Challenges Facing African Social Work Researchers in Integrating Indigenous Research Ethics: Towards Ethical Reconstitution Through Decolonial Cooperation

Abstract

Social work research in Africa continues to grapple with the dominance of Western ethical frameworks that marginalise Indigenous epistemologies. This paper explores the challenges African social work researchers face in integrating Indigenous research ethics, with a focus on Zimbabwe. The study aims to contribute to the development of an ethically inclusive and context-responsive research paradigm. Using an autoethnographic methodology, five experienced African researchers reflected on their lived experiences navigating both Western and Indigenous research spaces. Data were collected through written narrative responses guided by conversational prompts and analysed using Reflective Thematic Analysis. Key findings reveal five interrelated challenges: the marginalisation of Indigenous ethics in social work education; ontological invisibility within institutional ethical regimes; the hierarchisation of ethical authority; donor-driven ethical compliance; and discursive decolonisation without ethical reconstitution. The study concludes that decolonial transformation in social work research requires more than rhetorical commitment—it demands ethical reconstitution through cooperative frameworks that recognise plural ethical authorities, relational accountability, and epistemic justice. The implications are significant for policymakers, academic institutions, funders, and researchers, calling for a shift from compliance-based to community-grounded ethical practices. This paper advocates for a Decolonial Cooperation Framework as a pathway toward ethical integrity and transformative, socially just research in African contexts.