Professional Lives, Personal Struggles

Ethics and Advocacy in Research on Homelessness

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

Publication date:

06 July 2012

Length of book:

226 pages

Publisher

Lexington Books

ISBN-13: 9780739174289

This edited volume illuminates critical research 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 that arise within it. The authors provide insights into the realities and challenges of social research that will guide students, activists, practitioners, policymakers, and service providers, as well as 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, few have attempted to encapsulate and examine the complex process of researching the issue as a phenomenon unto itself. Professional Lives, Personal Struggles examines the many challenges of conducting ethical research on homelessness, as well as the potential for positive change and transformation, through the deeply personal accounts of scholars and advocates with extensive experience working in the field.

Foreword
by Jeff Ferrell
Introduction: Rediscovering Homelessness . . . and Ourselves
by Randall Amster
Part 1: Advocacy and Identity
Chapter 1: Social Justice, Ethics, and Advocacy in Street Research: A Personal Accounting
by Talmadge Wright
Chapter 2: The Advocate Researcher
by Rob Rosenthal
Chapter 3: Homelessness and Drag
by Kathleen Arnold
Chapter 4: Writing the Streets: Dilemmas of Depiction
by Trenna Valado
Part 2: Relationships and Ethics
Chapter 5: Planning and Managing Ethical Dilemmas in Homelessness Research
by Michael Rowe
Chapter 6: ‘Buddy Researcher’? Prospects, Limitations, and Ethical Considerations in Ethnographic Research on Homeless People in Berlin
by Jürgen von Mahs
Chapter 7: Ethics and Studying Homelessness: Tales from the Field
by Kurt Borchard
Chapter 8: Weapons of the Weak, by the Weak, and for the Weak: Negotiating Power Between and Among Homeless Persons and Service Providers
by Julie Adkins
Part 3: Research and Transformation
Chapter 9: Do We Really Need More Research on Homelessness? An Autoethnographic Exploration of Ethics, Advocacy, and Exasperation
by Vin Lyon-Callo
Chapter 10: Homelessness as ‘Internal Displacement’: Scholarship and Activism in Post-Katrina New Orleans
by Randall Amster
Chapter 11: Do (No) Harm: Homelessness and Personal Transformation
by David Cook
Chapter 12: On the Politics and Ethics of ‘Using’ ‘the Homeless’ in Social Justice Research
by Don Mitchell and Lynn Staeheli
Conclusion: Synthesizing the Personal and Professional
by Trenna Valado

Professional Lives, Personal Struggles provides a nuanced examination of the ethical issues faced by ethnographic researchers who work with or on behalf of people who are dispossessed. Even experienced researchers are likely to find the analyses consistently thought-provoking and at times original. Novice researchers might particularly benefit from insightful discussion of the ways in which others have come to grips with the quandaries they are sure to face.