NCJ Number
113745
Date Published
1987
Length
27 pages
Annotation
This chapter identifies crucial ethical and professional issues and dilemmas raised by social scientists' participation in legal policymaking through the collection and dissemination of research data.
Abstract
Behavioral scientists have a duty to contribute to the welfare of others and to produce positive benefits for society through their work. They also have an obligation for veracity: they must not distort the truth by suppressing disconfirming data or other forms of misrepresentation. In meeting these duties while attempting to influence legal policy, researchers may encounter difficulty in determining when scientific findings are ready or appropriate for dissemination in a public policy sphere and in confronting the practical limitations imposed by various legal contexts on their ability to control the manner of presentation and subsequent use of findings. With respect to appropriateness, researchers often engage in a kind of cost-benefit analysis before disseminating policy-relevant findings. No clear solutions present themselves to problems related to presentation and use of findings, be it in adversarial trials or legislative hearings. Additional dilemmas relate to the role of personal values and commitments to certain public and social goals and the role of relationships that may create conflicts of interests. Again there are no easy solutions. The most important aspects of ethical professional conduct require that researchers carefully analyze and balance the competing ethical concerns inherent in the dissemination of legal policy-relevant data. 25 references.