Sociological stalking? Methods, ethics and power in longitudinal criminological research
| DOI | 10.1177/1748895816669214 |
| Published date | 01 July 2017 |
| Date | 01 July 2017 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1748895816669214
Criminology & Criminal Justice
2017, Vol. 17(3) 233 –247
© The Author(s) 2016
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DOI: 10.1177/1748895816669214
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Sociological stalking?
Methods, ethics and power
in longitudinal criminological
research
Gilly Sharpe
University of Sheffield, UK
Abstract
Scholarship on criminal careers and desistance from crime employing longitudinal methodologies
has paid scant attention to sociological and anthropological debates regarding epistemology,
reflexivity and researcher positionality. This is surprising in light of a recent phenomenological
turn in desistance research wherein (former) lawbreakers’ identity, reflexivity and self-
understanding have become central preoccupations. In this article I interrogate aspects of the
methodological ‘underside’ of qualitative longitudinal research with criminalized women through
an examination of the surveillant position of the researcher. Focusing on methods, ethics and
power, I examine some contradictions of feminist concerns to ‘give women voice’ in research
involving re-tracing an over-surveilled and highly stigmatized population. I reflect on the effects of
researcher positionality through a conceptualization of re-tracing methods as, at worst, a form
of sociological stalking.
Keywords
Criminalized women, ethics, power, research methods, surveillance
Criminalized Women, Research and Epistemology
Methods, ethics and silence
Scholarship on criminal careers and desistance from crime – and indeed within life-
course criminology more broadly – has paid scant attention to sociological and anthro-
pological debates regarding epistemology, reflexivity and researcher positionality. This
Corresponding author:
Gilly Sharpe, School of Law, University of Sheffield, Bartolome House, Winter Street, Sheffield, S3 7ND, UK.
Email: g.h.sharpe@sheffield.ac.uk
669214CRJ0010.1177/1748895816669214Criminology & Criminal JusticeSharpe
research-article2016
Article
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