Doing research in immigration removal centres: ethics, emotions and impact

Bosworth, M and Kellezi, B ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4825-3624, 2017. Doing research in immigration removal centres: ethics, emotions and impact. Criminology and Criminal Justice, 17 (2), pp. 121-137. ISSN 1748-8958

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Abstract

Immigration Removal Centres (IRCs) are deeply contested institutions that rarely open their doors to independent research. In this article we discuss some of the complications we faced in conducting the first national study of everyday life in them. As we will set out, research relationships were difficult to forge due to low levels of trust, and unfamiliarity with academic research. At the same time, many participants had unrealistic expectations about our capacity to assist while most exhibited high levels of distress. We were not immune from the emotional burden of the field sites. Such matters were compounded by the limited amount of published information about life in IRCs and a lack of ethical guidelines addressing such places. Drawing on related literature from prison sociology, we use our experiences in IRCs to set out a methodological account of understanding, ethics, and impact within these complex sites.

Item Type:	Journal article
Publication Title:	Criminology and Criminal Justice
Creators:	Bosworth, M. and Kellezi, B.
Publisher:	Sage
Date:	1 April 2017
Volume:	17
Number:	2
ISSN:	1748-8958
Identifiers:	Number Type 10.1177/1748895816646151 DOI
Divisions:	Schools > School of Social Sciences
Record created by:	Linda Sullivan
Date Added:	13 May 2016 08:24
Last Modified:	19 Oct 2017 08:40
URI:	https://irep.ntu.ac.uk/id/eprint/27779

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