Ethical Issues in Research With Immigrants and Refugees

Abstract

As is the case with much of social science, research on immigrants and refugees is not morally neutral. Immigration policies are hotly debated in our society. Supporters of immigration argue that immigrants benefit the country but may need special programs to assist them in their adjustment, whereas opponents suggest that immigrants drain resources that could be spent on other national priorities. Ethical issues are also involved in refugee admissions policies that may cause great suffering for those whose asylum claims may be denied, forcing them to return to their native country. Research on the experience and adaptation of immigrants and refugees is used to argue both sides of this debate, as illustrated in several articles in the journal International Migration Review (Abernethy, 1996; Carens, 1996; Gibney, 1996; Southeast Asian Resource Action Center [SEARAC], 2003) that considered the pros and cons of immigration policies. The uses of this research place great responsibility on the researchers who study these populations, as the findings of their studies may be used to inform policies that have great impact on the lives of many people. At the same time, defining ethical responsibilities for the researcher is complex when working with vulnerable populations and diverse cultures with distinctive and sometimes conflicting definitions of what is ethical. As a result, researchers confront ethical dilemmas that cannot be easily resolved with guidance from existing ethical principles and guidelines. The first type of ethical dilemmas may arise when researchers try to balance attention to humanitarian concerns with scientific rigor, such as when studying experiences of refugees in the midst of humanitarian crises (Leaning, 2001). Jacobsen and Landau (2003) describe the “dual imperative” faced by researchers who must balance their concerns about reducing suffering with their professional responsibility to produce research that meets the highest scientific standards. In order to address humanitarian concerns in such situations, researchers may compromise the research design and methodology. On the other hand, although ethical considerations must guide the research process, if studies make compromises with respect to the research design, findings will ultimately not be interpretable or useful to C H A P T E R