraw from the study. Researchers should recognize that participants are people and not just sources of data; therefore, interviews should be conducted in a manner that prioritizes the participants well-being versus just obtaining as much information as possible (Ravitch & Carl, 2021).



This will be important for me to consider for my topic, as asking participants to talk about traumatic experiences, stigma, workplace culture, or their reasons for avoiding treatment could cause emotional distress. There could also be concerns about professional consequences if they believe their responses could be connected to their employment For this reason, I will have to be very careful about informed consent, confidentiality, interview procedures, and how information is reported. I do believe my clinical experience as a mental health counselor will be beneficial during this process, as not only am I able to provide the interview, but I can also aid the clients through talking about difficult experiences and ensure they are in a good mental place before concluding the interview and sending them away.



References

Ravitch, S. M., & Carl, N. M. (2021). Qualitative research: Bridging the conceptual, theoretical, and methodological(2nd ed.). SAGE Publications.

Shenton, A. K. (2004). Strategies for ensuring trustworthiness in qualitative research projects. Education for Information, 22(2), 63–75.

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