NCJ Number
248166
Journal
British Journal of Criminology Volume: 54 Issue: 5 Dated: September 2014 Pages: 705-721
Date Published
September 2014
Length
17 pages
Annotation
As a former user and dealer of heroin and crack cocaine, the author presents an introductory overview of autobiographical research in criminological contexts.
Abstract
The central theme of this article is that autoethnography, which features the researcher's feelings and insights into his/her own experiences as a participant in the domain being researched, has the potential to enhance criminology's methodological approach to the study of criminal behavior. In order to make this point, the author draws upon his experience of conducting ethnographic fieldwork with a group of heroin and crack cocaine users and dealers. This article is divided into three sections. The first section is an introductory overview of the relationship between criminology and "the self." This section distinguishes between "emotive" and "analytic" autoethnography. "Emotive" autoethnography is primarily concerned with a researcher's subjective life experiences. "Analytic" autoethnography focuses on the wider social context in which these life experiences are set. The article's second section addresses the author's fieldwork and the ways in which it was both aided and hindered by his biography. The third section argues that a researcher's focus on his/her own lived experiences in the domain being researched can produce significant advantages in the ways in which research is done, the theory that stems from it, and the ways in which the research is presented. 51 references