Reamer Frederic G
1 Rhode Island College, Providence, RI, USA.
J Interpers Violence. 2017 Mar;32(6):875-896. doi: 10.1177/0886260516657349.
Ross Cheit's The Witch-Hunt Narrative raises a number of complex moral issues. Cheit's principal purpose is to challenge the belief that our society has overreacted to claims about the sexual abuse of children. Both directly and indirectly, Cheit's in-depth analysis broaches moral concerns pertaining to the integrity of child abuse allegations, investigations, civil litigation, and criminal prosecution, with an emphasis on the mixed motives of the parties involved in key cases. This article provides an overview of ethical questions pertaining to gathering information from very vulnerable individuals, informed consent, institutional review, protection of research participants, the use of deception and coercion, confidentiality and privacy, reporting research results, and conflicts of interest. In addition, the author discusses the phenomenon of whistle-blowing as it pertains to professionals' ethical judgments about disclosure of wrongdoing and misconduct. The author outlines key ethics-related concepts, applies relevant moral theory, and explores the implications of the moral issues raised by The Witch-Hunt Narrative for child sexual abuse victims, perpetrators, child welfare and law enforcement professionals, scholars and researchers, and the public at large.
罗斯·切特的《猎巫叙事》提出了一些复杂的道德问题。切特的主要目的是质疑一种观点，即我们的社会对儿童性虐待指控反应过度。切特的深入分析直接或间接地涉及到与虐待儿童指控的完整性、调查、民事诉讼和刑事起诉相关的道德问题，重点关注关键案件中各方的复杂动机。本文概述了与从极易受伤害的个体收集信息、知情同意、机构审查、研究参与者保护、欺骗和胁迫的使用、保密和隐私、研究结果报告以及利益冲突相关的伦理问题。此外，作者讨论了举报行为这一现象，因为它涉及专业人员对不当行为和渎职行为披露的道德判断。作者概述了关键的伦理相关概念，应用了相关的道德理论，并探讨了《猎巫叙事》提出的道德问题对儿童性虐待受害者、犯罪者、儿童福利和执法专业人员、学者和研究人员以及广大公众的影响。
