The power to heal and harm
Summary
Research holds great potential to both heal and harm—both ourselves and the communities we engage with. This session will help you to understand these impacts, and learn best practices to reduce harm and foster healing ethically and responsibly.
Key Insights
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Research is never neutral; it is embedded within power structures and influences who is seen and heard.
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Design research lacks formal ethical guardrails, unlike professions like social work or medicine, creating vulnerabilities.
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The culture of urgency and speed in research often leads to extractive, performative practices that minimize harm.
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Moral injury in research arises from systemic ethical failure, creating profound conflicts between values and work demands.
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Minimizing or sanitizing harm enables institutions to avoid accountability while perpetuating cycles of ethical breaches.
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Researchers can reclaim agency by setting personal ethical boundaries, advocating for care, and building supportive communities.
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The RK Institute’s two loops model illustrates how old unethical research systems decline while trauma-informed approaches emerge.
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Trauma-responsive research centers five principles: safety, transparency, co-creation, empowerment, and hope.
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Slowing down research is a radical form of resistance prioritizing dignity, trust, and sustainability over speed.
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Accountability and ethical frameworks must be integrated into organizational cultures, not left to individual researchers.
Notable Quotes
"You can't be neutral on a moving train."
"In design, it's the BYOE model—bring your own ethics."
"Moral injury is not just about witnessing harm; it's the inner knowing that you might also be complicit in producing it."
"Minimizing harm protects institutions, not people."
"Slowing down is not inefficiency; it is a commitment to dignity and trust."
"Moving fast isn’t just breaking things, it’s actually breaking people."
"The pressure to produce insights quickly defines many organizations shaped by 'move fast and break things' culture."
"Discomfort should not be dismissed; it’s a signpost for necessary change."
"Research should prioritize participant and researcher well-being over institutional convenience."
"The power of a bold idea uttered publicly in defiance of dominant opinion cannot be easily measured."
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