Fieldwork and its ethical challenges: Reflections from research in Bosnia

Human Rights Quarterly

Volumn 34, Issue 3, 2012, Pages 823-839

  Clark, Janine Natalya ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF SHEFFIELD   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

ETHICS; FIELDWORK; HUMAN RIGHTS; RESEARCH;

BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA;

EID: 84864821633     PISSN: 02750392     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1353/hrq.2012.0052     Document Type: Article

References (70)

1. Marlene de Laine, Fieldwork, Participation and Practice: Ethics and Dilemmas in Qualitative Research 2 (2000).
2. Sharlene Nagy Hesse-Biber & Patricia Leavy, The Practice of Qualitative Research 86 (2006).
3. Dominique Clément, I Believe in Human Rights, Not Women's Rights': Women and the Human Rights State, 1969-1984, 101 Radical Hist. Rev. 107 (2008).
4. This research was conducted during four months (May-September) in BiH in 2008, and one month (June-July) in the country in 2009. Given the sensitive nature of the issues discussed, the identity of the interviewees has been withheld; instead, all such information is cited as "Author Interviews. "
5. Frank K. Clarke, Debilitating Divisions: The Civil Liberties Movement in Early Cold War Canada, 1946-48, in Whose National Security? Canadian State Surveillance and the Creation of Enemies 171, 177-178 (Gary Kinsman et al. eds., 2000).
6. Jeanette Hewitt, Ethical Components of Researcher-Researched Relationships in Qualitative Interviewing, 17 Qual. Health Res. 1149, 1157 (2007).
7. John R. Cutcliffe & Paul Ramcharan, Levelling the Playing Field? Exploring the Merits of the Ethics-as-Process Approach for Judging Qualitative Research Proposals, 12 Qualitative Health Res. 1000, 1006 (2002).
8. Bolanle Akande Adetoun, The Role and Function of Research in a Divided Society: A Case Study of the Niger-Delta Region of Nigeria, in Researching Conflict in Africa: Insights and Experiences 47, 48 (Elisabeth Porter, Gillian Robinson, Marie Smyth, Albrecht Schnabel & Eghosa Osaghee eds., 2005).
9. Marie Smyth, Introduction, in Researching Violently Divided Societies: Ethical and Methodological Issues 1, 9 (Marie Smyth & Gillian Robinson eds., 2001).
10. Marie Smyth, Introduction, in Researching Violently Divided Societies: Ethical and Methodological Issues 1, 9 (Marie Smyth & Gillian Robinson eds., 2001).
11. Marie Smyth, Introduction, in Researching Violently Divided Societies: Ethical and Methodological Issues 1, 9 (Marie Smyth & Gillian Robinson eds., 2001).
12. Author Interviews.
13. Kaufmann, for example, maintains that "Stable resolutions of ethnic civil wars are possible, but only when the opposing groups are demographically separated into defensible enclaves. " Chaim D. Kaufmann, When all Else Fails: Ethnic Population Transfers and Partitions in the Twentieth Century, 23 Int'l Sec. 120, 122-23 (1998).
14. According to Galtung, "Just as a coin has two sides... peace also has two sides: absence of personal violence, and absence of structural violence. We shall refer to them as negative peace and positive peace. " Johan Galtung, Violence, Peace and Peace Research 6 J. Peace Res. 167, 183 (1969). It is negative peace, the absence of physical violence that exists in post-conflict BiH.
15. Frank K. Clarke, Debilitating Divisions: The Civil Liberties Movement in Early Cold War Canada, 1946-48, in Whose National Security? Canadian State Surveillance and the Creation of Enemies 171, 177-178 (Gary Kinsman et al. eds., 2000).
16. In the eastern Bosnian town of Višegrad, for example, two Serbian interviewees wanted the author to declare herself a Serb. "Ona je naša" [she is one of ours], they repeatedly joked to each other. Author Interviews.
17. Robert M. Hayden, Schindler's Fate: Genocide, Ethnic Cleansing and Population Transfers, 55 Slavic Rev. 727, 743 (1996).
18. Lee Ann Fujii, Interpreting Truth and Lies in Stories of Conflict and Violence, in Surviving Field Research: Working in Violent and Difficult Situations 147, 155 (Chandra Lekha Sriram, John C. King, Julie A. Mertus, Olga Martin-Ortega & Johanna Herman eds., 2009).
19. Antonius C.G.M. Robben, The Politics of Truth and Emotion among Victims and Perpetrators of Violence, in Fieldwork Under Fire: Contemporary Studies of Violence and Survival 81, 83 (Carolyn Nordstrom & Antonius C.G.M. Robben eds., 1998).
20. Antonius C.G.M. Robben, The Politics of Truth and Emotion among Victims and Perpetrators of Violence, in Fieldwork Under Fire: Contemporary Studies of Violence and Survival 81, 83 (Carolyn Nordstrom & Antonius C.G.M. Robben eds., 1998).
21. Jeffrey A. Sluka, Reflections on Managing Danger in Fieldwork: Dangerous Anthropology in Belfast, in Fieldwork Under Fire, at 276, 287.
22. Frank K. Clarke, Debilitating Divisions: The Civil Liberties Movement in Early Cold War Canada, 1946-48, in Whose National Security? Canadian State Surveillance and the Creation of Enemies 171, 177-178 (Gary Kinsman et al. eds., 2000).
23. Pam Bell, The Ethics of Conducting Psychiatric Research in War-Torn Contexts, in Researching Violently Divided Societies, at 190.
24. Antonius C.G.M. Robben & Carolyn Nordstrom, Introduction, in Fieldwork Under Fire, at 5.
25. Author Interviews.
26. Louis Kriesberg, External Contributions to Post-Mass-Crime Rehabilitation, in After Mass Crime: Rebuilding States and Communities, at 252.
27. Janine Natalya Clark, Reflections on Trust and Reconciliation: A Case-Study of a Central Bosnian Village, 16 Int'l J. Hum. Rts. 239, 244 (2012).
28. The ICTY itself has lent credence to this view. In the case of Prosecutor v. Blaškić, for example, the Trial Chamber found that the Croatian inhabitants of Ahmići, Šantići, Pirici, Nadioci-four villages in Vitez municipality that were simultaneously attacked on 16 April 1993-"were warned of the attack and that some of those were involved in preparing it. Several witnesses, who lived in Ahmići at the material time, testified that Croatian women and children had been evacuated on the eve of the fighting. " Prosecutor v. Tihomir Blaškić, Case No. IT-95-14-T, Judgment, ¶ 389 (Int'l Crim. Trib. For the Former Yugoslavia 3 Mar. 2000).
29. Andrea Fontana & James H. Frey, The Interview: From Structured Questions to Negotiated Text, in Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials 77 (2d ed., Norman K. Denzin & Yvonna S. Lincoln eds., 1998). In nearby Vitez, a middle-aged Croat interviewee and a former member of the HVO not only accused the author of bias, he also impugned her academic credentials, claiming that she was too young to have a doctorate (in the former Yugoslavia, people often received their doctorates only in their late thirties or forties) and could only have produced a doctoral dissertation that fell far short of the standards required in BiH or Croatia. Author Interviews.
30. Andrea Fontana & James H. Frey, The Interview: From Structured Questions to Negotiated Text, in Collecting and Interpreting Qualitative Materials 77 (2d ed., Norman K. Denzin & Yvonna S. Lincoln eds., 1998). In nearby Vitez, a middle-aged Croat interviewee and a former member of the HVO not only accused the author of bias, he also impugned her academic credentials, claiming that she was too young to have a doctorate (in the former Yugoslavia, people often received their doctorates only in their late thirties or forties) and could only have produced a doctoral dissertation that fell far short of the standards required in BiH or Croatia. Author Interviews.
31. Frank K. Clarke, Debilitating Divisions: The Civil Liberties Movement in Early Cold War Canada, 1946-48, in Whose National Security? Canadian State Surveillance and the Creation of Enemies 171, 177-178 (Gary Kinsman et al. eds., 2000).
32. Jeanette Hewitt, Ethical Components of Researcher-Researched Relationships in Qualitative Interviewing, 17 Qual. Health Res. 1149, 1157 (2007).
33. Frank K. Clarke, Debilitating Divisions: The Civil Liberties Movement in Early Cold War Canada, 1946-48, in Whose National Security? Canadian State Surveillance and the Creation of Enemies 171, 177-178 (Gary Kinsman et al. eds., 2000).
34. Author Interviews.
35. According to Lee-Treweek and Linkogle, "Researchers of all levels should be aware of the possible personal and emotional effects of research. " Geraldine Lee-Treweek & Stephanie Linkogle, Postscript, in Danger in the Field: Risk and Ethics in Social Research 197, 202 (Geraldine Lee-Treweek & Stephanie Linkogle eds., 2000). Unfortunately, however, it is frequently the case that "researchers neglect to discuss their emotional experiences of doing research." Pranee Liamputtong, Researching the Vulnerable: A Guide to Sensitive Research Methods 82 (2007).
36. Marie Smyth, Introduction, in Researching Violently Divided Societies: Ethical and Methodological Issues 1, 9 (Marie Smyth & Gillian Robinson eds., 2001).
37. Marie Smyth, Introduction, in Researching Violently Divided Societies: Ethical and Methodological Issues 1, 9 (Marie Smyth & Gillian Robinson eds., 2001).
38. Marlene de Laine, Fieldwork, Participation and Practice: Ethics and Dilemmas in Qualitative Research 2 (2000).
39. Pam Bell, The Ethics of Conducting Psychiatric Research in War-Torn Contexts, in Researching Violently Divided Societies, at 190.
40. Pam Bell, The Ethics of Conducting Psychiatric Research in War-Torn Contexts, in Researching Violently Divided Societies, at 190.
41. Author Interviews.
42. Other researchers have similarly underlined the importance of empathy in the interview process. See, e.g., Jacqueline H. Watts, Emotion, Empathy and Exit: Reflections on Doing Ethnographic Qualitative Research on Sensitive Topics, 3 Med. Socio'y Online, 3, 8-9 (2008).
43. Nicole Johnson, The Role of Self and Emotion within Qualitative Sensitive Research: A Reflective Account, 4 Enquire 23, 31 (2009).
44. Nicole Johnson, The Role of Self and Emotion within Qualitative Sensitive Research: A Reflective Account, 4 Enquire 23, 31 (2009).
45. Nicole Johnson, The Role of Self and Emotion within Qualitative Sensitive Research: A Reflective Account, 4 Enquire 23, 31 (2009).
46. Nicole Johnson, The Role of Self and Emotion within Qualitative Sensitive Research: A Reflective Account, 4 Enquire 23, 31 (2009).
47. John R. Cutcliffe & Paul Ramcharan, Levelling the Playing Field? Exploring the Merits of the Ethics-as-Process Approach for Judging Qualitative Research Proposals, 12 Qualitative Health Res. 1000, 1006 (2002).
48. John R. Cutcliffe & Paul Ramcharan, Levelling the Playing Field? Exploring the Merits of the Ethics-as-Process Approach for Judging Qualitative Research Proposals, 12 Qualitative Health Res. 1000, 1006 (2002).
49. John R. Cutcliffe & Paul Ramcharan, Levelling the Playing Field? Exploring the Merits of the Ethics-as-Process Approach for Judging Qualitative Research Proposals, 12 Qualitative Health Res. 1000, 1006 (2002).
50. John R. Cutcliffe & Paul Ramcharan, Levelling the Playing Field? Exploring the Merits of the Ethics-as-Process Approach for Judging Qualitative Research Proposals, 12 Qualitative Health Res. 1000, 1006 (2002).
51. John R. Cutcliffe & Paul Ramcharan, Levelling the Playing Field? Exploring the Merits of the Ethics-as-Process Approach for Judging Qualitative Research Proposals, 12 Qualitative Health Res. 1000, 1006 (2002).
52. Antonius C.G.M. Robben & Carolyn Nordstrom, Introduction, in Fieldwork Under Fire, at 5.
53. According to Lee-Treweek and Linkogle, "Researchers of all levels should be aware of the possible personal and emotional effects of research. " Geraldine Lee-Treweek & Stephanie Linkogle, Postscript, in Danger in the Field: Risk and Ethics in Social Research 197, 202 (Geraldine Lee-Treweek & Stephanie Linkogle eds., 2000). Unfortunately, however, it is frequently the case that "researchers neglect to discuss their emotional experiences of doing research." Pranee Liamputtong, Researching the Vulnerable: A Guide to Sensitive Research Methods 82 (2007).
54. Giovanni Attili, Ethical Awareness in Advocacy Planning Research, in Ethics and Planning Research 207, 217 (Francesco Lo Piccolo & Huw Thomas eds., 2009).
55. Antonius C.G.M. Robben & Carolyn Nordstrom, Introduction, in Fieldwork Under Fire, at 5.
56. Yvonna S. Lincoln & Norman K. Denzin, The Seventh Moment: Out of the Past, in The Handbook of Qualitative Research 1047, 1050 (2d ed., Yvonna S. Lincoln & Norman K. Denzin eds., 2000).
57. Orit Stieglitz, Advocacy Planning and the Question of the Self and the Other, Critical Planning 6, 57, 61 (1999).
58. Payam Akhavan, Justice in The Hague, Peace in the Former Yugoslavia? A Commentary on the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal, 20 Hum. Rts. Q. 737 (1998).
59. Frank K. Clarke, Debilitating Divisions: The Civil Liberties Movement in Early Cold War Canada, 1946-48, in Whose National Security? Canadian State Surveillance and the Creation of Enemies 171, 177-178 (Gary Kinsman et al. eds., 2000).
60. In Višegrad in eastern BiH, for example, interviewees explained that wood, metal and turpentine used to be large industries. These factories, however, which were once major employers, have now been privatized and no longer function in practice. In the words of one commentator, "What international advisors originally envisaged as an apolitical, rapid, and orderly transfer of assets from public to private hands has become a corrupt, ethnicized, and protracted struggle for power, which has done little to stimulate economic growth. " Timothy Donais, The Politics of Privatization in Post-Dayton Bosnia, 3 Southeast Eur. Politics 3, 4 (2002). In Brčko District, in the far north-east corner of BiH, interviewees similarly lamented the closure of local factories. Today, one of the few fully-functioning factories in Brčko District is the cooking oil factory BIMAL. The global European company Montingenergetika Group now owns BIMAL.
61. Author Interviews.
62. Mary Brydon-Miller et al., Why action research?, 1 Action Research 9, 14 (2003).
63. Ernest T. Stringer, Action Research: A Handbook for Practitioners 11 (1996).
64. Robin McTaggart, Principles for Participatory Action Research, 41 Adult Edu. Q. 168, 181 (1991).
65. Marlene de Laine, Fieldwork, Participation and Practice: Ethics and Dilemmas in Qualitative Research 2 (2000).
66. Cherry Russell, Interviewing Vulnerable Old People: Ethical and Methodological Implications of Imagining our Subjects, 13 J. Aging Stud. 403, 415 (1999).
67. Giovanni Attili, Ethical Awareness in Advocacy Planning Research, in Ethics and Planning Research 207, 217 (Francesco Lo Piccolo & Huw Thomas eds., 2009).
68. Marlene de Laine, Fieldwork, Participation and Practice: Ethics and Dilemmas in Qualitative Research 2 (2000).
69. Ian F. Shaw, Ethics in Qualitative Research and Evaluation, 3 J. Soc. Work 9, 10 (2003).
70. Ian F. Shaw, Ethics in Qualitative Research and Evaluation, 3 J. Soc. Work 9, 10 (2003).