Reflexivity of discomfort: Two women outsiders doing sport research in prison

Abstract

When analyzing social relationships the idea of intersectionality allows for multiple dimensions to be brought forth. In this regard, discomfort becomes the core element of a reflective exercise surrounding the ethnographic fieldwork carried out by two young, white, female researchers as volunteers of sports and physical activities for imprisoned women. Through the analysis of our field notes, we complete a retrospective journey to analyze our presence in the field and bring forth the consequences of our decisions and emotions; all with the help of our adult, white, male PhD supervisors. In our analysis, gender, age, race and, in this particular context, the position of freedom and our condition as volunteers have been revealed to be fundamental. As researchers, we opted for using different strategies such as adapting our language or repressing our feminist ideas, in a complicated game of balance between the need to establish rapport and the necessary prudence in prison. All in all, this study highlights the richness of team research and its help in facing and understanding the various difficulties that arise from the prison context, its emotional implications, and the ethical dilemmas that appear during the research process. On the other hand, it constitutes a methodological and reflective contribution to feminist research in the field of sport and physical activity.