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Issues in Interviewing Inmates: Navigating the Methodological Landmines of Prison Research

University of Missouri, Columbia

^* To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: jasqk7{at}mizzou.edu.

	Abstract

Based on research the author conducted in 2006 at a men’s medium-security correctional facility and on the author’s experiences during that research, this article provides some insight into the issues associated with interviewing inmates. Included are discussions of gaining access to prison, negotiating Institutional Review Boards, the construction of study concepts and instruments, inmate identity, and institutional influence. Emphasizing narrative and interactionist approaches, the author’s goal is to help researchers understand their role in the interview process and the author introduces an organizational interview tool called "identity moments," wherein researchers can facilitate the retrospective and interpretative practice of building meaning through narrative. The purpose of the author’s work is to provide some critical insights into conducting prison research so that future researchers might have a head start.

First published on June 27, 2008, doi:10.1177/1077800408318325

Qualitative Inquiry 2008;14:1500.

A more recent version of this article appeared on December 1, 2008


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