‘Sensitive’ Research: Ethics of Care in Sexual Abuse Projects

Summary: Child sexual abuse research is understood as a “sensitive” field of study. As such, there are distinct challenges faced by researchers operating in this field. Namely, child sexual abuse researchers often confront complex ethical dilemmas alongside rigid ethical parameters. Drawing on nine narrative interviews with mothers whose children have been sexually abused and analyzed using narrative thematic analysis, and conducted as part of a larger study, this theoretical methodological paper presents an ethical framework to inform research in this area. The paper makes an original contribution as it explores the tensions that arise when balancing research governance alongside research deemed as “sensitive” and offers an additional ethical approach arising from a feminist ethics of care standpoint. Findings: The research applies Fisher and Tronto’s and Tronto’s five phases or stages of care: caring about, caring for, caregiving, care receiving, and caring with, alongside Tronto’s four elements of successful caring: attentiveness, responsibility, competence, and responsiveness, and operationalizes a feminist ethics of care approach to enrich ethical practice in sensitive projects. Applications: This article illustrates how such a framework can offer additional protections and ethical considerations for participants across sensitive fields of inquiry with applicability in England and comparable international contexts. Additionally, the article offers insights for social work and other disciplines engaged in ethically complex research.