Social workers should never participate in any research or evaluation absent the consent of the participants.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Social workers may participate in research without the consent of participants under certain conditions, such as when the research involves the study of existing data, documents, records, or pathological or diagnostic specimens, and these sources are publicly available or the information is recorded by the investigator in such a manner that subjects cannot be identified. Additionally, ethical guidelines and legal requirements, such as those outlined by institutional review boards (IRBs), may allow for exceptions to the consent requirement under specific circumstances where the research poses minimal risk to participants and meets certain criteria.

Social Workers Should Never Participate in Any Research or Evaluation