Photo-Elicitation Interviews with Vulnerable Populations: Practical and Ethical Considerations

ABSTRACT

Photo-elicitation is a qualitative interview technique where researchers solicit responses, reactions, and insights from participants by using photographs or other images as stimuli. Images can be researcher-generated or participant-generated and each has particular benefits and challenges. Though not new, the use of images within criminology is an underused technique. In this paper we advocate the use of photo-elicitation techniques suggesting that they offer a powerful addition to standard data collection and presentation techniques. In making our case, we draw on our experiences from an 18-month long photo-ethnography of people living in rural Alabama who use methamphetamine. The ethnography consisted of formal interviews and informal observations with 52 participants and photography of 29 of them. While we draw on our overall experiences from the project we focus specifically on the photographs generated by, and taken of, one key participant—Alice. We demonstrate the benefits and challenges of using photo elicitation interviews with vulnerable individuals such as Alice, by considering themes such as representation, empowerment and emotionality. Additionally, we highlight the practical and ethical issues that confront researchers who incorporate the visual into their research.

KEYWORDS:

• Visual methods
• visual criminology
• photo elicitation
• drug use
• ethnography

Notes

¹ All names included are aliases. We gave participants the power to choose their own aliases to give them a sense of agency in the project (Burgess-Proctor 2015). She chose Alice in reference to the book Alice in Wonderland, which she has a quote from tattooed on her arm (“We are all a little mad here”).

² To aid in readability we use the pronoun “we” throughout even though only Heith Copes, Jared Ragland and Whitney Tchoula took part in the data collection. Additionally, all interviews were led by Heith Copes and all researcher-driven photographs were taken by Jared Ragland.

³ Due to conflicting ethical guidelines Jared did not participate in many of these activities (see section on ethics for more detail).

⁴ At the time of this writing Alice said she had been off of meth for 2 months and was working full time at a local medical supply factory for a month. In the last PEI she mentioned the symbolism of working in a factory that produces needles and has a machine for safely disposing of them.

⁵ Alice did not have her daughter taken away by Child Protective Services. Rather, she did not attend family court for the custody hearing and thus full parental custody was granted to her ex-husband, the child’s father.

⁶ The photographer followed the code of ethics as outlined by the National Press Photographers Association (nppa.org/code_of_ethics).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Heith Copes

HEITH COPES is a Professor in the Department of Criminal Justice at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. His research involves using qualitative methods to explore criminal decision making and identity construction. He is currently working on a photo-ethnography of people who use methamphetamine in rural Alabama.

Whitney Tchoula

WHITNEY TCHOULA is a Doctoral student at the Rutgers University. Her research interests include using visual and qualitative methods to understand the decision making process of those who engage in crime and who use drugs. She has published in the International Journal of Drug Policy.

Fiona Brookman

FIONA BROOKMAN is Professor of Criminology at the University of South Wales, UK. She received her PhD from Cardiff University in 2000. Using mainly qualitative research methods, her research focuses on the dynamics and causes of homicide and violence as well as the investigation of homicide. She is also interested in offender narratives of violence and, most recently, police and scientist narratives of homicide events. Fiona’s research has been published in numerous criminological journals and she has also contributed chapters to a number of edited collections. She is lead editor of the recently published Handbook of Homicide (Wiley: 2017). She is currently leading a Leverhulme-funded ethnographic project exploring the role of science and technology in homicide investigation in Britain.

Jared Ragland

JARED RAGLAND is the Visual Media and Outreach Coordinator for the Department of Art & Art History. He served as a White House Photo Editor under the Bush (43) and Obama Administrations while teaching photography at the Corcoran College of Art + Design. He has published with National Geographic Books as the editor for The President’s Photographer: Fifty Years Inside the Oval Office and has exhibited his fine art work internationally. His professional experience as a photo editor, coupled with his interests in photographic story telling, image archives, and digital processes, has shaped his collage and found-image based artwork.