The One who Looks at the Mirror: Reflexivity and Validity in Prison Ethnography

The chapter discusses the epistemological assumptions and operational strategies involved in conducting ethnographic research in the prison system. The primary objective of this chapter is to examine the methodology and research design. It also provides a brief presentation of my ontological assumptions and epistemological standpoint, identifying and discussing the subjective and normative choices that guided the research and related methodological issues. The chapter also presents the coping strategies developed during the fieldwork. Furthermore, this chapter delves into how and why, despite the availability of various research methods (such as desk research, longitudinal analysis of academic literature, in-depth interviews, and focus groups, to name a few), I ultimately opted for an ethnographic study. This choice allowed me to witness firsthand the practices that correctional officers and stakeholders might have described to me in individual encounters.