Inside the Field: Reflections on Ethnographic Research in a U.S. Prison

What is it like to conduct ethnographic fieldwork in a prison, and what can aspiring researchers learn from the experience? 

Drawing on four months of fieldwork in a U.S. men’s prison, DPhil student in Criminology Aubrey Favors offers a close look at the opportunities, challenges, and unexpected lessons of conducting qualitative research in a highly regulated institutional environment. His doctoral research examines the experiences of Black correctional officers, focusing on how they understand and navigate their racial and occupational identities, as well as the relationship between these identities and their exercise of power within prisons. 

During this talk, Aubrey will reflect on gaining institutional access, building relationships with participants, conducting interviews and observations, and adapting research methods to keep up with an ever-changing, unpredictable environment. This discussion will offer insights into the realities of prison ethnography for students considering research in prisons and other restrictive institutional settings. 

Speaker bio: Aubrey Favors is a third-year DPhil student at the Centre for Criminology. His project is titled "Between Minority and Authority: Examining the Experiences, Relationships, and Power of Black Prison Officers in the U.S."