The Scottish Government

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Listen

3. Ethical Issues, Information and Ground Rules

3.1 Consulting children always raises issues of power, safety and confidentiality. The researchers were mindful of these. These issues were of particular significance for this particular group of young people and this was considered at each stage. Central to the consultation was the imperative that CYPEDA would not be further damaged by the process of participating in the consultations. The following actions were taken to ensure this.

Care in Accessing Participants

3.2 Scottish Women's Aid approached member groups who asked Child Support Workers to identify and invite young people to take part in the consultation. For ethical reasons, it was felt to be inappropriate to invite young people who seemed particularly vulnerable.

3.3 Young people were provided with information about the events at this stage and Children Support Workers were asked to ensure they all knew they had a clear choice about whether or not to participate. Other organisations known to support CYPEDA were also contacted but were unable to provide access.

Information to Participants and Managing Expectations

3.4 Particular attention was paid to ensuring that the young people were given full, clear, honest information about the events, about what their participation would involve and about the purpose of the consultation. Information leaflets were provided and these were distributed prior to the events. Children's Support Workers were asked to use the information leaflets to discuss different aspects of the events with the CYP, including:

• Purpose
• Format
• Personnel involved
• How information would be used.

3.5 This was to enable young people to make informed decisions about whether or not to participate. A briefing was sent to all the relevant Child Support Workers with this and other information. ²

3.6 At the start of each event information was provided about:

• The project team and their role
• The purpose of the event
• The 16 proposals
• The Scottish Government's commitment to consulting children experiencing domestic abuse
• The role of key individuals in the Scottish Government
• The report that would be produced for government as a result of the event
• The authors of the report
• A commitment that all information would be confidential (except where there were serious child protection concerns)
• Support available to young people during and after the event
• The 'confidential box' for participants to place information they did not want to speak about in front of other people.

Ground Rules

3.7 The following ground rules were set out for each event:

• Have fun
• Listen to others and they will listen to you
• Say what's on your mind and don't be afraid to do so
• Everyone has different opinions, no one is wrong
• Feel free to ask questions if you don't understand
• If you are asked a question and you don't want to answer - just say nothing or pass
• Don't be afraid to take a break if you really need one
• Mistakes are perfectly normal - everyone makes them
• Try not to interrupt others
• Confidentiality - what is said in this room stays in this room except…
• If adults think someone is in danger the support worker will talk to the child about it and help decide what to do
• The adult assistants will write the report with what you say but they'll know it is anonymous - won't use names - no-one will know who said what
• Respect each other's confidentiality
• You can use an alias
• Be safe with what you say
• If there is anything you don't want to say in front of the others you can write down your views and put them in the box - but they will be included in the report.

Consent and Confidentiality

3.8 Consent forms were provided to the Children's Support Workers who were asked to obtain written consent from young people prior to the events. Workers were also asked to discuss the events with mothers; and to give particular thought to talking to mothers about issues of confidentiality.

3.9 Children's Support Workers were for the most part not present during the main consultation exercises. However, young people were told workers could be present to help communicate anything they found difficult, if that would be helpful.

3.10 Issues of confidentiality and anonymity were also addressed during preparation and events. Young people were told that names would not be used in the report and that participants would not be identifiable.

Support and Aftercare

3.11 The project team were aware of the possibility that participation in the events may raise painful feelings and memories. Support was put in place for young people in the event that this should arise. A decision was made that Children's Support Worker seemed best placed to do this. They had an already established relationship with young people and had travelled with them to the event. The project team facilitating sessions was also available to provide support. At the end of the event contact numbers for support organisations were made available to participants. No participant became obviously distressed at the event.

Child Protection

3.12 The possibility of child protection concerns being raised at events was considered. Measures were put in place to deal with this. Where concerns were raised, the facilitator was responsible for discussing these with the Children's Support Worker; involving the young person in the process. Serious concerns were considered to be: where there was information about a serious threat to life, health and/or the safety of the young person; when a young person provided information about a serious threat to life, health and/or safety of another young person. In practice, no child protection concerns arose during the consultation process.

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