Doing Research in Prison: How to Resist Institutional Pressures

Abstract

Most methodological issues you encounter when entering the field of prison as a researcher are common to other settings for research on institutionalised so-called ‘deviants’ (like hospitals, therapeutic communities and identifica- tion centres). The first problem is access to the field. As Goffman (2010 [1961]) argues, the world of inmates (as well as that of staff) is a world that is protected by physical and psychological barriers which make it particu- larly difficult for external subjects to access the field. It is no coincidence that the researchers who first studied prisons were in some way involved in the management of the institution (e.g. Clemmer, as a clinical sociolo- gist). Freedom of movement, in an environment which has been designated to limit freedom, and access to personal data, which are considered sensi- tive, are resources that are not easily made available to outsiders. Conversely, research as an inside observer involved in the running of the institution has considerable limitations and consequences, related to occupational pressures and moral dilemmas (cf. Mar quart 1986). A cultural variable can be added to this, that is to say the different countries’ recognition of the value of scientific research, criminological research in particular: some countries are interested in or at least willing to have their institutions undergo construc- tive assessment and constant monitoring; others are somewhat reluctant to open the doors to their prisons.