Hazards of research

04/07/08

Posted by Tim

I’m interviewing a 19 year old in his bedroom; his parents are downstairs. He’s just out of a Youth Offender Institution after serving 8 months for GBH. Though I’m not there to ask him about his offence, he wants to tell me. His story ends with the worrying line that ‘thing is mate, someone says the wrong thing to me and I just lose it, I go mental’. At this point, as I scan my topic guide for questions that might light his blue touch paper, I’m eyeing the door and feeling pleased, though not entirely reassured, that his mum and dad are close at hand. Luckily the interview passes off quietly and it’s a good tale to tell after the event, but it concentrates my mind on the subject of researcher safety. We have procedures to minimise the risks but it’s not the first time I’ve wondered about my occupational health.