Abstract
In this chapter, I explore the possible contribution that ethnography can make to public health research within prison contexts. Prison ethnography literature raises questions relating to the extent to which ethnographic methods have the potential to illuminate what is often a hidden and difficult to access context. Such questions as they relate to public health within prisons are reflected on in this chapter, through the description of a research project that explored the experience of a public health intervention delivered in a number of prison gyms. In particular, I consider the ways in which my positionality as an ethnographic researcher determined the sorts of data I was able to collect to evaluate the Fit for LIFE programme.
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Notes
- 1.
Prior to starting this post doc research, I undertook a year of ethnographic fieldwork as part of my Ph.D. in far-west Nepal. My Ph.D. research focused on performances of gender in a group of recently freed bonded-labourers. This period of research allowed me to hone my participant observation skills and reflect on the importance of positionality in influencing the sort of data I was able to collect (Maycock, M. (2018). Masculinity and Modern Slavery in South Asia (forthcoming). London: Routledge).
- 2.
The term ‘gymnasium’ is used throughout because it was the term which prisoners and staff used to describe multiple spaces, including the weights/cardio room, sports hall and changing room.
- 3.
This project was approved by the West of Scotland NHS Research Ethics Committee—13/WS/0218.
- 4.
I refer to the men who took part in the Fit for LIFE programme as participants and not prisoners throughout this paper and the wider research project. This is due to the different underpinning in relation to agency that the term participant entails.
- 5.
All names and places have been changed to ensure the anonymity of all research participants.
- 6.
- 7.
Banter is a term used quite widely within Scottish prisons that relates to playful or lighthearted interactions between people.
- 8.
Protection prisoners are isolated from the mainstream prison population for a range of reasons; they might have committed a sexual offence, be high profile or feel vulnerable. Protection wings of prisons are often quite negatively viewed by other prisoners.
- 9.
The second to last question in all consent forms read: “I understand if I disclose any information about any intention to harm myself or other people, or otherwise pose a threat to security, the research team have to pass this information to the prison authorities.”
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Maycock, M. (2018). ‘What Sort of Jumper Is that, Your Wife Has Terrible Taste Mate’. Exploring the Importance of Positionality Within Ethnographic Research Conducted Alongside a Public Health Programme in Three Scottish Prisons. In: Garnett, E., Reynolds, J., Milton, S. (eds) Ethnographies and Health. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-89396-9_11
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