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The key to the gatekeepers : passive consent and other ethical issues surrounding the rights of children to speak on issues that concern them Carroll-Lind, Janis

By: Material type: ArticleArticlePublication details: New York Pergamon Press 2006ISSN:
  • 0145-2134
Subject(s): Online resources: In: Child Abuse and Neglect 30(9) 2006 : 979-989Summary: This journal article discusses the passive consent procedure used in a national survey of 2077 children aged 9 to 13 years from 28 randomly selected New Zealand primary (elementary) schools and comprised equal numbers of girls and boys. The children's experiences as victims and witnesses of violence at home and at school were surveyed. The wider objective of the study, as discussed in this article, was to assess whether the passive consent procedure provides an acceptable ethical mechanism for the survey of children in order to meet the principles set out in Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC). Article 12 of UNCROC acknowledges the right of children to have what they think and feel considered in decisions that affect them. The passive consent procedure is a variant of the informed consent process required by guidelines for ethical conduct in human participant research. Studies involving children normally require that active consent is obtained from parents, who sign and return a consent form. The passive consent procedure requires only parents who do not want their child to participate in a study to provide active dissent by signing and returning the consent form, which in this case was posted to each household with a post paid return envelope. In this way, the authors argue, children wanting to participate, whose parents have no objection, are not excluded from a study simply because a form may not have been returned. This process prioritises the child's right to speak over the parent's right to privacy, an approach the authors argue is in line with Article 12 of UNCROC. Measures were taken to ensure parental consent was informed and that parents understood their right to give either passive consent or active dissent. Methodological, confidentiality, safety and social sensitivity questions are also discussed. As the author states, "[t]he rationale for implementing the ethical methodological procedures used in this study is that children's information will contribute to policies that lead to the creation of safer environments for children."
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This journal article discusses the passive consent procedure used in a national survey of 2077 children aged 9 to 13 years from 28 randomly selected New Zealand primary (elementary) schools and comprised equal numbers of girls and boys. The children's experiences as victims and witnesses of violence at home and at school were surveyed. The wider objective of the study, as discussed in this article, was to assess whether the passive consent procedure provides an acceptable ethical mechanism for the survey of children in order to meet the principles set out in Article 12 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCROC). Article 12 of UNCROC acknowledges the right of children to have what they think and feel considered in decisions that affect them. The passive consent procedure is a variant of the informed consent process required by guidelines for ethical conduct in human participant research. Studies involving children normally require that active consent is obtained from parents, who sign and return a consent form. The passive consent procedure requires only parents who do not want their child to participate in a study to provide active dissent by signing and returning the consent form, which in this case was posted to each household with a post paid return envelope. In this way, the authors argue, children wanting to participate, whose parents have no objection, are not excluded from a study simply because a form may not have been returned. This process prioritises the child's right to speak over the parent's right to privacy, an approach the authors argue is in line with Article 12 of UNCROC. Measures were taken to ensure parental consent was informed and that parents understood their right to give either passive consent or active dissent. Methodological, confidentiality, safety and social sensitivity questions are also discussed. As the author states, "[t]he rationale for implementing the ethical methodological procedures used in this study is that children's information will contribute to policies that lead to the creation of safer environments for children."

Child Abuse and Neglect 30(9) 2006 : 979-989