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Abstract
Photo elicitation interviews (PEIs) are a means to solicit responses, reactions, and insights from participants by using photographs or other images as stimuli during interviews. Such styles of interviewing are consistent with feminist and critical methodologies that promote empowering participants by providing a means to direct the research and shape how they are portrayed. Although it is an impactful method, PEIs are still relatively uncommon within criminology and criminal justice. Our aim here is to promote the use of PEIs in crime and justice research. To do so, we provide a practical guide to carrying out this type of research. Specifically, we use illustrations from research relating to people who use psychedelics (e.g. peyote) in religious ceremonies to detail the steps in designing a project that relies on PEIs, including how to solicit photographs from participants, develop photo kits, conduct interviews, and present final products. We conclude with a discussion of ethics of using this approach.
Disclosure statement
No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.
Notes
1 We also draw on insights from another photo-ethnography we carried out that focused on people who used methamphetamine in rural Alabama (see Copes, Brookman, et al., Citation2021; Copes, Leban, & Ragland, Citation2021; Copes et al., Citation2018, Citation2019; Copes, Ragland, Forrester, Citation2020).
2 Libra typed up a discussion of the photographs that he sent. We have maintained his capitalization of peyote to better represent his thoughts.