Prison ethnography by correspondence?

Prison ethnography offers researchers a unique vantage point from which to explore the relationships, power dynamics, degradations, solidarities and sensory assaults which occur within the prison walls. Yet, despite the valuable insights to be gained from this methodological approach, prison ethnogr...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCriminology & criminal justice Vol. 24; no. 2; pp. 362 - 378
Main Author Jardine, Cara
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published London, England SAGE Publications 01.04.2024
Sage Publications Ltd
Subjects
COVID-19
Ethical dilemmas
Ethnographic research
Ethnography
Research methodology
prison research methods
qualitative research
reflexivity
ethics
Cultural probes
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Summary:Prison ethnography offers researchers a unique vantage point from which to explore the relationships, power dynamics, degradations, solidarities and sensory assaults which occur within the prison walls. Yet, despite the valuable insights to be gained from this methodological approach, prison ethnographies can be extremely challenging to conduct. Institutional pressures arising from both the prison and the contemporary University pose considerable obstacles for researchers, and the outbreak of Covid-19 has heightened these barriers further still. This article will argue that the methodology of cultural probes can preserve at least some of the ethos of ethnographic research when conducting research by correspondence. It will reflect on the methodological and ethical challenges of this approach, and critically discuss its potential to offer a more participatory and less extractive means for researching the nuances of prison life while collecting data from a distance.
ISSN:1748-8958
1748-8966
DOI:10.1177/17488958221111502