We were there too

There is much to learn from embedding auto/biography in the knowing and doing of prison research

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4563809
AutoresGeraldine Brown (0000-0002-8917-8192, Coventry University, autor correspondente), Elizabeth Bos, E P Bos (0000-0001-9738-2073, Coventry University)
Ano2017
Volume10
Fascículo2
Páginas205979911772403
Data de publicação2017-07-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessSim
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoMethodological Innovations (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 2059-7991 • E-ISSN: 2059-7991
EditoraSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/2059799117724039
OpenAlexW2747319382
ISBN9799117724039
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas4
Referências citadas13

Within the social sciences, there is a wealth of literature that examines the challenges and ethical dilemmas encountered by researchers in conceptualising, conducting and understanding their research. In this article, we share our reflections on experiences we encountered carrying out a qualitative evaluation of a prison gardening intervention with male substance misusing prisoners. Our aim is to suggest that there is much we can gain when researchers engage in a process of reflexivity, which includes consideration to the intersection of identity of the researcher, the researched and the forces of various kinds, operating upon and within such situations. As such, here we share our fieldwork experiences and shed light on how, for us, the evaluation was a subjective, power-laden, emotional, embodied experience. We highlight how a human geographer and a sociologist working as part of a multidisciplinary evaluation team encountered issues associated with choices in terms of how we conduct our work, the emotional labour expended and how we had to assume both chosen and imposed identities. We have been challenged to consider and reflect upon aspects of gender, class, age and professional status throughout our research experience, with the 'researched' and between the 'researchers'. Finally, we suggest that embarking on qualitative research in a prison setting is an outcome of complex negotiations, but in theorising our subjectivities is a means of illuminating issues that often remain invisible within prison research

Aesthetics · Class (philosophy · Criminology · Embodied cognition · Epistemology · Geographer · Identity (music · Negotiation · Power (physics · Prison · Qualitative research · Reflexivity · Social science · Sociology · Criminal Justice and Corrections Analysis · Participatory Visual Research Methods · Psychology · Qualitative Research Methods and Ethics · Social Psychology