Sneaky Kid and Its Aftermath

Ethics and Intimacy in Fieldwork

By (author) Harry F. Wolcott

Not available to order

Publication date:

15 August 2002

Length of book:

224 pages

Publisher

AltaMira Press

ISBN-13: 9780759116573

Brad—a schizophrenic school dropout and 'sneaky kid'—first appeared as a squatter near Harry Wolcott's forest home. He becomes Wolcott's subject in a long-term life history on how the educational system can fail students. Wolcott's trilogy of articles based on their years of interviews were well-received...until he admitted to an intimate relationship with the young man who, two years after leaving his shack, returned and attempted to murder the anthropologist. The Brad Trilogy then became the focus of heated academic discussions of research ethics, validity, intimacy, and the limitations of qualitative research. Here, Wolcott presents the full story of the Sneaky Kid and the firestorm it caused. Written in Wolcott's masterful style, the case offers an ideal starting point for discussing the complex public and personal dimensions of qualitative research with students. Included as an Appendix is the complete script of Johnny Saldana's ethnodrama recounting the story in play form.

Chapter 1 Foreword
Chapter 2 Introduction
Chapter 3
Chapter One
Chapter 4
Chapter 1: Adequate Schools and Inadequate Education: The Life History of a Sneaky Kid
Chapter 5
Chapter 2: The Brad Saga Continues
Chapter 6
Chapter 3: The Return
Chapter 7
Chapter 4: Out
Chapter 8
Chapter Two
Chapter 9
Chapter 5: More Truth, More Consequences
Chapter 10
Chapter 6: The Rebound
Chapter 11
Chapter 7: A Play on Words
Chapter 12
Chapter 8: Drawing Lessons
Chapter 13 Appendix: A play, Finding My Place: The Brad Trilogy
Chapter 14 References and Further Reading
Chapter 16 Name Index
Chapter 17 Subject Index

Wolcott is a well-known, iconoclastic anthropologist of education. . . . He provides a detailed, explicit, autobiographical account of the events surrounding the publication of a series of articles on educational inadequacy, subsequently labeled 'The BradTrilogy.' It tells the story behind the trilogy, examining personal, professional, and moral issues raised by the author's romantic relationship with the middle-class homeless man whose story is told in the trilogy. The book chronicles the young man's struggle with mental illness and Wolcott's subsequent encounters with family members, the mental health establishment, the justice system, and the academic world, presenting a firsthand account of the failure of schools, communities, mental health providers, welfare agencies and courts to serve those in need..