Research Ethics and Community Engagement in a Culture-Sensitive Society: Africa

Felix Chukwuneke

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Chapter 11 Research Ethics and Community Engagement in a Culture-Sensitive Society: Africa

In: An African Research Ethics Reader

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Felix Chukwuneke

Felix Chukwuneke
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Type:: Chapter

Pages:: 184–197

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004697676_012

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Abstract

Biomedical research in pluralistic and culture-sensitive societies such as found in Africa can be a tough balancing act. That is more so when there is an attempt to mix locally accepted cultural norms with Western ethical research theories of autonomy, justice, beneficence, and nonmaleficence. This is because every individual action in the community is governed by African cultural principle of communalism. Morality as an African construct is value dependent and centered on communal responsibility. Individuals do not just make their decisions based on moral considerations of autonomy but on what brings good to the community. Bioethics as a moral theory describes the ways in which medical decisions and research touch upon our lives and environments. Over the years, research ethics has been developed to include application of the normative research ethics principles such as respect for persons, which forms the fulcrum for conducting research with humans. However, the globally acknowledged principles of autonomy, justice, beneficence, and nonmaleficence that figure into contemporary research ethics cannot account for the cultural realities surrounding issues of biomedical research in pluralistic societies such as those found in Africa. Consequently, these principles have been widely criticized within Africa because the fundamental framework on which they depend is rooted in Western culture. This framework does not consider cultural differences in understanding and applying these ethical principles of biomedical research in African settings. Because it can be challenging in these ways, conducting research in Africa needs dialogue ethics and community engagement on how best to apply these ethical principles.

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An African Research Ethics Reader

From the Ground Up

Series: Africana Philosophy, Volume: 1

E-Book ISBN:: 9789004697676

Publisher:: Brill

Print Publication Date:: 18 May 2024

Subjects
- African Studies
  - Sociology & Anthropology
- Philosophy
  - Bioethics / Ethics of Medicine

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Chapter 11 Research Ethics and Community Engagement in a Culture-Sensitive Society: Africa

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An African Research Ethics Reader

From the Ground Up

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