Ethics in Context: Creating Frameworks for humanities-based interventions during Crisis

As part of the developing relationship between UK-based researchers and the Lebanese NGO, Akkar Network, when researching the efficacy of Expressive Writing and Telling in Crisis (AHRC project), it became clear there was a need to create a model or framework for such humanities-based interventions.

This is the model: Ethics in Context: a partnership in developing principles of practice between UK based researchers and NGO workers.

This presentation captures the co-development of a model of practice for research in crisis which is sustainable, inclusive and ethical.

• Ethics-in-practice refers to anticipating, attending to, and learning from, the experience of conducting research

• The idea of “Emergency” or “Crisis” is a way of trying to grasp complex and problematic events. It emphasizes unpredictability, abnormality and brevity, and implies that immediate response – intervention – is necessary.

• “Emergency” becomes a specific way of thinking about how the world works, including a particular moral orientation. Once a humanitarian emergency is declared, it shapes who should act, and how. It alters notions about acceptable levels of risk.

• This framework addresses the situation for research, covering Unequal Power and the challenges of working in Fragile Environments and it proffers a matrix of understandings.

• That matrix leads to a set of Guiding Principles for the partnership itself, for voluntary informed consent practices, for confidentiality/privacy and for challenges to care giver support.

• A checklist of principles-in-practice and a set of undertakings are established for both parties.

• The follow-on step of a risk-benefit analysis is also provided within this collection of outputs from this project.