*Note: within this post I am referring to Amateur Paranormal Investigators and not those organisations and individuals who conduct research in a proper capacity*
I was scrolling through my Facebook News Feed during my lunch break when a status update from a paranormal investigator caught me by surprise. See below.
reads:
Status by J: With the rising cost of fuel, how much longer can para groups offer free investigations? Ghost Hunt groups can charge their customers to cover their costs, but those of us who travel all over to help people troubled with suspected paranormal, and run at a loss of around £1,000 per year, should we start to charge milage?[sic]
Comment by M: I don’t think that would be unreasonable! I think people offering a free service should at least be paid their expenses of getting to wherever [sic] they have to go… that is only fare[sic]!! x
Comment by T: Good Question J, this has to be a consideration, we dont charge anything either for private places and the fact we have to have insurance nowadays as well, all costs, I personally would like to still keep ours for free, including travel, but something that we all have to consider. what annoys me sometimes is, we do it for nothing and some be bothered to offer drinks.
Comment by me: No you shouldn’t because you’re not offering a service, you’re partaking in a hobby.
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Let me expand my thoughts on the alarming points raised by ‘J’, ‘M’ and ‘T’….
Paranormal Investigation Groups do not offer a professional service and only do what they do because it is a hobby of theirs. It is quite easy to fool oneself into thinking you are offering a public service by going into the homes of people who think they’re haunted, but you’re not and you could be acting unethically without realising it. I know for sure that the investigation team that ‘J’ belongs to has no code of ethics viewable on their website and that they use pseudo-scientific techniques during their ‘investigations’.
Even considering charging people their travel costs – or as ‘T’ mentioned, expecting them to provide them with drinks is actually a bit arrogant. It’s a hobby that these people choose to participate in, and if they think that they are helping the public or offering a service then they are probably mistaken, and certainly not doing so in a professional capacity.
It reminds me of the paranormal investigators who petitioned the Queen to allow paranormal investigators free access to heritage sites, as though they have some sort of privilege. They don’t.
That paranormal investigators are shocked that they have to fund their investigations – their chosen hobby – out of their own pockets is humourous. Paranormal Investigation is not a public service. It’s that simple. If you choose to conduct paranormal investigations in your own time you have no right to ask people to fund what you do. If paranormal investigators don’t want to pay the costs associated with paranormal investigation then they have one choice: quit and find a cheaper hobby.
This is a potential problem that I am saddened to see creeping its way into the UK ghost hunting scene. Times are hard for everyone as we go through a recession and our Government make cuts left, right and centre. However, charging people for you to go and investigate their possible haunting is unethical, no matter how you outline the costs. I think skeptics need to keep their eyes open for this happening.
How do you differentiate the visiting services offered & provided by both the SPR & ASSAP. Currently neither charge but are they too simply hobbyists ? Many spontaneous cases that have helped to formulate our current understanding about the nature of Psychical research involves domestic cases & unpaid amateur investigators too. I think the questioner was asking a pertinent question that requires a more considered answer than simply describing them as hobbyists.
I have ammended the post with a note about this.
We’re seeing an increase in people referring ‘out of area’ clients to national bodies like ASSAP who can then allocate to a local investigator.
Once you charge money, even just for gas, you’re no longer an Amateur. At that point aren’t they opening themselves up to much greater liability for their claimed services?
The idea that any hobbyist should charge is silly – if i attend a chess tournament in manchester i certainly dont ask the organiser to pay petrol and dish out the pepsis!
I certainly agree with you that it would be unethical to charge. I also agree with Steve that there are several very dedicated researchers that may well push themselves and therefore the “hobby” foward ; a direct parallel to this would be the beginnings of archaeology as a science as oppossed to the random “hack and slash” excavations of the early antiquarians.
When I was in an investigation group and we visited some of the PAID venues. We all used to chip in with fuel costs an had a voluntary funding scheme. But what amazes me Hayley is you used to have a DONATE BUTTON on your Twelfth Hour investigation website. So why now are you attempting to have a go at an idea of a question or as some would see it and open for discussion proposal and what defines them as amateur or professional? How can anyone ever to be more qualified in something you think is a lie?
Twelfth Hour Investigations existed years ago when I was still a teenager and was approaching paranormal research in completely the wrong way.
Additionally, a donation is not the same as a fee. Not that we ever actually made anything through that donate button, mind.
Hilarious attempt at debating my point.
Let them charge. That will leave them open to charges of fraud and might require them to use the disclaimer “Ghost hunting is for entertainment purposes only.”
Ghost hunters charging? To tell them they’ve got a spirit in their loft? There’ll be bitter and twisted proponents of pseudoscience on here soon claiming they’re more than hobbyists.
“There’ll be bitter and twisted proponents of pseudoscience on here soon claiming they’re more than hobbyists.”
Hope so! It will become really fun then…
It’s a bit like asking the the library to pay you to borrow their books…
Check this out and read the Terms and Conditions
http://chris-conway-telephone-readings.co.uk/
Don Philips is appealing for a ‘research grant’ …. see: http://www.gsiparanormal.com/skeptics-ethical-valuescodes/ and scroll down to the last part posted on 29-03-2012 where Don pleads “Here’s the deal give me a grant & 1 year ill make sure it’s money well spent.”
Don, here’s an offer. In a location of your choice, if one of your ‘spirits’ can repeatedly and accurately tell you what’s written (by a third party) on post-it notes stuck in turn on your forehead, or on the back of a chair on which you are sat, then the money will be on the table.
I’ve had a thought that Don’s ‘spirits’ may not be able to read, especially if they originate from a time prior to mass education.
If Don can consult with his chosen spirit(s) as to what symbols they would like to use, such as tree, duck, square etc., then that should make the experiment easier.
I’d even let Don use a voice recorder if he wanted. All we need is proof and then things can really get moving!
I have written a response to Don that I will post shortly.