Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology J. Community Appl. Soc. Psychol., 12: 286–297 (2002) Published online in Wiley InterScience (www.interscience.wiley.com). DOI: 10.1002/casp.682 Ethical and Social Dilemmas in Community-based Controlled Trials in Situations of Poverty: A View from a South African Project NOSISANA NAMA and LESLIE SWARTZ* Department of Psychology, University of Stellenbosch, South Africa, and Human Sciences Research Council, Cape Town, South Africa ABSTRACT All psychological and social research presents ethical dilemmas, many of which centre around the difficulties which flow from the power imbalances between those conducting the research and the research respondents or participants. Issues of power are magnified in research undertaken in con- texts of poverty, and there is a burgeoning literature on ethical issues in research in developing coun- tries. In this article, we augment the existing literature by focusing on the experiences of an assessor working in a controlled trial of a mother–infant intervention in a poor South African community. We consider issues of community expectations, the presentation to our project of physical health pro- blems, the issue of HIV/AIDS, cultural beliefs which impact on the research, child protection issues, and the tensions between research assessment and ubuntu —a cultural norm which requires helpful engagement with others. We suggest that our experiences may assist with the development of further research. Copyright # 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Key words: ethics; poverty; South Africa; developing countries; randomized controlled trials; research design; cultural factors; early intervention; infancy INTRODUCTION There are many debates internationally about what constitute the best ways in which to conduct research, and there is a growing literature which argues that many research endea- vours may have negative outcomes for respondents and for communities (Benatar, 2001). Psychologists, as researchers and practitioners, face ethical dilemmas wherever they work, and considerable effort continues to go into providing useful guidelines by which research and practice can be planned and evaluated (American Psychological Association, 1992; Azar, 2002; British Psychological Society, 2000). At the heart of much of the concern about ethics is the reality that there is usually a power imbalance between professionals and their clients, and between those conducting *Correspondence to: Leslie Swartz, Human Sciences Research Council, Private Bag X192, Cape Town 8000, South Africa. E-mail: lswartz@sun.ac.za Copyright # 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. Accepted 7 May 2002