When a ‘Social Worker’ is NOT a Social Worker: Reflections of the Ethical Tensions that Emerge When Imposter Participants Present as Social Workers

This ethics in practice article reflects on the ethical dilemmas and tensions that emerged from a research study employing online interviews with social workers in the context of (i) how to respond to suspected Imposter Participants (ii) whether to report individuals for fraudulently posing as social workers; (iii) how to better screen for Imposter Participants whilst minimising the chance of excluding genuine participants and (iv) whether to reimburse suspected Imposter Participants for their time. The article also makes recommendations for researchers seeking to recruit a similar participant demographic by way of a ‘what we would do differently next time’ section.