The ethics of drug use research and ‘wild self-care’: a dialogue between a postgraduate student and their supervisor

ABSTRACT

This article outlines the experiences of a postgraduate student conducting research on drug use and ‘wild self-care’ in the format of a dialogue with their supervisor. There is a wealth of literature on the ethics of drug use research, the unique issues postgraduate students contend with during their tenure, researcher emotions in the field, and how self-care can be included in the research process, but there is surprisingly little literature discussing the intersection of these issues. Furthermore, it is established good practice for qualitative researchers to engage in reflexive thinking and writing as part of their data analysis process, yet this does not appear to be commonly applied in qualitative drug research. The structure of a dialogue between the postgraduate (Simon Clay) and their supervisor (Gareth Treharne) is used to critically analyse issues of participant and researcher vulnerability when conducting field work, intoxication, and the potential benefits of researchers being more reflexive and open about their personal relationship to substance use. The role of ‘wildness’ and ‘wild self-care’ are used to explore the study of drug use and the research process in general through a series of questions for researchers to consider in practice.

KEYWORDS:

• Research ethics
• postgraduate students
• wild self-care
• drug use
• vulnerability

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

¹ Chemsex can be broadly defined as the practice of using certain synthetic drugs (particularly methamphetamine, GHB, erectile dysfunction medications, and/or mephedrone) in sexual settings, sometimes over an extended period time with multiple partners. While individuals from a diverse range of gender and sexuality backgrounds engage in chemsex, it is most closely associated with gay men (Hakim 2019; Mattison et al. 2001).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Simon Clay

Simon Clay is a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Drug & Alcohol Research Centre, University of New South Wales. His research explores the lived experience of drug use, the social life of bodies, and the ways marginalised individuals embody well-being in relation to ‘risky’ health-related practices.

Gareth J. Treharne

Gareth J. Treharne is a faculty member in the Department of Psychology at the University of Otago in Aotearoa/New Zealand. Gareth’s research is focused on health and well-being across a range of communities, including people with marginalised sexualities. One of Gareth’s passions is supervising postgraduate students and helping them develop skills in ethical approaches to researching meaningful topics. Gareth trained in the UK and is an Associate Fellow of the British Psychological Society. He has a longstanding association with the International Society for Critical Health Psychology and is currently the Past Chair of the Society.