Becoming an ethnographer at prison

Reflections on the theoretical, methodological and subjective process of forming a research problem

Abstract

In this article I consider dilemmas and methodological decisions which I have taken on throughout research and activism processes at prisons of the province of Santa Fe (Argentina) for 10 years. I propose to analyse the prison scenery as a field where to form a research problem and develop the practice of ethnography across two aspects: one is the decisions regarding how to build relationships where there are noticeable power struggles among areas; the other is the moral dilemmas likely to emerge in the research ¬¬ –particularly among women investigators– in an eminently violent and unequal environment. This reflexivity contributes to weigh the importance of making theoretical decisions pointing to produce a comprehensive yet localized approach of the problem under study and to build multiple relationships with people from diverse angles and positions within the ethnographic field.