Retrospective Methodology in Family Violence Research

Child abuse research using retrospective research designs has proven beneficial to researchers and clinicians in describing both short- and long-term effects of abuse, and in identifying factors that serve to mediate outcomes to child maltreatment. Points of conflict between this research design and current child abuse reporting laws, as well as possible biases that may influence results of the researcher's investigation, are addressed in this article. It is the position of this article that in research involving children under 18 years of age, current child abuse reporting laws are quite clear. Although researchers are not specifically identified as mandated reporters (although in certain states all members of the general population are mandated reporters), they nonetheless have a duty to report any “reasonable suspicion” of child abuse or neglect when this suspicion derives from their research study. Although this mandate may not apply when subjects are of legal age, researchers still have the responsibility to address and evaluate the safety of subjects or others (e.g., siblings). It is suggested that researchers acquire sufficient information from their subjects to make a determination regarding the safety of the subjects and others. The failure of current child abuse reporting laws to address adults does not leave the researcher without ethical responsibilities or fear of civil suit. In an area of research where the implicit intent is to prevent or relieve the pain or distress caused by others, it may be important to ensure that our research paradigms reflect this intent.