Reading difference differently? Identity, epistemology and prison ethnography

Phillips, Coretta and Earle, Rod (2010). Reading difference differently? Identity, epistemology and prison ethnography. British Journal of Criminology, 50(2) pp. 360–378.

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azp081

Abstract

Prison ethnographers have tended to downplay the epistemological and methodological dilemmas relating to identity and positionality, which have been more commonly rehearsed in anthropological and sociological ethnographies. This paper explores these issues through a reflexive interrogation of a study of prisoner identities and social relations in two male prisons, with a particular focus on race/ethnicity, class and gender. Drawing from interactions with two prisoners as case studies, it applies Walkerdine et al.’s (2001) psycho-social analytical frame to illustrate how the subjectivities and biographies of researchers are implicated in the dynamics of prison research encounters and analysis. In doing so, it considers the epistemological implications of reflexive practice for interpreting the prison field.

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About

• Item ORO ID
• 25423
• Item Type
• Journal Item
• ISSN
• 1464-3529
• Keywords
• ethnography; prison; race; gender; class; reflexivity; epistemology
• Academic Unit or School
• Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) > Health, Wellbeing and Social Care > Health and Social Care
  Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS) > Health, Wellbeing and Social Care
  Faculty of Wellbeing, Education and Language Studies (WELS)
• Research Group
• Harm and Evidence Research Collaborative (HERC)
• Copyright Holders
• © 2010 The Authors
• Depositing User
• Rod Earle