ETHICAL PROBLEMS IN RESEARCH ON FAMILIES WHO ARE ABUSING CHILDREN

Child abuse within Me family is a highly sensitive issue and therefore difficult to research. This article is based on our experiences oi a child abuse research project in Finland. Special attention is given to ethical considerations during the initiation of the study, and in the sampling procedures, data collection and reporting. Most importantly, all those taking part in studies on sensitive issues must be guarante ed full confidentiality and anonymity. There are also other ethical co nsiderations that go beyond the usual concerns in the research process .