Gangs: fieldwork experiences, ethical dilemmas, and emotions in youth street groups research

Abstract

This essay takes up the famous thesis that Robert Park exposed in his preface to The Gang (Thrasher, 1927), considered the first serious scientific study on youth gangs, namely gangs are a specific type of society, which can be found in different parts of the planet and whose internal structure and dynamics can be studied with the help of research techniques of urban ethnography. To do this, I begin by describing five experiences of research on the field, which correspond to different contexts and types of gangs (from territorial gangs in post-war Spain to current transnational gangs). Next, I present the three phases of fieldwork -entry, permanence, and exit-, and different research techniques used in these investigations: oral history, newspaper analysis, participant observation, focus groups, in-depth interviews, life stories, ethnographic video, surveys, social network analysis, and digital ethnography. Finally, I reflect on the ethical dilemmas that research with vulnerable and stigmatized groups such as gangs entails, on the emotions and moral dilemmas they raise, and on the consequences that all this has for research and social intervention.