Doing (Prison) Research Differently

Reflections on Autoethnography and ‘Emotional Recall’

Bibliographic Data

ID23030516
AuthorsLuigi Gariglio (0000-0002-6970-3885, University of Turin, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume8
Issue2
Pages205-224
Publication date2018-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueOñati Socio-legal Series (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 2079-5971 • E-ISSN: 2079-5971
PublisherOnati International Institute for the Sociology of Law (PUBLISHER • ES)
DOI10.35295/osls.iisl/0000-0000-0000-0932
OpenAlexW3122606381
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited38

This paper offers a reflection on both the family of methods called autoethnography and on the experience of doing autoethnography in practice as a follow-up to a prison ethnography. By engaging with the literature on autoethnography, it provides an overview of the methodology and focuses on one particular experience of doing (prison) research differently by adopting the notion of emotional recall as a heuristic tool. More specifically, this paper shows how emotional recall was vital to yielding a substantive research finding through autoethnographic re-engagement with data collected during an ethnography of prison officers’ threat of the use of force in an Italian prison. Through autoethnography, prison officers’ favouritism towards Mafioso was found to be a key aspect of officers’ use of discretion in the prison setting.

Art · Autoethnography · Criminology · Ethnography · Humanities · Prison · Sociology · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Participatory Visual Research Methods · Psychology · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics · Theatre and Performance Studies

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