Female Veterans Ethical Issues

military, women play a larger role than in earlier generations, and they serve in combat support positions such as pilots, convoy transportation, intelligence, mechanics, and military police (Street, Vogt, & Dutra, 2009). These positions have placed female veterans at significant risk for exposure to psychological and physical stress, and women are also at increased risk for experiencing gender harassment and demeaning behaviors based on biological sex differences (Gutierrez et al., 2013). Additionally, roughly one in five women seen by the VA have a history of military sexual trauma (Department of Veterans Affairs, 2010), and they experience stress related to lower social support from peers (Street et al.,

(Disabled Veterans National Foundation, n.d.). Another option for funding while creating awareness within the area is fund raising. With a significant increase of veterans diagnosed with PTSD and a similar increase of those diagnosed with a mental illness the need for additional resources is there (Hermes, Rosenheck, Desai, & Fontana, 2012). An interesting fact not only are women more likely to be diagnosed with PTSD, but those in active duty are at a higher risk than Reserves. (McCarron, Reinhard, Bloeser, Mahan, & Kang, 2014). Also among the multiple branches of service the Army has a higher chance of PTSD, followed by Marines (McCarron et al., 2014). Most often in the military because of the majority of men in service women are not taken into account. As well as, women being twice as likely than men in having PTSD at some point in their life; any additional support geared to awareness and prevention is helpful ( National Center for PTSD,

Today, hundreds of thousands of service men and women and recent military veterans have seen combat. Many have been shot at, seen their buddies killed, or witnessed death up close. These are types of events that can lead to Post- Traumatic Stress Disorder ("Post Traumatic Stress Disorder PTSD: A Growing Epidemic. “) Anyone that has gone through a traumatic event can be diagnosed with PTSD but research shows, military men and women are more susceptible to having PTSD (PTSD: A Growing Epidemic.) And, with little help from the US, many Veterans do not get the help they need or get treated for PTSD. Military men and women begin to

The use of the Veterans Affairs medical care system has significantly increased over the last decade due to two recent wars and an aging Vietnam Veteran population. As females have been accepted in all roles into the military, their population within the military has progressively multiplied over the last three decades. Since females in general typically use healthcare at a higher rate than their male counterparts, it is necessary to ascertain if the female veteran

According to the National Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research 2007, the assessment of risk-benefit ratio and consent from the participants are two important concerns of conducting any human research. These two issues help the participants to make an informed decision so that they can understand and outweigh the significance and possibilities of harm independently (Emanuel, 2008). Being a researcher, I would follow the National Statement on Ethical Conduct In Human Research 2007, hence, I must assess the magnitude of possible harm (physical, psychological, social, economic or legal) for the participants and handling the risk by identifying resources and monitoring them, thus, reducing the risk of their occurrence. (National statement on ethical conduct in human research,

To ensure the proposed study is academically, professionally, and ethically sound, researchers shall complete a risk assessment on the proposed method (participants, materials and design) of the study. This risk assessment will form the basis of the application to Swinburne University’s Research Ethics Office for ethical review. This application will address the risks identified with the participants used, including recruitment and informed consent, as well as data and publication arrangements.

Part I: The legal considerations would be to inform the participants that there would be no harm or risk to the participants. Since the participants are adolescents the researcher needs to obtain a secure informed consent from the parent or guardian before they participate. The researcher’s ethics are to provide full disclosure to the participants. The researcher should be open and honest to the participants regarding the study. The researcher’s ethical consideration is to protect the privacy of each participant. This can be accomplished by ensuring confidentiality and by having the data stored securely. Also, the researcher should

Only men are required to actually sign up for the draft after turning 18 years old.

Respect for human dignity includes two rights; the right to self-determination and the right to full disclosure. When conducting a research study these two rights must be maintained to ensure that the participants are not coerced into participation and that they are making the choice of their own free will. Patients must be provided with all the information necessary to make an informed decision and voluntarily participate. No deception or concealed data collection can be done because it will violate the patients’ rights.

Disabled Women Veterans experience a large gap in services compared to their male counterparts. They experience large gaps in healthcare services, transition services, disability compensation, employment, and housing (Disabled American Veterans, n.d.). This gap leads to higher levels of stress and a high level of need among the Woman Veteran population. Little to no treatment groups exist specifically to the Woman Veteran population and the many challenges the population experiences, leaving them socially isolated. Disabled Women Veterans have many needs to address with disabilities ranging from psychological to physical. Their disabilities alone lead to the need for treatment that address their disabilities and the stress that comes with these

To demonstrate even further barriers to access for rural veterans, rural female veterans present with many differing challenges…limited labor and job opportunities, lack of available childcare resources, and limited job opportunities (Szelwach, Steinkogler, Badger, & Muttukumaru, 2011). Additionally, according to the NHRA (2014) female veterans encounter even more barriers in accessing mental health care due to the potential effects of military sexual trauma (MST). Moreover, there is a need for those who are trained in mental and primary

There are three basic principles to consider when evaluating the ethics of a study: 1) respect for persons, 2) beneficence, and 3) justice (Houser, J., 2012, pg. 54-56). To apply these

It is of utmost importance that ethical standards are overseen by a governing body like the Institutional Review Board (IRB) to hold researchers to ethical standards (Smith & Davis, 2010). The researchers of this study did have the approval process from the IRB. All the names were changed as a safeguard in this study as well on the final data collection so as not to violate anyone’s privacy. This could also be seen as another strength to the study giving no one a reason to lie.

Women have been participating in the United States military since the Revolutionary War, where they were nurses, maids, cooks and even spies. They played vital roles in order to keep those fighting on the front lines healthier, and even a more important role in keeping commanding officers informed with private information stolen from the other side. Although the Revolutionary War took play in 1776, the first law to be passed that permanently stated that women have an official place in the military was in 1948, almost one hundred and seventy-two years later. Since that time there has been a lack of true growth when it comes to integration of females in the military. In 1994, a law was passed that tried to prohibit women from being assigned to ground combat units below the brigade level. Women are excluded from more then 25% of active combat roles within the military and only in 2013 was the ban lifted which was the final barrier to allowing women into all active roles. This has been a huge step in the direction for women being considered as being equal but there are still challenges that women face within the military. Ranging from sexual assault, discrimination, bullying, and other tactics, it is clear that for many, the military is still a “boys club.”

Conducting a study using humans as participants raises a variety of ethical concerns. This is why it is necessary to inform the participants of the purpose of the interview or focus group and what it plans to accomplish. Also, the privacy of each participant must be respected when publishing or distributing all research findings. If these requirements are not met, the study being conducted will in turn become unethical.