Blake, an assistant professor in the Department of Political Science and Policy Studies, examined the challenges that researchers of violence face as they collect fieldwork data in Caribbean, South and Central American countries.
Damion Blake, assistant professor in the Department of Political Science & Policy Studies, has published an article in the Journal of Ethnographic and Qualitative Research.
Blake’s article entitled, “Researching Violence: Conducting risky fieldwork in dangerous spaces across Latin America and the Caribbean examines the challenges researchers of violence face as they collect fieldwork data in Caribbean, South and Central American countries. He sampled 13 academics who conduct fieldwork on research topics related to organized crime, armed conflicts, drug trafficking and political violence. Blake included his fieldwork experiences on drug and political violence in Jamaica.
The findings identify the environmental, ethical, and identity (gender and race) challenges associated with conducting risky research the dangerous spaces across the Latin America and the Caribbean region. Blake’s paper outline some “pre- fieldwork” and “during fieldwork” strategies that can make qualitative fieldwork research safer for researchers and their participants.