“I Showed You What I Thought Was Appropriate”

Abstract

This article highlights some aspects of doing longitudinal ethnography in criminology. By zooming in and reflecting on some of the key moments and methodological choices made over the course of more than 15 years of fieldwork among members of a Dutch gang, this article illustrates that relations with informants have the potential to strengthen over time, but that building rapport and trust with (active) offenders is not necessarily a linear process. In addition to voicing the emotional and evocative aspects of these methodological deliberations, this “true confession” is meant to spark some more debate on how longitudinal fieldwork in criminology impacts field relations by critically examining not only the performativity of informants, but also of researchers.

“Under threat”: handling threats during ethnographic fieldwork

“…Among these, certainly, they are reflections on the particularities of conducting fieldwork when violence pervades interactions but also on the fieldworkers' strategies to navigate these contexts (Adler, 1993;Ferrell and Hamm, 1998;Kovats-Bernat, 2002;Rodgers, 2007;Sluka, 1995;Williams et al, 1992). Yet, while these reflections hint at the role of threats in the performance of fieldwork, they often stop short of discussing how to deal with being "under threat" and how this condition feeds the relationship with the field dialogically (Baird, 2018;Jacobs, 1998;Roks, 2021;Sampson and Thomas, 2003).…”