Professional Ethics
The Professional Ethics research group is an interdisciplinary research group with academics from Volda University College (VUC), Molde University College (MUC) and employees of Møre og Romsdal Hospital Trust. We have a link to the doctoral program in Health Sciences and Social Care. The research group put ethical issues into perspective both relationally and contextually (structural conditions), and process issues at the core of professional work.
Aims
Explore ethical dimensions in:
• Professional work: structurally, contextually and relationally.
• Support potential PhD candidates who have or want to develop projects within the research group's thematic areas.
• Develop project applications for national or international sources of funding.
• Provide competence building within professional ethics and contribute to increasing co-publishing.
Interest areas
• Mandatory reporting of intimate partner violence
• Palliative care for people with dementia and their relatives
• Minor children as relatives of a dying mother or father
• Teachers' duty of confidentiality and duty to report to the child welfare service
• The administration's routines and the clients' everyday lives
• The professional, personal and private in nurses' practice
• What kind of significance does the immediate environment (microsystem) of overweight children have in changing health behaviors?
• Follow-up and clarification in NAV
Projects
Mandatory Reporting of Intimate Partner Violence (MANREPORT): Project funded by the Research Council of Norway.
Intimate partner violence is a serious public health problem that affects millions worldwide. The costs of IPV are massive, both in terms of suffering, reduced health, and socioeconomic expenses. Evidence suggests that in a majority of intimate partner homicides (IPH), there is a potential for prevention. For this purpose, countries in some parts of the world have adopted legislation requiring professionals to report cases of IPV to the police or the criminal justice system. Currently, however, the empirical knowledge on mandatory reporting of IPV is inconclusive and offers no valid evidence to support a major attitude toward the subject.
The overall aim of MANREPORT-IPV is to investigate "What experiences, awareness, and attitudes do professionals and IPV help-seekers in Norway have concerning mandatory reporting of intimate partner violence?". Given the scarce knowledge of this research field, we designed a concurrent parallel explorative project with three main elements. 1) Systematic text studies (court documents, juridical analysis). 2) A qualitative investigation of experiences, awareness, and attitudes to mandatory reporting of IPV. 3) Quantitative investigation of professionals' and help-seekers' perceptions of and experiences with mandatory reporting of IPV.
MANREPORT-IPV will analyze and compare data from doctors, nurses, domestic violence shelter workers, child protective services, psychologists, police, and IPV help-seekers. Studying these enables us to analyse horizontal interactions between service providers with different responsibilities concerning IPV. The primary objective is to improve the empirical knowledge on mandatory reporting of IPV to inform a more effective prevention of serious intimate partner violence. The project will contribute to innovation by providing new knowledge about facilitators and barriers to mandatory reporting, thus building a foundation for more evidence-based recommendations and interaction in the service system.
More information: Mandatory Reporting of Intimate Partner Violence (hivolda.no)
Members
Kjartan Leer-Salvesen, VUC, leader
Georg Inge Panzer, MUC
Erlend Walseth, VUC
Anita Dyb Linge, VUC
Ingeborg Berg Skogen, VUC
Magne Holvik, MUC
Ingrid Johnsen Hogstad, MUC
Erlend Vik, MUC
Silje Louise Dahl, VUC
Elin Mordal, MUC
Inger Cecilie Frisvoll, MUC
Elisabeth Busengdal, VUC
Pål Roar Torp Brekke, VUC
Elin Førde, VUC
Linda Marie Viddal, VUC