Professional Lives, Personal Struggles Ethics and Advocacy in Research on Homelessness

by Amster, Randall; Valado, Martha Trenna; Adkins, Julie; Arnold, Kathleen; Borchard, Kurt; Cook, David; Ferrell, Jeff; Lyon-Callo, Vincent; von Mahs, Jürgen; Mitchell, Don; Rosenthal, Rob; Rowe, Michael; Staeheli, Lynn A.; Wright, J. Talmadge

• ISBN13: 9780739174289
• ISBN10: 0739174282
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-07-06
• Publisher: Lexington Books

Summary

This edited volume illuminates critical issues through the particular lens of homelessness, bringing together some of the leading scholars in the field from an array of disciplines and perspectives to explore this condition of marginalization and the ethical dilemmas attendant to it. In so doing, the authors provide insights into the realities and challenges of social research that will be of guidance to students, activists, practitioners, policymakers, and service providers, as well as to both novice and seasoned researchers in fields of inquiry ranging from anthropology and sociology to geography and cultural studies. Although many texts have explored the subject of homelessness in general, few have attempted to encapsulate and examine the complex process of researching the issue as a phenomenon unto itself. The issue of homelessness is one that raises myriad questions about ethics and advocacy in the minds of researchers. This volume examines the many challenges of conducting ethical research of homelessness.

Author Biography

Trenna Valado, PhD, is an applied anthropologist who works with a consulting company that aims to improve the lives of children and families through interdisciplinary research and evaluation of social service programs. Randall Amster, JD, PhD, is professor of peace studies and graduate chair of humanities at Prescott College in Arizona.

Table of Contents

Foreword	p. xi
Introduction: Rediscovering Homelessness … and Ourselves	p. 1
Advocacy and Identity	p. 9
Social Justice, Ethics, and Advocacy in Street Research: A Personal Accounting	p. 11
The Advocate Researcher	p. 27
Homelessness and Drag	p. 37
Writing the Streets: Dilemmas of Depiction	p. 47
Relationships and Ethics	p. 61
Planning and Managing Ethical Dilemmas in Homelessness Research	p. 63
A "Buddy Researcher"? Prospects, Limitations, and Ethical Considerations in Ethnographic Research on Homeless People in Berlin	p. 75
Ethics and Studying Homelessness: Tales from the Field	p. 89
Weapons of the Weak, by the Weak, and for the Weak: Negotiating Power Between and Among Homeless Persons and Service Providers	p. 103
Research and Transformation	p. 117
Do We Really Need More Research on Homelessness? An Autoethnographic Exploration of Ethics, Advocacy, and Exasperation	p. 119
Homelessness as ôInternal Displacement": Scholarship and Activism in Post-Katrina New Orleans	p. 131
Do (No) Harm: Homelessness Research as Personal Transformation	p. 149
On the Politics and Ethics of ôUsing" "the Homeless" in Social Justice Research	p. 161
Conclusion: Synthesizing the Personal and Professional: A Systematic Consideration of Ethics and Advocacy in Social Science Research	p. 177
Bibliography	p. 191
Index	p. 205
About the Contributors	p. 213
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