Doing research in prison: The strengths and weaknesses of full participation as a guard

Publisher Website
Google Scholar
Abstract
Prison research has traditionally been conducted by outsiders, or researchers in non-participant roles. This paper, however, demonstrates that involvement in the prison as a prison guard, an insider, is a viable and needed form of participant observation. As an insider, the author was able to collect data on behaviors often concealed from other fieldworkers. However, participation as a member was not problem-free and this paper addresses the strengths, weaknesses, and ethical dilemmas of full participation as a research role. The paper also addresses whether or not full participation hinders or hampers data collection when the researcher returns to the same setting but in the traditional or outside role.